Honeysuckle Is A Welcome Northerner. Growing. Planting, Care, Varieties. Photo

Honeysuckle is one of the most coveted berries in the north. It is the earliest among all fruit and berry crops. Ripens several weeks earlier than strawberries, and surpasses the latter in terms of the content of nutrients. Honeysuckle is very decorative and, at the same time, unassuming. In natural nature, it grows on mountain slopes on limestone outcrops, along ravines, it easily gets along in mixed shrubs. She is not afraid of peat bogs, moist coniferous and deciduous forests.

Content:

• Why is honeysuckle attractive?
• Distribution of honeysuckle in nature
• Botanical description of honeysuckle
• Honeysuckle varieties for summer cottage cultivation
• How to plant edible honeysuckle in the country?
• Honeysuckle care
• Reproduction of honeysuckle
• Protection of honeysuckle from pests

Why is honeysuckle attractive?

• Honeysuckle is undemanding to growing conditions and does not need special care. One of the representatives of the "lazy garden".
• The earliest garden crop with edible fruits.
• It is an excellent honey plant. The flowers contain a lot of nectar and pollen.
• Honeysuckle is unique for its medicinal properties. The fruits of edible honeysuckle contain up to 85% of vitamin C, the most essential in the north, substances of P-vitamin activity, including isoquerticin, querticin, luteolin, rutin and others. On the basis of querticin in official medicine, the famous drug "Kapilar" is produced - as a means of improving the functioning of capillaries.

Honeysuckle berries are distinguished by a high content of substances that are effective in the treatment of inflammatory and colds as an antipyretic, in hypotensive conditions.

Honeysuckle berries are used in cooking: compotes, mashed potatoes, jelly. Raw jam is unique in its sweet and sour taste and content of useful substances.

Decoctions and infusions of flowers, leaves, honeysuckle bark are used in folk medicine as an antimalarial and antiscorbutic agent, diuretic, astringent, stimulating the digestive tract, antiseptic.

Honeysuckle is used in park and garden design as an ornamental plant. Beautiful yellowish wood is used by craftsmen for various crafts.

Distribution of honeysuckle in nature

The main areas of distribution of honeysuckle in our country are Eastern Siberia, the Far East, the northern regions of the European part in the Leningrad region, the Urals, the Central black earth and middle zones, Moscow and the Moscow region.

Honeysuckle is a northern plant. The distribution area reaches the Arctic. It is practically insensitive to frost, but it reacts very painfully to elevated temperatures and especially to autumn-winter thaws. Therefore, in the southern regions of Russia, in Ukraine, Moldova and other warm zones, honeysuckle grows weakly and develops poorly. These climatic conditions are not suitable for her. So it's up to the breeders.

Botanical description of honeysuckle

Of the several types of honeysuckle growing in the territory of the Russian Federation and the CIS, only one is edible - blue honeysuckle, or blue honeysuckle (Lonicera caerulea).

Blue-black, glaucous from a waxy bloom, the fruits of honeysuckle are quite tasty (resemble blueberries). This form of honeysuckle is widely used in culture by amateur gardeners. In the north, it is an early, coveted treat for children and adults alike. Honeysuckle berries ripen in the first half of June.

Blue honeysuckle refers to deciduous shrubs, the height of which rarely exceeds 1.0-1.5 meters.

The root system of honeysuckle is pivotal, spreading. The roots grow to the sides up to 0.6 m, so the bushes are planted at a distance of at least 1.5 m. The bulk of the roots is located in the 60-80 cm soil layer.

Young shoots of honeysuckle pubescent, in places - with a blue-violet tint. Old stems are covered with yellowish brown, easily peeling bark. The thickness of the old branches is 3-4 cm.

Honeysuckle leaves are simple, petiolate. Short petioles are fused with rounded stipules. Leaf blades are oblong-lanceolate, densely pubescent, the old ones usually lose their pubescence. The crown is usually formed round, compact bush.

Honeysuckle flowers are small, corolla petals are yellow, of different shades. In shape, the flowers are funnel-shaped, located in the axils of the leaves. Depending on the variety, their number varies from 2 to 4 to 5 in one bouquet. Flowering begins in May and the first fruits ripen in June.

Honeysuckle fruits are dark blue, to blue-blue, with a bluish bloom. Elongated in shape up to 9-12 mm. Ripening is gradual. The pulp of the fruit is juicy, red-purple in color of different shades, with a lot of sweet and sour juice.

Honeysuckle seeds are small, up to 2 mm, brownish.

Honeysuckle varieties for summer cottage cultivation

Selection does not stand still, and in recent years breeders have been offering very promising varieties of blue honeysuckle.

Of the varieties of blue honeysuckle in the country or a house plot, the following varieties can be recommended.

For areas with cold summers and high-frosty winters, honeysuckle varieties are suitable: Morena, Blue Spindle, Amphora, Sinichka, Pavlovskaya, Nymph, Leningrad giant.

In all regions, including the above, good yields are formed by the varieties of honeysuckle: Lakomka, Rannyaya, Altai, Sineglazka, Tomichka, Vasyugan, Kamchadalka, Cinderella, Blue Bird and others.

The most productive variety of honeysuckle is Lakomka. Up to 3 kg of ripe, aromatic berries can be removed from one adult bush. The bush is low, up to 1.5 m, compact.

The same yield is possessed by the honeysuckle variety Amphora with an average ripening period, the berries do not crumble.

In second place in terms of productivity is the honeysuckle variety Blue Spindle. Forms up to 2 kg of fruit per bush, sweet and sour taste with a pleasant bitterness. The variety is tall.

Morena is an early variety of honeysuckle. The berries taste like the Blue Spindle variety. But it differs in large-fruited, pronounced aroma. Average yield, up to 1 kg per bush.

The same yield is formed by the Blue Bird variety. Fruits with a pronounced astringency, but the flesh is surprisingly tender, melting.

Honeysuckle variety Nymph of medium ripening. Can be used as an ornamental shrub with edible berries. A vigorous shrub with a trimmed oval crown, large bright green leaves, is decorated in solitary plantings and edging paths, a fence. The berries are sweet and sour, tart, curved bluish-purple colors and shades.

How to plant edible honeysuckle in the country?

Choosing a planting site for honeysuckle

Winter hardiness of blue honeysuckle is very high. The vegetative mass can withstand frosts down to -50 ° C, and the roots up to -40 ° C. Buds, flowers and young ovaries do not lose their viability at -8 ° C. At the same time, it is better to place honeysuckle bushes in sunny areas, orient the rows so that most of the light time the plants are illuminated by the sun.

Blue honeysuckle will grow in the shade, but the yield and taste of the fruit will decrease. The culture is not afraid of winds, so it can be planted in an open, sunny area from the north side.

Honeysuckle is a cross-pollinated crop, so it is better to plant 3-4 different varieties nearby, matching the flowering period.

The relationship of honeysuckle to soil conditions

The root system of honeysuckle does not tolerate stagnant water close to the soil surface. The roots rot and die. At the same time, honeysuckle is moisture-loving and needs watering. Feels good in regions with high air humidity. On acidic soils, it slowly dies.

The best soils for honeysuckle are loams filled with humus or mature compost. It grows well on other soils, but requires sufficient fertilization with organic fertilizers.

The period of planting honeysuckle in the ground

Purchased or rooted honeysuckle seedlings are planted from August to mid-November. This is due to the early onset of the dormant period (end of July) and early awakening for the next growing season (March). In some regions with the early onset of the snowless spring, it is possible to transplant honeysuckle seedlings by transshipment in the spring, in early March. But starting from March 10-15, it is better not to risk it.

In the second half of March, the honeysuckle dormant period ends. The kidneys begin to swell and any transplant or planting action will cause stress. Plants will start to ache, take root badly. If the plot is small and there is no free area, you can plant honeysuckle next to black currants in a berry.

Planting honeysuckle

Planting holes for honeysuckle are dug according to the size of the root, but not less than 40x40x40 cm. This is especially necessary on sandy and depleted soils. Drainage is laid at the bottom of the pit, a part of the prepared soil mixture is poured on top of it, consisting of the upper layer of earth, 2 buckets of humus or compost, add 1 liter can of ash and 60-70 g of superphosphate. Ash can be replaced with a 0.5 liter can of dolomite or chalk. Instead of superphosphate, you can add ammophos in the same dose.

The soil mixture in the pit is poured with a bucket of water. A honeysuckle seedling is placed along a mound in the center, the roots are straightened and covered with the rest of the soil mixture, lightly crushed so that the soil adheres to the roots. Along the edge of the planting pit (its circumference), a side is prepared, another bucket of water is poured in and, after absorption, mulch with humus. When planting, the honeysuckle root collar does not need to be buried. She does not form offspring. If it is deepened by 4-5 cm (no more), then adventitious roots will begin to form downward from the root collar.

Honeysuckle care

Care includes the following agrotechnical measures: watering, feeding, pruning, removing weeds, protecting against diseases and pests.

Watering the honeysuckle

In the first 2-3 years, only watering and removing weeds are carried out. Watering is carried out so that the soil is moist, but not wet. The lump of earth should crumble, and not remain a sticky mass.

Honeysuckle feeding

Top dressing begins from the third year of the culture's life. Honeysuckle does not like mineral fertilizers. Therefore, nitrogen is given only for the first watering, dissolving 25-30 g of ammonium nitrate or urea in a bucket of water (literally over melting snow).

In the budding phase, a bucket of humus, compost, and other organic matter is introduced under the honeysuckle bush. The second dressing is applied at the end of August, best of all, 2 glasses of ash under a bush or a trace element set.

Pruning honeysuckle

In the first 3 years, pruning is not carried out. Starting from the age of 3, sanitary pruning is carried out annually when the culture retires. It is best to do sanitary pruning of honeysuckle in early September. Dried, diseased, affected, bent branches growing inside the bush are removed. Within 6-7 years, the bush grows with new shoots.

From about 6 years of age, 1-2 old branches (infertile) are removed annually near the ground and 1-3 young shoots are left. In the future, the operation is repeated, and by the age of 15-20, the bush can be completely rejuvenated.

Reproduction of honeysuckle

Like all berry crops, honeysuckle is propagated by seeds and vegetatively by cuttings, dividing the bush, and less often by layering. Seed propagation is used mainly in breeding work or to obtain planting material for decorative types of honeysuckle.

By dividing the bush, honeysuckle is propagated at about 7-8 years of age, cutting the overgrown bush into pieces with an ax. Each division should have a root, 1-2 adult skeletal branches and 2 young shoots. At the delenka, the branches are pruned at a height of 30-45 cm and immediately planted in a prepared planting pit.

The most effective propagation of honeysuckle by cuttings (lignified, green and combined).

Lignified honeysuckle cuttings are harvested from annual branches with a diameter of 7-8 mm. Cuttings 15-18 cm long are cut at the end of March. Cuttings are planted in a garden bed or greenhouse. They are planted on the garden bed when the ground thaws. It is safer to land in a greenhouse. The stalk is buried so that 2 upper buds remain above the ground. The planting is covered with a film. The soil is kept moist. After 28- 35 days, roots appear on the cuttings.

Honeysuckle can be cut with combined cuttings. Cutting of such cuttings is carried out in May (immediately after flowering). For cuttings, a last year's one-year shoot with lateral shoots of the current year is selected. Then the honeysuckle branch is divided into parts so that each shoot of the current year has a heel (piece) of last year's branch.

These cuttings are planted in the garden bed. It is deepened shallowly, by 3-5 cm. Cover with a light film on top, watered 2-3 times a day. Sprayed through a fine spray. The tops of the shoots will begin to grow in 2 weeks, and in the same period, root formation will begin at the heel.

Green cuttings of honeysuckle are cut from the green shoots of the current year in early June, or rather, during the period of dyeing the fruit. The cuttings are 12-15 cm long, 0.5-0.7 mm thick, or as thick as a pencil. Rooting is carried out in the soil, as well as lignified ones. The soil must be constantly moist.

Before planting, all honeysuckle cuttings should be kept for at least an hour in a solution of root, heteroauxin or other drugs that contribute to the rapid rooting of cuttings. Rooted cuttings are planted next fall, as are the seedlings.

The soil under the rooted honeysuckle seedlings should be constantly moist. The seedlings are planted in the soil filled with fertilizer. You can use AVA fertilizer, ash or special for flower seedlings.

Protection of honeysuckle from pests

Honeysuckle practically does not get sick, but is often affected by aphid pests, comma-shaped scabbard, larvae and caterpillars. Since honeysuckle forms a crop in a short time, it is impossible to use pesticides for plant protection. Bioinsecticides can be used that do not harm plants and are absolutely harmless to humans and animals. Of the recommended biological products, the most common are verticillin, bicol, bitoxibacillin.

Sometimes powdery mildew appears on the branches of honeysuckle, which can be easily removed by treatment with a solution of the biofungicide phytosporin or another.