Garden strawberries, which produce large fruits, are often grown by summer residents for sale due to their attractive appearance. Strawberries of the Rusich variety are the development of domestic breeders, which are recommended for cultivation in the Central region. Like any variety, it has its pros and cons, which are worth studying before planting bushes in the garden. With proper care, Rusich produces rich harvests of tasty and aromatic berries.
Description and characteristics of the variety
The multi-purpose garden strawberry variety Rusich was bred by specialists from the experimental station of the Bryansk region. This happened thanks to the crossing of two varieties of strawberries - Surprise Olympics and Chamomile, the author was the breeder S. D. Aitjanova. After the tests, the Rusich variety was included in the State Register of Fruit Crops and recommended for cultivation in the Central region of the Russian Federation.
The description of the crop indicates the following characteristics of garden strawberries:
- The bushes are spherical in shape, quite tall, and form few tendrils.
- Strawberry leaf blades are dark green, have small pimples and a slight shine.
- Each bush produces many flower stalks; they are located high above the ground surface, which prevents the berries from rotting even in wet weather. Peduncles are strong and characterized by elasticity.
- The variety is not remontant and produces a harvest once per season, this occurs at the end of July or early July, depending on the growing region.
- With proper care, about 10 tons of fruits are harvested from one hectare of plantings.
- In place of the flowers, large berries are formed, which, when ripe, acquire a dark red hue; the weight of one fruit is on average 60 grams. Tasters rated Rusich's taste 4.5 out of 5 points. When grown in the sun, strawberries become sweet, with a slight amount of sourness.
- The variety has sufficient winter hardiness, so it does not require serious shelter from frost.
- Immunity to common diseases of the crop is average, so preventive treatments are required.
- The berries have a good presentation and do not deteriorate when transported over long distances, so they are often grown for sale.
Positive and negative sides
Those gardeners who have been growing Rusich strawberries on their plots for many years noted the pros and cons of the domestic variety. They included the following benefits of garden strawberries:
- good productivity from one plant bush;
- attractive appearance of berries and their large size;
- resistance to winter temperature changes and dry summer periods;
- good transportability of berries and the possibility of their sale on the market;
- universal purpose of fruits.
Among the disadvantages of the variety, they noted:
- the need for prevention due to weak immunity;
- Strawberries are demanding in terms of where they grow in order to obtain high yields.
Growing and caring for Rusich strawberries
The right choice of location and proper agrotechnical care of the bushes will allow you to get large berries with excellent taste.
Site selection and soil preparation
Despite the fact that Rusich garden strawberries can grow on any soil, to obtain rich harvests, the soil is preferably fertile and light, with an acidity level ranging from 5 to 6, so it is recommended to prepare the soil before planting the bushes. 2 weeks before planting the seedlings, the area is dug up using a spade and humus is added at the rate of 10 kg per square meter of garden.
Landing
Planting of bushes is carried out according to the following algorithm:
- The horse system of the seedling is treated with the drug “Kornevin” so that it will better take root in the new place.
- The holes are made shallow, keeping a distance between them of 60 cm.
- If the seedling has long roots, they are trimmed so that the maximum length is 8 cm.
- Strawberries are placed in the middle of the hole and covered with fertile soil.
- The plantings are irrigated abundantly and a mulch layer is laid.
Watering and fertilizing
Despite its drought resistance, the garden strawberry variety Rusich requires sufficient moisture to form large berries. Watering is carried out once a week with warm, settled water. If it is very hot and there has been no rain for a long time, it is recommended to irrigate the bushes every 3-4 days.
In the first year after planting, if the bushes are placed in fertile soil, there is no need to apply additional fertilizers. Fertilizing begins from the 2nd year of strawberry development. They do this three times per season:
- In spring, mineral complexes with a high concentration of nitrogen are used.
- During the flowering period, mullein or bird droppings are added, diluting them in water - in the first case, the concentration is 1:10, in the second - 20 liters of water are needed for 1 part of the droppings, so as not to burn the roots of the crop.
- The last fertilizing is carried out as part of preparing the plants for winter, using potassium-phosphorus fertilizers.
Loosening
If you lay a mulch layer around the bushes and between the rows, the amount of soil loosening can be significantly reduced. Otherwise, weeding and loosening are carried out after each rain or watering.
Removing a mustache
The domestic variety produces few whiskers, so they do not need to be removed if you plan to propagate strawberries.
Diseases and pests
Insect pests rarely attack garden strawberry bushes, but prevention is necessary against diseases. For this purpose, use Bordeaux mixture or any fungicidal drug according to the instructions, for example, “Fitosporin”.
Subtleties of plant propagation
Due to the small number of runners that the Rusich variety produces, it is difficult to propagate strawberries in this way, so gardeners use the method of dividing an adult bush.
Collection and storage
The fruits begin to be collected from the bushes at the end of June or early July. The large berry is rarely used for making jam; it is frozen and sold on the market.
