Description of Finnish gooseberry varieties, cultivation and propagation

Gooseberry is a common garden shrub with sweet and sour berries. For a long time, the problem was the susceptibility of gooseberries to powdery mildew and poor resistance to low temperatures in winter. Finnish breeders have developed varieties that can withstand both frost and powdery mildew. Common gooseberry varieties of Finnish selection:

• Finnish red - Hinnonmaki Rot;
• Finnish yellow - Hinnonmaki Gelb;
• Finnish green - Hinnonmaki Green.

Description of Finnish gooseberry

The choice of gooseberries is influenced by the personal preferences of the gardener, varietal characteristics of bushes and berries, and ripening time. Often the determining factor is the taste and color of the berries, as well as the size and thorniness of the bush.

Finnish Red Rot

Hinnonmaki Rot is one of the most delicious varieties, popularly called “northern grapes”. The berries can be used fresh and to produce juices, wine materials, and jam. Productivity - up to 12 kg per bush.

Bush

Red gooseberry bushes grow up to 1.2 m in height. They have exfoliating bark of a dark gray or dark brown color. The bush is compact, but branched with a large number of needle-like thorns.

Leaves and flower stalks

The short-haired, dull green leaves have 3-5 lobes with blunt-toothed edges. The flowers are bisexual and bloom in May. Flowers are located 2-3 in the axils of the leaves. The color is reddish or greenish.

Fruit

The berries of Finnish red gooseberries have smooth, thin red-purple skin with light veins. They are spherical in shape, medium in size, slightly pubescent. The taste is sweet and sour, aromatic. The weight of the berries is 5-10 g. They ripen at the end of July.

Finnish yellow Gelb

Due to its frost resistance, Hinnonmaki Gelb is suitable for growing in the northern regions of Russia. Some gardeners consider its berries to be the standard of gooseberry taste.

Bush

The yellow Finnish gooseberry has a dense bush with branches covered with thorns. There are few of them, but they are prickly. The bush is compact, about 1 m high and wide. The bush grows quickly.Grows 20-40 cm per year.

Leaves and flower stalks

The leaves are light green with 3-5 lobes. The flowers are bisexual, greenish, bloom in May.

Fruit

The berries are yellow in color, the skin is smooth and thin. The shape is oval-round. Medium size, from 5 g. They have a taste reminiscent of apricot.

Finnish green Green

Synonymous name: Hinnonmäki Grön. Gooseberries bear fruit abundantly every year. It is a good honey plant.

Bush

The bushes are prickly with dark gray or dark brown bark. They reach a height of 0.9-1.3 m. The crown is slightly spreading.

Leaves and flower stalks

The leaves are dull green, short-haired, three- or five-lobed. The flowers are yellow-green and bloom in May.

Fruit

The berries are olive-colored with veins and have an elongated oval shape. Their weight is 6-8 g. The berries are aromatic, sweet and sour taste with thin skin. You can achieve a yield of up to 9 kg per bush.

Characteristics of the variety

Finnish gooseberry varieties are dessert, fast-growing, self-fertile. They bear fruit in the third year after planting. According to the ripening period, they are classified as mid-late varieties. They are hardy and do not require special growing conditions. You can achieve productivity of up to 13 kg of berries per bush. Tasting ball of Finnish gooseberries - more than 4.5.

Main pros and cons

During breeding, Finnish varieties have achieved resistance to many diseases characteristic of gooseberries. They are highly resistant to powdery mildew, including spheroteca and mildew. Resistance to other fungal diseases is average.

Frost-resistant varieties. Withstands temperatures down to -30 degrees. They bear fruit consistently, do not fall off if properly cared for, and take root well. The berries are sweet and versatile in use.

Main disadvantages:

• prickliness;
• average size and weight of berries.

It is generally accepted that thorny varieties, which include Finnish gooseberries, have sweeter berries than thornless varieties.

How to grow a crop

To grow a healthy plant with high yields, you should not only follow the planting rules, but also choose high-quality planting material and properly prepare the soil. The same recommendations apply to Finnish varieties as for other varieties.

Disembarkation time

Finnish gooseberries can be planted in both spring and autumn. Autumn (until mid-October) is the more preferable time for planting. Before the onset of frost, gooseberries form young roots, which contributes to better survival.

Due to the early growing season, the time for spring planting is limited to March - early April. When planted at a later date, the plants develop worse and begin to bear fruit later.

Soil preparation

The choice of planting site and soil preparation is one of the determining factors in the yield of Finnish gooseberry varieties. There are rules common to these varieties:

1. The planting area should be level, well lit, and moderately moist. A slope of 1-3 degrees is allowed. The occurrence of groundwater is no closer than 1 m from the surface.
2. Row crops (corn, beets, potatoes), annual and perennial grasses, and black fallow are considered good predecessors.
3. The variety is suitable for fertile, loose loamy soils. You should start preparing the soil 1-2 years before planting. To do this, they fight weeds, apply organic fertilizers, and lime acidic soils.
4. In the year of planting in September, the soil is dug up with the addition of organic fertilizers (compost or manure), superphosphate, and potassium salt. You can sow green manure on the site.

Planting in shaded areas with high groundwater levels or in wetlands leads to poor development of gooseberries and causes disease.

Selection of planting material

For planting, use healthy seedlings that meet the following requirements:

• the ground part should consist of three strong shoots with a basal stem diameter of about 1 cm;
• The root system must be developed, the length of the roots is 20-30 cm.

High quality planting material is a prerequisite for good survival of the variety.

Planting process

The planting process is normal for gooseberries. Planting should be done in the following sequence:

1. Prepare furrows (width 40 cm, depth 25-30 cm) or holes (width 40 cm, length 30-50 cm, depth up to 40 cm). Form rows at a distance of 3-3.5 m from each other.
2. Straighten the roots of the seedling. Place the plant in the hole, sprinkle with fertile soil. Compact the soil around the seedlings and water well (half a bucket of water per bush). Mulch the surface with dry soil, peat mixture or humus.

It is recommended to cut the stems to 5 cm, keeping 3-4 buds per shoot. It is believed that this speeds up the formation of the bush.

Caring for Finnish gooseberries

Finnish gooseberries do not require special care. Proper watering, timely fertilizing and formation of bushes ensure good fruiting and prevent diseases.

Watering rules

In order to retain moisture as much as possible, it is recommended to cultivate the soil around the bushes every spring. You can water with cold water from a borehole or well, but the fruits will ripen several days later than if watered with warmer water. For irrigation you will need less than 30-40 liters of water per 1 square meter. m.In case of dry weather, hydration is mandatory at the following stages:

• formation of berries after flowering;
• 1-2 weeks before harvest;
• after the harvest is harvested.

Optimal watering methods for Finnish gooseberries:

• from a ditch - water fills a small ditch formed by pouring a 10-15 cm roller out of the ground at a distance of 40 cm from the plant;
• drip - water is supplied from drip irrigation systems laid at a distance of 15-20 cm from the row.

Irrigation using sprinkling and flood methods is uneconomical and does not provide uniform distribution of moisture.

Fertilizer application

Feeding should be systematic and gradual. Three steps are recommended:

1. At the stage of bush formation, a solution with urea and nitrophoska is added.
2. Feeding with potassium sulfate or a special nutrient mixture for gooseberries during flowering.
3. During the period of active growth and fruit formation, it is useful to feed with nitrophoska and potassium humate.

For gooseberries, it is recommended to avoid the use of fertilizers containing chlorine; wood ash is a good food, to which lime can be added to reduce the acidity of the soil.

Trimming and shaping

The purpose of pruning is to properly form the crown of the bush and reduce its density. When pruning varieties of Finnish selection, the following rules should be followed:

• do pruning in autumn or early spring;
• Shoots 5-7 years old are valuable;
• small shoots and shoots older than eight years should be cut off;
• from the age of five to six, it is recommended to remove 3-4 old branches with weak fruiting and growth of less than 30 cm.

Sometimes gardeners trim the green tips of shoots in the summer to increase the size of the berries.

Protection from diseases and pests

Varieties of Finnish selection are resistant to most types of diseases characteristic of gooseberries. If infection occurs, you can use:

• fungicides “Titul”, “Topaz”, “Karatan”;
• insecticides, for example, “Bitoxibacillin”, “Fufanon”, “Aktellik”.

It is recommended to grow gooseberries in one place for up to 10 years. To prevent diseases, bushes should not be allowed to thicken. Every year it is necessary to normalize the shoots and carry out sanitary pruning. It is not recommended to irrigate by sprinkling. Moisture getting on leaves and berries can cause fungal diseases.

Reproduction of the variety

Finnish gooseberry varieties are propagated:

• layering;
• cuttings;
• dividing the bush.

Reproduction by layering is a simple and affordable method. For propagation, two-year-old shoots located near the soil are selected. Next you need:

1. Make a groove near the shoot and loosen the soil in it.
2. Bend the shoot to the groove and secure it with staples.
3. Sprinkle the shoot with soil, forming a mound.
4. Use pruning shears to shorten the shoot by 20%.

The soil in the area where the shoot is located should be kept slightly moist.

Cleaning and storage

Cleaning should be done on a clear, dry day. The berries of the varieties of Finnish selection are soft and juicy. Therefore, mechanical assembly is unacceptable for them. Due to the thorniness, harvesting the berries becomes more difficult.

To soften the gooseberry thorns, 2 hours before harvesting, water the bush generously from a watering can, including over the leaves. To avoid getting pricked, you should wear long sleeves and thick gloves when working.

The berries are removed from the bush along with the stalk and pricked into dry, shallow containers. Ripe berries are stored in a cool place for up to 5 days. Unripe berries can be stored for up to 10 days. You can increase the shelf life by freezing or drying gooseberries. Jams, preserves, and compotes are made from gooseberries.