Gooseberry Consul appeared about 30 years ago, but has already made itself known among lovers of berry culture. A well-developed immune system, unpretentiousness to the earth and the absence of thorns attract amateur gardeners who are happy to take up the cultivation of the species.
Description and characteristics of gooseberries
The breeders were faced with the task of creating gooseberries for growing in the harsh conditions of the Middle Strip. The experiment was successful. The parents of the hybrid are African and Chelyabinsk green. The obtained variety, Consul or Senator, in 1995 was entered in the state register.
Gooseberry Consul
Characteristics of the bushes
Consul is a shrub 1.8 m high with a thick spreading crown. The branches of the hybrid are straight or slightly concave of medium thickness with a red-brown bark at the base. The root system of the variety is highly branched.
The leaves of bright green color are small and wrinkled. Prickly variety is small. One or two spikes appear on the annual shoots, but later disappear. Inflorescences are single-flowered and two-flowered.
Characteristics of berries
Gooseberry fruits of medium size rounded. The mass is 2.5-6.5 g. Bright red berries when ripe become burgundy. The skin is thin, vulnerable. The pulp is transparent and juicy. The berries taste sweet with a slight acidity.
Gooseberry Consul
Grade Features
Gooseberry non-bearing Consul (or Senator) is convenient for growing on personal farms. Even an inexperienced gardener can get a good harvest. And all because the variety does not need special care, takes up little space, is resistant to disease, drought and frost.
Ripening period and yield
Gooseberry Senator, as described, is a high-yielding variety. Observing the conditions of agricultural technology, from 1 ha receive up to 20 tons of berries. 3 kg per season are removed from one bush already in the first year of fruiting. In the future, the yield grows.
In areas with a subtropical climate, gooseberries bloom at the end of May. From the end of July until mid-August they harvest. Berries are removed as they ripen.
Drought and frost resistance
Gooseberry Consul is a frost-resistant plant. The temperature at −30 ° C is not scary for the bush. And the early frosts for the Consul are not critical.
Important! Summer drought is not suitable for gooseberries. To protect the culture from heat, gooseberries are regularly watered.
Resistance to diseases and pests
Due to the developed immune system, the Senator is indifferent to common diseases and garden pests. He does not suffer from powdery mildew, sawfly and septoria. And the attack of aphids and fires is stopped with natural preparations, without resorting to insecticides.
Taste qualities
Due to the taste characteristics, sweet and juicy pulp, thin skin, the berry is used in home cooking. They make jam and jams from it, eat fresh, roll compotes. The berries are so vulnerable that they do not tolerate transportation. They are rarely transported over long distances and need quick home processing.
Gooseberry Jam Consul
Berry use
In cosmetology, gooseberry juice is used as a mask for the skin from wrinkles and pigmentation. Traditional medicine is attracted by the composition of berries and the ability to help a person in the fight against diseases of the kidneys, liver and nervous system.
For your information! Gooseberries are high in ascorbic acid. 100 g of crude product contains 25.7 mg of vitamin C and 6.7% of sugars.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
Senator Advantages:
- high productivity;
- frost resistance;
- drought tolerance;
- self-pollination;
- lack of thorns;
- good taste;
- resistance to diseases and pests;
- unpretentiousness to the soil and leaving.
- universality in use.
But there are also disadvantages:
- poor portability of transportation;
- hypersensitivity to winds and drafts;
- susceptibility to drought.
As can be seen from the description of the variety, the gooseberry consul deserves attention and is grown not only in the Middle lane.
Planting young seedlings on the site
The best option for growing - finished seedlings.
Selection and preparation of seedlings
Planting material is bought in nurseries. Characteristics of seedlings:
- age not less than a year;
- the roots are dense, without damage and signs of peeling;
- the two-year-old sapling has an earthen lump, a smooth root neck with no signs of decay and two to three branches with buds on it;
- in annuals, one shoot is 10-15 cm long.
Important! After purchase, the roots are treated with water, mullein and clay. Then tied with packaging cloth.
Time and landing pattern
Gooseberries are planted in early March, when the snow melts and the temperature rises above 4-6 ° C, or at the end of September 1-1.5 months before the first frosts.
Planting is carried out according to the scheme: pit 50 × 60 cm. The distance between the seedlings is 1.5 m.
Choosing a landing place
Consul bushes love sunlight, so they choose a landing site from the south side in a calm area, since strong winds slow down the growth of seedlings.
Site preparation
The ground for landing is selected loose, passing air. The culture gravitates to medium loamy soils with an acidity of up to 5.5 and groundwater at a depth of more than 2 m. A large accumulation of water is fraught with rotting of the roots.
Note! Sandy, clayey, marshy soil types are not suitable for gooseberry Senator. The variety negatively reacts to acidic soil.
Landing process
Landing algorithm:
- Prepare the wells according to the scheme.
- Pit peat fertilizer or humus.
- Add 50 g of superphosphate and potassium salts.
- To clear a seedling of dry shoots, cut branches by a third.
- Place the seedling in the hole, straighten the roots.
- Sprinkle with soil, deepening the root neck by 6 cm.
- Tamp the ground with your hands.
- Pour under a root a half bucket of defended water.
- Mulch the soil with straw, pine needles, sawdust.
Before planting, seedlings can withstand 2 hours in a growth stimulator.
Features of seasonal care
Watering and feeding
Over the summer, watered three times: at the beginning of flowering, during the ripening period of berries and in early autumn. Fluid flow 5 l per bush. Water is excluded from foliage.
Young gooseberry seedlings Consul
Gooseberries react positively to top dressing. Fertilizers are applied three times per season:
- When the first leaves appear. Top dressing: 10 l of water, 2 tbsp. tablespoons nitrofoski, 1 tbsp. a spoon of urea. A bush requires 15 liters of composition.
- During flowering. Solution: 10 l of water, 1 tbsp. spoon of potassium sulfate, 2 tbsp. spoons of complex dressing for berries. 25 l of the composition is spent on the plant, alternating with watering.
- At the stage of ovary formation. Composition: 10 l of water, 1 tbsp. spoon of nitrophoska, 2 tbsp. tablespoons of potassium humate. For one plant, 30 l of the mixture is used in several runs, alternating with watering.
Important! The procedure is carried out in the early morning or late evening.
Mulching and cultivation
Twice a year, the soil around the gooseberries is dug up to a depth of 10-15 cm. The trunk circle is loosened every 3-4 weeks.
Loosening is accompanied by mulching to preserve moisture, protect against weeds. They use straw, manure, sawdust, leaves.
Use of props
Youngsters need backups. Suitable wooden stakes, mesh, dug in the ground. Designs protect the branches from touching the ground and rotting berries. As the bush grows and grows, the branches are tied to the supports.
Preventative treatment
Gooseberry Consul is resistant to pests and diseases. Therefore, for preventive measures, fungicides and insecticides are not used. Trimming and weeding is enough.
Pruning
The first pruning is done when landing. Bushes are exempted from sick and dry branches. Cut the seedling branches to a third of the length.
Later, the branches are cut off, overgrown and obscuring the sunlight. After the procedure, the soil is loosened.
Winter preparations
Gooseberries do not need winter shelter. The list of preparations for the winter:
- sanitary pruning;
- spraying from pests;
- feeding;
- disposal of garbage.
Important! In severe frosts, annual bushes are covered with special material, after lowering the branches down and fixing them in this position.
Breeding
The variety propagates in two ways.
Cuttings
The procedure is carried out from July to the first days of autumn. A branch of 15 cm long with two buds is cut from a branch and treated with a root growth stimulator. Then, at an angle of 45 ° it is introduced into the soil until the kidneys remain above the ground. Water regularly.
Gooseberry propagation by cuttings
Layering
To obtain seedlings, annual branches are bent to the ground, fixed with metal brackets and sprinkled with earth. Systematically watered. Rooted sprouts are separated from the mother bush and planted in another place.
Pest and Disease Control
Gooseberry Consul sometimes needs protection against certain diseases and parasites.
How to help culture:
- columnar rust and anthracnose. Sprayed before flowering and after harvesting with cuprosan or 1% solution of Bordeaux fluid;
- ognevka and gooseberry aphids. The drugs will help: intavir (dissolve 2 tablets per bucket of water) or karbofos (60 g per 10 liters of water);
- spider mite. Actelik is cured with the drug, 2 ml of which is diluted in 2 liters of liquid. Due to the toxicity of the drug, another agent is used near the ponds.
Gooseberry Consul (Senator)
Gooseberry Senator is convenient for growing at home due to high productivity, lack of thorns. The consul does not need pollinators, tolerates drought and frost well, does not require special attention to care. It is grown everywhere.
