Honeysuckle varieties include plants with edible and inedible fruits. They are distinguished by the color of the berries. Honeysuckle fruits contain many vitamins and beneficial microelements.
Gardeners are drawn to edible honeysuckle because planting, care, and propagation require little skill. The shrub thrives in a variety of soils and weather conditions, is frost-resistant, and produces a bountiful harvest of interestingly shaped, seeded fruits.
The berries contain glucose, fructose, and sucrose. They have medicinal properties and are used in cooking and folk medicine. There are about two hundred varieties of these easy-to-grow wild and cultivated shrubs. All are early-ripening, with the fruit ripening by the end of May, but the shrub bears fruit throughout the growing season, and the ripening berries delight gardeners with an excellent harvest until the end of summer.
Honeysuckle varieties
All edible shrub varieties are self-pollinating. The berries have an interesting color and flavor. Shrubs are also used to decorate gardens, create hedges, or integrate them into the overall landscape.
Climbing varieties of the plant beautifully decorate arches, gazebos, and building facades. Edible honeysuckle is easy to plant, care for, and propagate. The photo shows a variety of this shrub.
Shrub varieties:
- Bogdana. This is a hybrid created by crossbreeding. It's a low-growing shrub with a compact crown. It produces large, oval-shaped fruits in lilac or purple hues. The berries have a sweet and sour flavor.
- Long-fruited. A low-growing shrub with a spreading crown, creating an almost perfectly round shape. It bears large, cylindrical berries with a sweet and sour taste.
- Talisman. Prized by gardeners for its high yield. The bushes grow up to 2 meters tall, producing medium-sized fruits. They have a delicate dessert flavor and make excellent preserves and jellies.
- Bakcharsky Giant. A shrub up to 2 meters tall, the crown is beautifully oval. The berries are bright blue. It is resistant to diseases and pests.
- Cinderella. It has a distinctive strawberry-like flavor and can be eaten raw.
Edible honeysuckle berries are used in the preparation of preserves and wine.
Fresh berries should not be eaten by children under 5 years of age.
You may be interested in:Planting honeysuckle in the garden
Experienced gardeners recommend using low-growing bushes for initial plantings of edible honeysuckle, as they are the easiest to care for. Choose bushes up to 1.5 meters tall, and purchase several varieties at once to ensure cross-pollination.
Seedlings require a location with full sun throughout the day. Honeysuckle thrives in any soil, but dry sand and swampy areas with standing water should be avoided.
Bushes are usually planted in the spring, before the buds swell, when nighttime temperatures remain consistently warm. If seedlings are purchased in the fall, they need to be planted so their roots can establish themselves before the first frost.
Therefore, edible honeysuckle is actively cultivated in Kuban, where it is used for planting, care and reproductionnature has created favorable conditions.
To create a honeysuckle garden, it is planted in a square-nested pattern, according to a 40x40x40 cm pattern, with a distance between bushes of no more than 1.5 m, between rows - no less than 2 meters.
To ensure full growth and active fruiting, prepare a backfill for each hole:
- rotted manure – 10 parts of the total amount of backfill;
- superphosphate – 100 g;
- potassium sulfate – 30-50 g;
- wood ash – 300-400 g.
Mix all the ingredients together, pile them into a mound, and place the seedling's roots on top, making sure not to bend them. Cover with soil and compact it lightly. Then water thoroughly.
Care and propagation of honeysuckle
Honeysuckle takes root well and grows vigorously. During the first year after planting, it is recommended to fertilize the seedlings every two weeks. Nitrogen-based fertilizers are suitable.
To prepare a beneficial mixture, add 30 grams of ammonium nitrate or urea to 10 liters of water. Divide this solution into 1 liter per bush, applying it to the roots of the seedlings.
In summer, the bushes need to be watered generously. Loosen the soil around the seedling so as not to disturb the roots with sharp tools.
Starting in their second year of growth, shrubs are fertilized every 2-3 years; they don't require more frequent feeding. In the spring, a small amount of rotted manure is added to the plants, and in the fall, closer to frost, the trunks are sprinkled with wood ash.
In the middle of summer, plants should be sprayed using the following preparations:
- Master.
- Solution.
- Epin.
- Aquarin.
For every 10 liters of water, add 20 g of one of the products and stir until completely dissolved. Spray the bushes in calm weather.
Honeysuckle is propagated by cuttings, division, or layering. By late autumn, the layers are dug in, selecting strong side branches for them. By spring, the layers have established their root system and become well established.
A young seedling will appear after two years. Propagating edible honeysuckle by cuttings requires skill in planting and caring for different types of cuttings.
You may be interested in:Cuttings are taken from green or woody parts of the plant. Green cuttings are taken in cloudy weather, after the first berries appear. Strong shoots are cut at an angle, and the knife is disinfected before use.
A young branch is divided into several cuttings with 2-3 buds. The leaves are removed from the cuttings, they are soaked in water for 24 hours, and then planted.
For the winter, the area with the planted cuttings is covered. In the spring, strong, well-rooted cuttings are transplanted to a new location.
Woody cuttings are taken in the fall, selecting strong, one-year-old shoots with 2-3 buds. The prepared material is wrapped in a wet bag and covered with sand or sawdust. In the warm spring, they are planted in the ground at a 45-degree angle, leaving one bud above the surface. This propagation method has the lowest survival rate.
Propagation of edible honeysuckleRegardless of its variety, planting and caring for new seedlings requires knowledge of the procedure and rules for propagating shrubs.
Honeysuckle is propagated by dividing the bushes. The bushes are usually completely dug up when moving to a new location. This is a convenient time to carefully divide the rhizome, often resulting in three or even four young seedlings instead of two. These are replanted in the new location according to the general rules.
Diseases and pests of honeysuckle
Plants need to be protected from diseases and various pests. Many gardeners perform preventative treatments on their shrubs. When the first signs of disease or insect infestation appear, special treatments are necessary.
Typical insect damage to honeysuckle:
- Aphids. They nest tightly on branches and the lower parts of foliage, sucking the plant's sap. This causes the bush to turn pale and wilt. As a preventative measure, spring treatments with Eleksar, Confidor, Karate, and Actellic are recommended. There are also folk remedies for repelling these small pests: spray the bushes with a solution infused with onions, garlic, pepper, and tobacco. Pine extract, chamomile, and celandine infusions have also been used successfully.
- Leaf roller. Its infestation is immediately noticeable: the leaves curl into tubes. In early spring, bushes are treated against this pest with solutions of Fuvanol, Aktara, and the biological products Lepidocide and Biotlin.
- Cherry fruit fly. It lays white larvae on all parts of the plant. These larvae damage the bushes, and when they mature into worms, they consume the berries. The entire bush is generally affected. Cherry fruit fly control is achieved with insecticides.
There are many methods for getting rid of insects (folk remedies, chemicals). They must be chosen wisely to ensure they are suitable for the specific pest.
The diseases affecting honeysuckle are the same as those affecting other crops. Experienced gardeners are familiar with the problems and treatments using folk remedies and chemicals.
The main diseases of honeysuckle:
- Mosaic. Its symptoms include the appearance of bright yellow spots on the leaves. This disease is incurable; the entire plant must be quickly uprooted and burned.
- Ramularia. Symptoms: Cool, damp weather causes gray and brown spots with a white coating to appear on the leaves. Treat the plant by spraying and watering with Fundazol, Oxychom, and Horus.
- Powdery mildew.
- Sooty mold.
- Cercospora leaf spot.
- Rust.
Any honeysuckle disease can be prevented with proper planting, care, and treatment with various chemicals. Honeysuckle thrives in cold climates, and planting it in the central and southern latitudes of Russia is a popular choice for gardeners who are prepared to provide proper care for the shrub.
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