Each gardener seeks to plant the best plant varieties on the site in order to enjoy a stable and good crop. One of the favorite bush crops is gooseberry Senator (Consul). But in order to collect sweet and large berries every year, it is important to know the subtleties of growing this variety.
Selection history
Gooseberry Senator, or as it is also called, Consul, is quite popular among mid-ripening varieties, which was obtained at the URII fruit and vegetable growing and potato growing in Chelyabinsk. When breeding, grandparents were involved: African and Chelyabinsk green. The author of the development is V. S. Ilyin.
Gooseberry Senator - variety of domestic selection
The goal of creating a new gooseberry variety was to obtain a culture devoid of thorns, which would perfectly tolerate conditions of severe frost and aridity. As a result, in 1995, the Senator was included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements. It yielded a plentiful harvest, had high winter hardiness, and at the same time it was practically breathless.
The senator variety is zoned in the West Siberian, Ural, Far Eastern and Volga-Vyatka regions.
Gooseberry Senator (Consul) Characteristics
Gooseberry Senator refers to winter-hardy and springless crops
The variety belongs to winter-hardy crops with sprawling, dense and vigorous bushes. Its characteristic features include the following:
- The branches of a bush of medium thickness, can be smooth or slightly curved, have a dark green color. Shoots older than two years of age are characterized by a brownish tint, usually at the base. There is no pubescence.
- Spikes are practically absent. On annual branches can be located singly, mainly in the lower part of the bush. In the second year, the prickle subsides, the shoots become completely smooth.
- The type of inflorescences is one or two-flowered. The flowers are bisexual, reddish in color. Sepals are pink in color, narrow in shape. The length is average.
- Leafy leaves, medium size (up to 6 cm long). They have a heart-ovoid shape. Plate with 3-5 blades, dull color, short pubescence. The central lobe is larger than the lateral ones, has bent edges with an angle of inclination to the middle vein.
- The senator's berries are round, large. Average weight 6-8 g, have a dark red color. There are practically no seeds. They have a pleasant sweet and sour taste. According to the tasting scale, they are rated at 4.9 points out of 5.
- The kidneys have a slight pubescence along the edge, a brownish tint, small size. The shape is oval, slightly deviated from the base of the shoot.
The Senator variety has a high self-fertility (44.7%), the ripening of berries begins at the end of July. The first few years after planting, you can collect up to 4 kg of crop from one bush, after which the number of fruits increases to 7-8 kg.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
The variety is distinguished by endurance, unpretentiousness and abundant productivity.
Gooseberry Senator has the following advantages:
- resistance to powdery mildew;
- universality of application;
- high productivity;
- almost complete nonship;
- resistance to drought and low temperatures;
- dessert taste of berries;
- resistance of flowers to late spring frosts.
Disadvantages:
- poor transport performance (due to the thin skin of the berries);
- medium resistance to septoria, spotting and sawfly.
Features of planting and growing
The rules for planting gooseberries Senator are quite simple, and even a beginner can easily cope with this task. In general, culture is considered unpretentious, but if you do not take into account a number of features in agricultural technology, you are unlikely to enjoy a rich harvest and an unsurpassed taste of healthy berries.
Seat selection
For gooseberries, you should choose a well-lit place that will be protected from strong gusts of wind. Let it be protected by low buildings or other plants. The main thing is that the sun's rays freely fall on the bush.
Gooseberries love sunny places without wind
Avoid areas where moisture stagnates, otherwise the root system will rot. The optimal indicator of groundwater occurrence is 2 m. The senator is well established in fertile medium loamy soil. Optimum soil acidity - up to 5.5 pH. Earth must also be breathable.
Gooseberries do not tolerate acidic, cold and swampy soils. And clay and sandy soil are not suitable for him.
It is not recommended to plant the crop in places where currants or raspberries used to grow. They leave behind a very exhausted infertile soil in which gooseberries cannot fully develop.
Seedling Selection
Seedlings must have a developed root system
Choosing a suitable gooseberry seedling is a simple matter. Before buying, carefully inspect the root system, since the success of further development of the bush will depend on its development. A large number of fibrous roots absorbing moisture is your guarantee that the seedling will take root well and give rapid growth in the first years after planting. Also, the system should have at least 3-5 lignified processes, at least 10 cm long.
If you get an annual seedling, then one shoot is possible. But on a two-year shrub there should be 2-3 developed branches, at least 30 cm long.
For transportation, the root system is dipped in a special talker (water, clay and mullein, mixed in equal proportions), and then wrapped in burlap. This will help protect the young bush from drying out.
Step-by-step landing instructions
Gooseberries Senator planted in the fall (late September - early October). The root system of culture is quite powerful. In this case, the largest number of processes is located near the central part of the bush (at a distance of 20-25 cm). In young gooseberries, 80% of all roots are in the soil layer up to 25 cm, and in the fruit bearing - up to 45-65 cm. The size of the landing pit that needs to be made will depend on this.
Landing is done in light loam with good aeration.
The process of planting a bush is carried out in the following sequence of actions:
- First of all, dig a hole 60-70 cm wide and 45-50 cm deep. A distance of 1.5 m from each other should be observed between the bushes.
- Then you need to make fertilizing. 8-10 kg of rotted manure, 2 kg of peat, wood ash (300 g) and limestone (350 g) are placed in each pit. Peat will contribute to better soil aeration.
- Leave the fertilizer pit overnight for all components to take effect. At this time, you need to soak the gooseberry seedling in a special solution. It is prepared from potassium humate (5 tbsp. L.) And water (5 l.). The substances are mixed in a deep container, where the roots of planting material are then placed for 1 day. This technique contributes to better survival of the plant.
- After the specified time, you can begin to plant a bush. The seedling is placed vertically in the pit. The root neck should be 6-8 cm deep.
- Sprinkle on top with soil and compact.
- In conclusion, each bush should be watered with five liters of water.
Video: the nuances of planting gooseberries
Plant care
At the end of all planting, you should pay attention to caring for the new inhabitant of your garden. In order for the gooseberry to take root well and give subsequently a plentiful harvest, you need to regularly water, fertilize and trim the plant.
Proper care is the key to the formation of a large and tasty crop
Hilling
Gooseberry Senator loves loose "breathing" soil. Therefore, the soil around the bush is dug up to a depth of 12-15 cm. The first time the procedure is performed in early spring, as soon as the snow cover is gone. In the future, hilling is carried out once a month, starting from June until the end of the fruiting period.
Gooseberry dressing
Gooseberry Senator responds well to fertilizers, bringing a sweet and plentiful berry crop. The feeding process is carried out according to a certain scheme. Fertilizers are applied three times during the season:
- The first top dressing is performed at the stage of leaf formation. You will need a solution prepared from 1 tbsp. l urea, 2 tbsp. l nitrophosk diluted in 10 l of water. The norm for one bush is 15-20 liters of composition.
- The next portion of fertilizer is applied at the gooseberry flowering stage. To do this, you need a solution of 2 tbsp. l mix "Berry" and 1 tbsp. l potassium sulfate, diluted in 10 liters of water. The norm for one bush is 25-30 liters of solution.
- The third top dressing is introduced at the stage of the appearance of the ovaries. You will need 1 tbsp. l nitrofoski, 2 tbsp. l potassium humate, diluted in 10 liters of water. The norm for one bush is 30 liters.
Proper watering of the plant
Watering is carried out 1 time in 2 weeks, since the culture does not tolerate excess moisture. For one bush you will need 1 bucket of water. It is very important not to skip watering from July to August, when the gooseberry bears fruit and at the same time buds are laid to form the future crop.
Water is brought in from a hose or watering can without a sprayer under the root of the bush. Carefully watch that the stream does not erode the soil, especially in young immature shrubs.
The best time for watering is morning or evening hours, because this way you can minimize the risk of burns.
Despite the fact that the Senator variety is positioned as drought tolerant, regular watering will allow you to improve the taste characteristics of berries
Pruning bushes
Proper pruning of a gooseberry bush will help increase crop productivity and the size of berries, and will also serve as a preventive measure for the appearance of diseases.
The procedure is performed in the following sequence:
- The first time the branches of a young seedling are cut off when planting, removing 1/3 of the length. This technique will help the plant to cluster faster.
- Then pruning is done in early spring (until the buds open). Remove weak and diseased shoots.
- After that, gardeners make regular preventive pruning of the bush, removing old, crooked branches, as well as those that lead to excessive thickening and do not produce many berries, as they form.
The shoots are completely removed; hemp should not be left.
A properly trimmed gooseberry should have 2-3 strong branches of each age (for example, 2 one-year-olds, 2-3 two-year-olds, 2-3 three-year-olds, etc.). As a result, there will remain about 15-20 productive shoots that will delight you with a stable crop.
Pruning allows the bushes to form crops on strong shoots
Video: pruning gooseberries in the fall
Gardeners reviews
Everyone in our family loves gooseberries, so there isn’t much of it. So far, Beryl, Russian yellow, Kolobok, Consul, Krasnoslavyansky, Affectionate, Prunes, Grushenka has planted. Green bottle (I call him Kryzhik. Ira, thanks a lot for him) and a few more unidentified. All tasty, fruitful, but Grushenka was the most fruitful of all, the berries are not large, but there were so many!
Semenovna//forum.prihoz.ru/viewtopic.php?t=1690&start=360
I have 2 varieties of studless gooseberries - Senator and President. But they have no thorns only on young branches, but on the old ones there are, although not many.
Olga//dachniku-udachi.ru/kryizhovnik-bez-shipov.html
He consul in the local nursery, but he doesn’t really get under the description, the berries are larger than the declared ones, vigorous, fruitful. The taste is average.
Elvir//forum.vinograd.info/archive/index.php?t-427-p-5.html
Gooseberry Senator - a successful result of the work of breeders, who set the goal to create a hardy and unpretentious to the growing conditions of the culture, which will give a rich and tasty harvest. This variety has many advantages and requires minimal maintenance. At the same time, Senator gooseberries are universal. They are suitable both for fresh consumption and for the preparation of all kinds of jams, preserves, compotes and other goodies.
