The gooseberry variety Candy was obtained at the South Ural Research Institute of Horticulture at the beginning of the XXI century and officially registered in 2008. From that moment on, its testing began in private farms among lovers of berry crops. This variety only responds positively. Why? Is it very good or poorly understood? Let's together analyze all the advantages and disadvantages of Candy and give a balanced assessment: to groom and cherish or not to plant.
Feature, description
Curšu Dzintars is a fairly early maturing variety, compact in size, with slightly spreading branches. According to the description, its shoots are straight and medium-spine. The color of the leaves is dull green, with a characteristic yellowness at the base. The lower part is slightly pubescent.
The fruit itself is yellow or honey-golden in color, with a shiny and not thick skin. The size is small (2.5–3.0 g), but at the same time it is fragrant and sweet. The berries are well stored and do not lose their presentation even during transportation. They can be used both raw and canned.
What is this gooseberry variety
Kursu Dzintars was bred by Latvian breeders. It was obtained by crossing two other Baltic varieties Pellervo and Stern Razhig.
It is not listed in the register of breeding achievements of the Russian Federation, but successfully passed tests in the Republic of Belarus (1997) in conditions corresponding to the climate of central Russia.
Pros and cons
Like any plant, this gooseberry has its own advantages and disadvantages. But it is precisely for its positive qualities that it is very popular in Europe, among gardeners and farmers.
Drought resistance, frost resistance
Gooseberries are easy to care for and perfectly adapt to any climatic conditions. It is highly winter-hardy, easily tolerates low temperatures, but it should be watered regularly.
Important! In a too dry summer, the amount of watering should be increased up to 2-3 times, but do not overdo it. Waterlogging of the root collar is fraught with diseases of the bush.
Productivity and fruiting
The variety bears excellent fruit and does not require additional pollinators.... A stable yield begins already in the second or third year. This variety is self-fertile in some way. Its life cycle is over 30 years. Plus, ripening occurs early enough.
Video: Kushu Dzintars gooseberry variety
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
The advantages of the variety:
- stable yield (the ability to bear fruit for years and decades in a row without losing the volume of the harvested crop);
- pleasant, decorative look of the bush;
- pleasant taste of berries;
- resistance to harsh winter conditions;
- good immunity to common gooseberry diseases.
There are fewer cons:
- relatively small berries;
- a large number of sharp thorns.
Landing
It is important to choose the right landing site. If there is not enough light, fertility will decrease significantly, and the berry becomes smaller. With an excess of moisture, the root collar rots, as a result of which the plant dies. The location of groundwater should not be high. Clay soil is also not suitable.
We advise you to find out in more detail how to plant gooseberries correctly and at what distance.
Timing
It is worth planting seedlings with an open root system in spring or autumn. It is important to have time to do this on time, since the favorable period for the plant is very fleeting. If you decide to plant gooseberries in the spring, you must do this immediately after the soil thaws, and before the buds begin to swell. The interval can be made small. In the fall, you will have more time to land. The most important thing is to complete the work 3 or 4 weeks before the very first frost.
Choosing the right place
This point needs to be paid attention. The area should not be too dark or waterlogged. If you choose the wrong place, the fruits will be small and as a result, they will disappear altogether.
Did you know? The berry contains a large amount of pectins, which remove toxins, toxins, and heavy metals from the body.
Selection and preparation of planting material
Before planting, the seedling should be kept in a root formation stimulator for a day. Those roots that have dried up, as well as the tops of the branches, will need to be cut off. Each shoot often retains more than 5–6 buds. The seedling will need to be installed in a mixture of soil and fertilizer (wood ash, potassium sulfate, superphosphate, compost).
As soon as the roots spread out along the slopes of the mound, they can be covered with earth and lightly tamped the soil. In this case, the root collar should be 5–7 cm below ground level. Upon completion, the plant should be watered abundantly.
Landing scheme
Before planting, the area should be carefully planned out. Due to the compact size of Kursu Dzintars, the spacing between plants can be maintained at 1.0–1.3 m. As for the rows, 1.5–2.0 m will be sufficient. Pits should be prepared in advance. For spring planting - in autumn, and for autumn planting - in a month. As for the size of the holes themselves, the ideal option is 40 × 40 × 40 cm.
Growing and care:
Agrotechnics of gooseberry Candy is not complicated and includes typical activities in the form of pruning, watering and feeding. When they are done, the gooseberry will quickly gain green mass and bring stable yields.
Watering
The gooseberry variety Candy has a superficial root system. Since he cannot extract moisture from the deep layers of the soil, regular watering is simply necessary for him. Watering is desirable with rain or settled, warm water. Particularly abundant watering is recommended during the flowering period (at least once every 7 days). Prolonged droughts have a negative impact on yields.
Pruning
In early spring, frozen branches and root shoots are removed. Pruning should be carried out during the period until the buds have swollen and sap flow has not begun, otherwise the plant will hurt and recover for a long time.
In the fall, cut off old, diseased, twisted or laterally growing shoots. Branches older than 7 years are pruned, which are cut at the root, anyway, you cannot get a crop on them. Pruning stimulates the growth of new shoots and also improves the access of light and air to the remaining branches. Gooseberry variety Candy should be formed from 11-15 shoots of different ages, 2-3 stems of each age.
Pruning is done annually. Places of cuts are processed with garden varnish.
On a note! To prevent the lower branches of adult plants from hanging to the ground, it is better to make special supports from scrap materials.
Top dressing
Top dressing is used twice a year: during the period of ovary formation and before wintering. From organic matter, manure is used, which is brought in liquid in the spring (1 kg per bucket of water), and in the fall in rotten form for digging the soil.
Spring mineral dressing is urea, which is necessary for the growth of green mass, and in the fall - superphosphate and potassium sulfate, so that the gooseberry bush gets stronger and winters well.
Preparing for winter
In autumn, the Candy bushes need to be shed well. In October, several buckets of water are poured under it, which significantly increases winter hardiness. Autumn dressing is also important, which is applied for digging (the "Autumn" fertilizer is recommended).
It is advisable to shed the near-trunk circle under the gooseberry with pink potassium permanganate to prevent diseases and pests.Also, measures to prepare for the winter include sanitary pruning and mulching of the trunk circle with humus or peat.
When the winter is snowy, then a snowy "pillow" is thrown over the bushes. With forecasts foreshadowing winters with little snow, the Candy gooseberry is wrapped in any covering material.
Features of seasonal care
Gooseberry is an unpretentious culture, but it requires attention. If you follow the basic rules, then you can count on high yields.
Soil care
In order for the soil to be filled with oxygen, it should be periodically loosened. Since the root system is close to the surface, you should not go deeper than 7 cm. Weeding is carried out only as the weeds grow... In order for moisture not to stagnate, weed harvesting should be carried out constantly. In the spring, you need to moisten the plant once every 2 weeks.... As soon as the fruiting period begins, as well as in case of drought, it should be watered every 6 or 10 days. Irrigate gooseberries until late autumn. Once the crop is harvested, it is enough to do this every 3-4 weeks.
Selection of a further place for the growth of shrubs
In order for the gooseberry shrub you planted to bear fruit in the same quantity as in many photographs on the Internet, you should carefully choose the soil in which it will grow. It is better to give preference to soils, taking into account these criteria:
- soil composition
- enough sunlight
- close location of groundwater
- the presence of hard-to-remove parasites - insects.
It is better to give preference to loamy soil. For excellent fruiting of a shrub, it is necessary to plant it in an area where there is the right amount of sunlight. Growing in partially or completely shaded areas, the shrub will bear smaller fruits. It is worth taking care that strong and cold winds do not blow over the area.
Do not forget about such an important criterion as the presence of groundwater, which should be located seventy-five to ninety centimeters deep. With a higher level of moisture in the soil, the root system will begin to rot and the shrub will soon die. The main root system is stirred in the soil at a depth of thirty centimeters, therefore, with an insufficient amount of moisture, summer residents must constantly moisten the soil and use top dressing.
Harvesting and storage
You can pick berries at different stages of their ripeness, it all depends on what you are going to do with it. For jam, it is better to wait until the stage of technical ripeness, when they are still tough, but have acquired a characteristic color. For consumption, you must wait until full ripeness, when the berries are soft and sweet. If the crop is not harvested on time, the fruits will crack. Fresh berries are stored for no more than 4 days.
The fruits of this gooseberry variety
The main specific property of the fruits of this fruiting shrub is their suitability for inclusion in their diet at all ripening processes. Jam, jams, compotes, marmalades, and baking fillings are made from berries. The fruits of this fruiting shrub can be eaten.
This type of gooseberry is one of the tastiest and sweetest varieties of this plant.
According to many photos on the Internet, it can be said that a fully ripe gooseberry berry becomes large, and its mass usually reaches from three to six grams. The shell of the fruit is thin, pink in color, there is a slight roughness. There are not very many seeds in the gooseberry berry.
Numerous vitamins, useful microelements, sugar, iron and acids are the components of berries. Candy gooseberries produce sour and sweet berries with a delicate aroma. It was rated by gourmets on four points on a five-point system due to its amazing taste.
Preparing for winter
To prepare the plant for winter, it is necessary to cleanse the soil and carefully remove the dry leaves. You should also water the bush abundantly and carry out autumn feeding. For disinfection, you can spray the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate. Naturally, you will need to prune dry or painful branches. At the end, mulching should be carried out around the root with a layer of peat., as well as humus, with a radius of at least 30 cm.
Pest control
The variety is resistant to a large number of harmful insects. But with inadequate care, it can be affected by: gooseberry fireflies, shoot aphids, gooseberry sawflies, spider mites.
For prevention, such measures have a good effect:
- Boiling water treatment after snow melting;
- Lay on the ground, under the bush, dense material so that the pests cannot move to the bush with the onset of heat, after flowering the material can be removed;
- In the fall, huddle bushes 10 - 12 cm high;
- Do not leave berries that have fallen on the ground;
- At the end of flowering, treat the bushes with Bicol;
- Remove all foliage from last year.
If preventive measures have been of little effect, take insecticides. From moths and aphids - Fufanon, Fitoverm. From the sawfly and the tick - Karbofos.
Fight disease
Powdery mildew affects gooseberries most often. If you do not fight it, you will lose your entire crop. Against it, treatment with copper-containing solutions is necessary before and after flowering. Home or Topaz are ready to help with the calculation of 20 g x 5 liters of water.
Less common, but there are cases of infection with the mosaic virus, anthracnose, septoria and goblet rust.
It is better to remove the bush completely from the mosaic. For anthracnose, septoria and goblet rust, sprinkle before the buds open and after 10 days have been harvested with Bordeaux liquid, copper sulfate or Nitrofen.
Reproduction methods
There are many breeding methods, and it is for this variety that the layering method is more often used. It is necessary to prepare planting material in March... The most developed shoots are selected. Then you just need to dig a hole in order to put the shoot in it, deepening it by 10 cm. The root is usually spreading, and in order to stimulate its development, the top of the branch must be pinched.
As a result, about 4–6 young shoots will be obtained on one branch. They will become full-fledged seedlings by the next season.
We recommend reading more about the breeding methods for gooseberries.
Breeding methods:
- Cuttings
- Layers - press the retracted shoot to the soil horizontally or arcuate.
- Gooseberries are propagated by combined or woody cuttings.
- Division of the bush. This method is suitable for bushes that are no more than 5 years old. The shrub is always dug up, and then divided into parts.
- Vertical layering method. To do this, you need to cut off all the old branches in the fall. New ones will grow over the course of the season. The bush must be huddled several times, and the rooted shoots must be planted.
How to properly prepare the soil for planting?
To obtain a large amount of harvest, it is necessary to prepare in advance for changing the place of the seedling. In about twelve months, directly for planting a fruiting shrub of the candy variety, it is worth removing all weeds from the soil, which contribute to the death of a representative of herbaceous crops.
The soil must be endowed with nutrients. After some time, the gooseberry will absorb them along with the moisture. To determine the variety of dressings and portion sizes for a given variety, it is necessary to prepare a soil pH characteristic. For this:
- soil samples are taken from different levels - at a depth of about twenty centimeters and forty centimeters.
- the materials taken are taken to the laboratory of your choice.
- on the basis of the data given to you, documents are issued with advice on the varieties and portions of dressings for this fruiting shrub.
Not every top dressing responds well to other dressings. For example, fertilizers with a high calcium content should not be mixed with fertilizers with a high phosphorus content or organic fertilizers. But fertilizers with a high magnesium content interact well with potassium.
Good soil pH readings for growing this representative of herbaceous crops are considered six and two - six and seven.
Seedlings of a fruiting shrub should be selected according to several criteria: the absence of plant parts affected by fungus or mold, a dried out root system. After purchasing, the branches must be moistened during transportation to a suburban, suburban or personal plot, as well as during storage.
Diseases and pests
Since gooseberry ripening is early and it wakes up earlier than many other crops, many pests take advantage of this. As a rule, it is aphid, firefly, gall midge or mite... In order to quickly get rid of them, the bushes must be sprayed. You can use drugs such as "Tedion", "Zolon", ash infusion or soap foam. It all depends on what kind of pest hit the plant.
Learn how to properly spray gooseberries with Topaz fungicide.
The yield of Kuršu Dzintars always depends on the growing conditions. If properly cared for, the variety will delight you with a rich harvest of tasty and, what is important, healthy berries.
Testimonials
The variety is very fruitful and tasty, but for my second year I just have some kind of attack with septoria and anthracnose. Summer was rainy and this is the past, maybe this is the reason. Before that, I grew the gooseberry Malachite, there were no such problems with it, I cut it down in time, I decided to free up a place for grapes, but now I can't find planting material.
Very prickly. Collect how to fight with hedgehogs. Many descriptions write about soft thorns, which are very few. Don't believe it. A lot and they are tough! But from an aesthetic point of view, the variety is very beautiful. The bushes are compact with beautiful leaves, look great during flowering and when sprinkled with yellow berries.
The yield of Kuršu Dzintars directly depends on the growing conditions. With proper care, the variety will delight you with an abundance of tasty, healthy berries.
Features of the development of the bush
Before you decide to buy a gooseberry bush for your garden, you should read its description. Variety Candy is a plant of medium height, erect and dense. Dark brown buds appear on the shoots. The bush cannot be called thornless, rare thorns are found on the lower branches.
General characteristics of the variety
Gooseberry Candy is resistant to low temperatures. From a bush with a height of about 1 meter, you can expect from 2 to 6.5 kg of yield, therefore, the variety is classified as high-yielding. Gooseberries begin to bear fruit in the second year after planting.
The Candy variety is quite picky about the composition of the soil. According to the descriptions, loam enriched with vitamins is suitable for planting it. Sandy and sandy loamy soils will not be able to provide the plant with the necessary nutrients due to its superficial root system. The largest part of the root is at a depth of up to 30 centimeters.
The description of the variety can be reflected in the following list:
- Ripening period is average.
- The shrub is medium in size, with a small crown and thin branches.
- Thorns are thin, present only in the lower part of the branch.
- One or two flowers are formed in the inflorescence.
- The fruits are red in the form of a ball.
- Pleasant, sweet and sour taste.
- The berry mass ranges from 3-6 g.
- The chemical composition includes sugars and acids, including ascorbic acid.
- The yield of the variety is 2.4-6.5 kg from one shrub.
The plant forms a shrub of small height with rather dense shoots of medium thickness.Variety Candy is resistant to drought and frost. The branches appear curved, with sparse brown thorns. In the upper part of the bush, the thorns are not visible.
Medium-sized Candy bush leaves. They are divided into 5 sectors, slightly pointed or rounded. The leaf is smooth, shiny, with a slightly concave central vein. The central sector is elongated and pointed, surrounded by ledges. The middle blades are at an angle to each other. The leaf is formed on a green petiole, of moderate length and thickness.
Gooseberries Candy
The main feature of Candy Gooseberry berries is that they are suitable for consumption at any stage of ripeness. They are used to make jams, marmalade, compotes and other dishes and drinks. Gooseberries can be eaten directly.
As you can see in the photo, the ripe fruit of the Candy gooseberry has a rather large size, and by weight it reaches from 3 to 6 g. The skin of the berry is thin, pink in color, has a slight roughness. The number of seeds in the fruit is moderate.
Gooseberry contains vitamins, sugars, acids, and iron. Shrub Candy bears sweet and sour fruits with a pleasant aroma. Possesses high taste.
Ripening period
Ripening of the first berries begins in mid-June. When the fruits are soft, you can start picking them. In a cool place, they will lie for about 14 days. In industrial refrigerators, the shelf life of ripe gooseberries reaches a month.
The ripe berries do not have to be immediately removed from the branch. They can hang for another two to three weeks without losing their characteristics. Harvesting usually ends in August.
