Gooseberry The commander, or, as it is also called, gooseberry Vladil, relatively recently became known to a wide range of gardeners. The popularity of the variety, which arose literally from the first years, does not subside today, it still occupies one of the first positions in the wish list not only of summer residents, but also those who are engaged in the cultivation of gooseberries on an industrial scale.
Gooseberry Description and Characteristics Commander
The authorship of the variety belongs to V.S. Ilyin, an employee of the South Ural Research Institute. Work on the cultivation of the variety began in 1990-1991. In 1995, the variety was included in the register of selection achievements, received a certificate of registration and was recommended for planting and cultivation in the Volga region, the South Urals and Western Siberia.
Gooseberry Commander
The parent pair of crossing were African gooseberry and Chelyabinsk green varieties. After crossing, the variety received the qualities of both parental varieties.
Characteristic bushes
The bush belongs to the group of vigorous plants, reaching a height of 1.2-1.5 m. Gooseberry Besshipny Commander of medium early ripening. Shoots tall green with an emerald hue. There are no thorns on young shoots; they appear in the last 3-4 years of the bush's life in the lower basal part of the shoots. The leaf plate is five-petalled, wrinkled, veins pronounced, dark green. Flowers of medium size bright color, collected in inflorescences of 2-3 flowers. Pedicels are long.
Characteristics of berries
Berries calibrated medium sized spherical. The color during ripening is dark red with a transition to brown. The weight of young plants is up to 5 g, during the period of active fruiting 2.5-4.5 g, depending on weather conditions. The peduncle is thin, long.
Gooseberry fruit
Grade Features
Gooseberry Commander, zoned for adverse climate conditions in the Southern Urals and Western Siberia, has a short ripening period. Harvesting begins in the second decade of July and ends by early August. Productivity is high, from 3-4 years the bushes reach maximum productivity. The fruiting period lasts an average of 7-8 years. After this, a decline in productivity is planned from 3-7.5 kg of berries from the bush to 2.5-4 kg.
For your information! The culture does not require an additional pollinator; on average, up to 42.5-44% of flowers develop after self-pollination.
Taste qualities
The description of the Commander gooseberry variety says that the berries have a sweet-sour taste. However, it is impossible to say that this is sour. In rainy years, the acidic component prevails in the taste spectrum, and in a sunny and dry year, acid will have a secondary connotation.
By chemical composition, berries have up to 13% vegetable sugars, and ascorbic acid can reach 53-54 mg / 100 g of fresh berries.
The berries have a low seed content and a thin peel, so they can be used both for fresh consumption and for making jam, compotes, jams. Gooseberry berry Vladil (Commander) dessert type. Great for preparing baby foods.
Drought and frost resistance
Variety cultivation is recommended for regions with long winters, fast, short summers and the same transient in autumn and spring. The plant easily tolerates frosts up to −25 ° С. In summer, the fruits ripen at a temperature of 17-19 ° C.
Frost resistance of a plant has one feature - the variety does not tolerate strong winds and drafts. Therefore, when landing, it is recommended to carefully choose a place.
Wintering the bush with tied branches
Resistance to diseases and pests
The advantage of the variety is not only the absence of thorns on the shoots, but also high resistance to diseases and pests. The variety is not affected by powdery mildew. Resistance to other biological ailments, such as anthracnose and ognevka, is mediocre.
Berry use
Ripe berries are suitable for making juices, mousses, mashed potatoes. In preparations for the winter are used as a product for the preparation of jam and jelly. In recipes for juices and compotes, berries are added as a natural carrier of ascorbic acid, giving a pronounced acidity. It is also served fresh as a dessert berry.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety Commander (Vladil)
When grown on a personal plot, the variety is appreciated because of its high yield and excellent taste. Gooseberry variety Commander is high-yielding, it allows you to get stably high yields in industrial cultivation. The economic benefit in this case lies in the possibility of systemic irrigation and cultivation when tied to trellises.
Gooseberries do not crumble, even when overripe, most berries remain hanging on the shoots.
The minus of the variety is the need for its quick processing, it is relatively poorly preserved and difficult to tolerate transportation.
Planting young seedlings on the site
For planting, well-rooted plants with developed shoots 1-2 years old are selected. Seedlings are pre-treated with stimulants. The roots are straightened and cut at the edges. Shoots are cut for 2-3 buds.
Note! For successful rooting, a growth stimulant solution must be used. For this, the root system of a seedling is lowered into it 4-6 hours before planting.
Time and landing pattern
In autumn planting, time is selected after harvesting before the start of frost. This usually occurs in the second half of September and early October. For spring planting, the optimal time until the start of budding is mid-April - early May.
Division bush planting
With a prolonged period of spring weather, planting dates shift to a warmer period. In the fall, especially in dry years, additional watering and top dressing of plants is mandatory.
The landing pattern can be ordinary and trellis. In the first case, the distance can withstand 1-1.5 m, in the second it decreases to 0.7-1 m.
Choosing a landing place
The peculiarity of the variety is that with a large need for moisture, gooseberries can not tolerate wetlands and lowlands. Where groundwater passes close to the surface, rainwater and moisture may accumulate from melting snow.
The plant does not tolerate open areas purged by north and north-west winds. The optimal conditions for planting are spaces protected from the wind on southern, well-heated, slopes or sides of the site.
Site preparation
For Gooseberry Commander, podzolic, soddy, and loamy soil types are preferred. For planting, a flat area of 2 × 2 m per bush is planned. Before planting, it is recommended to remove excess objects from the site to provide access to the plant from all sides. For planting, you need to prepare compost or manure.
Important! When planting, fresh manure can not be used, it must be re-grown.
Landing process
A hole is prepared for planting with a depth of 30-40 cm, size 50 × 50 cm. Humus or manure is laid on the bottom with a layer of 4-5 cm, on top a layer of 1-2 cm of fertile land.
The seedling is set directly, the roots are spread over the entire area of the hole. When filling the soil, tamping is done, a ram mound is formed and an irrigation groove is formed on the surface.
Watering on the day of planting is plentiful. Water temperature should not be lower than 10 ° С. After watering, the trunk circle is mulched.
Features of seasonal care
The plant loves abundant watering, but this does not mean that it needs to be filled with water. In spring, the first watering is carried out after removing the mulching layer. Usually this watering is combined with top dressing with iron sulfate or urea.
From the moment the ovary appears, the period of regular watering begins - 1 time in 5-7 days, top dressing is done 1 time in 3 watering. Minerals last feeding is carried out 14-21 days before harvest.
For the winter, it is recommended to fertilize with organic substances, bringing them under the bush and covering the roots with mulch.
Mulching and cultivation
This variety is well located for systematic loosening of the root zone to a depth of 15 cm. Mulching does not provide for gooseberry-specific technologies; straw, chopped grass, pine bark are suitable - all that can be used to protect the roots from drying out.
Use of props
For the Commander, the use of supports or trellises is mandatory. High shoots up to 1.5 m need to be raised above the ground or fixed on something.
Garter on a trellis of a row of gooseberry bushes
As supports, the gardener can use plastic pipes, metal wire structures or traditional wooden planks.
For trellis plantings, racks up to 2 m high and garden twine are used.
Preventative treatment
When pruning, garden var or dusting with ashes is used. Before the dissolution of the kidneys, it is recommended to treat with a protective drug. During the growing season, complex preparations are used. For the winter, it is recommended to treat the drug with spores.
Pruning
With seasonal pruning, shoots older than 4 years are removed. In summer sanitary pruning, dried and diseased branches are subject to cut.
Winter preparations
Bushes do not need to be covered for the winter, it is enough to trim them correctly, apply organic fertilizers and pour a layer of pine mulch under each bush. If desired, the shoots can be treated with protective paint.
Breeding
To propagate gooseberry bushes, you can use one of three methods.
Cuttings
Propagation by cuttings is the most effective way. Cuttings are taken 1-2-year-old with a length of 20-25 cm. During spring planting, 2-3 kidney nodes remain on the surface, everything else is placed in the prepared soil under a jar. After 21 days, the greenhouse can be removed and at an air temperature above 18-20 ° C planted in open ground. Watering during cuttings in a greenhouse needs moderate.
Mulching the bush with pine bark
Division
The division of the bush is carried out in September-October. Young shoots with a developed root system are separated. After landing, watering and top dressing are mandatory.
Layering
To get a bush of a variety on which there are no thorns is most effective by rooting a layering. For this, a 1-2-year-old escape is used. You need to dig layers at the beginning of the season, and by the end of summer it can be separated from the mother bush and prepared for transplantation.
Among the varieties of Russian selection, the gooseberry Komandor has great potential for development. Planting 1-2 bushes on the site will allow you to get a good harvest for 6-8 years without the use of special technologies and special care.
