Varieties of cranberries
Early-ripening varieties of American breeding:
Ben Lear, Black Vale, Washington, Crowley, Earley Black, maturing in early September and giving yields of 1.6-1.8 kg / m2.
Mid-ripeness: Wilcox and Franklin, maturing in mid-September and yielding up to 1.9 kg.
Russian varieties: Scarlet preserve, Krasa Severa ( gives up to 2.5 kg), Sazonovskaya, Severyanka, S-minskaya, Dar Kostroma and Hotavetskaya.
Care: 2-3 weeks after planting, the plants are fed - 1 m2 requires 15 grams of ammonium sulfate solution and 7 grams of potassium sulphate solution. Autumn planting is also fed in mid-May. Manure and compost are not put under cranberries, but annually they are fed with small doses of mineral fertilizers - at the end of April ammonium sulfate( 3-4 g), double superphosphate( 6 g) and potassium sulfate( 3-4 g), in late May before flowering -the same amount of ammonium sulfate per m2.The best effect is the frequent application of fertilizers with regularity every 15-20 days. The use of potassium chloride is undesirable due to the negative effect of chlorine ions on plants.
When fertilizing with microfertilizers per 1 liter of water take boric acid 2.0 g manganese chloride 1.8, zinc sulphate 0.2 g. Then 10 ml of this solution is applied with irrigation per 1 m2 of planting area. From the first half of August, nitrogen fertilizer is excluded from nutrient mixtures in order to inhibit growth and allow plants to prepare for winter.
An indicator of a good state of plants is the active growth of shoots, large size of leaves( length 1 - 1.2 cm).At the end of the vegetative period of the first year of cultivation, the length of shoots in plants should be at least 20 cm. To stimulate their growth and additional rooting of creeping shoots in mid-April, while the buds do not move into growth, sand the area( preferably with coarse sand)-1 cm.
It is very important to plant cranberries to keep free of weeds. The soil( peat) should always be moist, but not wet. Over the years, plantings are heavily compacted and shoots do not reach the ground where they take root. Then the creeping shoots are partially cut out, and the planting early in spring or late autumn is mulched with peat crumb in a layer of 1-2 cm( marsh cranberry) or coarse-grained sand( large-fruited).In one place cranberries can grow for several decades.
Annually in the beginning of winter the area with cranberries is flooded with water, especially for the American cranberry. When the top layer of the soil is frozen a little( at a temperature of -5 ° C), pour water with a layer of 2 cm, when this layer freezes, pour the next, and so until the plants freeze into ice. In the spring the water should be lowered. This method protects cranberries from a dangerous disease - snow mold.
In addition to freezing, pollinating cranberries with sifted wood ash in autumn is recommended.
Big damage can cause frost during the flowering and filling of berries. Cranberries must be protected from them - covered with non-woven covering material, film or sackcloth. Cranberries can be damaged by aphids and some other insects. The use of pesticides is allowed after flowering, stop processing 2 months before harvest. But it is better to spray with infusions of tobacco, onion husks or dandelions or collect pests by hand.
Of the diseases are especially dangerous mushroom, in particular snow mold: in the spring the shoots are completely covered with mycelium fungus gray and yellow, later they dry up. In addition to the above-mentioned freezing, it is recommended to dust the wood with ash late in the autumn. With a red patch on the leaves and young shoots, blisters of red appear. Affected parts wither. Moniliosis causes the wilting of young shoots and the hard rot of berries. With the last two diseases it is recommended to remove the affected shoots and leaves.
Harvest: berries ripen in September-October, they are harvested when they reach biological maturity.
Usage: from cranberries prepare excellent fruit drinks, jelly, juices and jams, beautiful tinctures are obtained from it. Berries are added to sauerkraut, stew. From it prepare tasty ice-cream, delicacies in a sugar powder, a pastille and beat in refined cranberry mousse. Iodine, iron, manganese and boron, contained in fruits, contribute to lower blood pressure, and cranberries and honey are taken with atherosclerosis and to strengthen the walls of blood vessels. Cranberry drinks are given during the postoperative period, with febrile illnesses as a vitamin, antipyretic and appetizing remedy. Pectin substances of cranberries contribute to the treatment of gastric diseases.
Ursolic acid, found in cranberries, is an analogue of one of the hormones of the adrenal glands, it helps fight inflammation and heal wounds;it is especially plentiful in cranberry squeezes. Benzoic and chlorogenic acids in the composition of cranberries are antiseptics.
Warning!
Cranberries should not be used in acute inflammatory processes in the stomach and intestines.