Description of the Tarusa raspberry variety and characteristics, cultivation and care
Tarusa is a raspberry, the description of which is more like a characteristic of a tree. In fact, this culture is a perennial shrub. However, the tree-like stem of this plant reaches a height of almost 2 meters. At the bottom of the bush, there are no side branches, they appear only at a distance of 50 centimeters from the ground. This feature is the reason that Tarusa bushes are often confused with a tree.
History of culture breeding
The tree-like raspberry Tarusa became the first varietal crop that grew not on the usual bushes, but on a raspberry tree. Although this is the same shrub, only with a long, lignified, erect stem. Such plants are called standard plants. The name comes from the word "shtamb", which means part of the stem, from the root collar to the beginning of the crown.
Tarusa is a standard, but not remontant culture, bred by the Soviet breeder V.V.Kichin. The variety was obtained by crossing the domestic raspberry Stolichnaya and the large-fruited Scottish Shtambovy-1.
From the Scottish parent, the new variety inherited the large size of the berries, the ability to give a bountiful harvest. From the domestic variety, the standard raspberry Tarusa received resistance to frosty winters and various diseases. Since 1993, the culture has appeared on the free market and slowly began to win the love of summer residents. The berry got its name from the name of the city of Tarusa, which is located in the Kaluga region.
Advantages and main disadvantages
Raspberry Tarusa has its own strengths and weaknesses. With the right cultivation, the crop gives a good harvest. With errors in agricultural technology, the berries also ripen, but they become small and sour.
Pros:
- berries are large and sweet;
- high productivity;
- no thorns on the stem;
- excellent winter hardiness;
- disease and insect resistance.
Minuses:
- due to genetic mutations, the berries sometimes become small;
- in the rainy season, the fruits are sour and watery;
- the culture is tall, needs support;
- for the winter, the tree needs to be insulated;
- after harvesting, the berries are stored for no more than a week and cannot stand transportation;
- the culture is affected by insects, needs treatment with insecticides.
Description of the variety of standard raspberry Tarusa
The culture belongs to the standard. Tarusa has a two-year fruiting cycle. The two-year-old stems that have given the entire harvest are cut at the end of the season. To replace cut branches, new shoots are formed.
Bush appearance
Tarusa has a thickened, long and hard stem. The plant, although it does not require support, but in the presence of trellises, gives a greater yield of sweet berries. The lower part of the stem is freed from twigs. Starting from the middle of the trunk, the side branches are released. A dozen branches can grow on one stem. They can be up to 0.5 meters long. This feature gives the bush the appearance of a small tree. The bushes themselves are not high, the stem length is about 1.5 meters. The culture is not remontant.
The plant grows upward. The bush does not creep over the garden area. Annual stems are straight, firm, rigid. There are no thorns on the shoots, they are covered with a light felt bloom, as well as a slight waxy bloom. Fruit branches have about three branches. They are durable, not very long. Each branch produces about 20 berries.
A lot of laterals are formed on an area from 50 to 120 centimeters from the ground. These branches covered with fruits look like a belt of berries. The bush has large, corrugated dark green leaves.
Features of flowering and pollination
Raspberries bloom from mid-June. The berries ripen in July, though not at the same time. Tarusa has bisexual flowers. The culture is self-fertile, does not require pollinators. In the case of cross-pollination by bees, the number of berries only increases.
Yield and berry characteristics
Tarusa has large berries, weighing up to 12 grams, with small drupes. They have a regular triangular shape, bright red color, and a shiny surface. Berries are dense, easily removed from the fruit. The fruits are sweet in taste, tender, juicy, with flesh melting in your mouth. The seeds are small, almost imperceptible. It is possible to collect 4.55 kilograms of a sweet crop from the bush. With the timely introduction of organic matter, the yield increases almost twice.
Technical features of the "raspberry tree"
Tarusa is a specially bred variety according to the given criteria. Raspberries tolerate continental winters very well; in spring they quickly revive and start growing.
Frost and drought resistance
Tarusa has moderate winter hardiness. The bush does not freeze in regions where the temperature drops to 30 degrees in winter. If winter frosts exceed this mark, the bushes are bent closer to the ground and insulated. It is better to bend the stems at the end of September, when they are not dry and not brittle. Tarusa does not like rainy weather, it tolerates drought well. In dry summers, its berries become sweeter.
Disease and insect resistance
The culture is resistant to many diseases. However, even in the presence of diseases, raspberries do not lose their qualities and do not stop bearing fruit. The main pest of Tarusa is considered to be aphids. To combat these insects, insecticides are used (Actellik, Karbofos). The bushes are treated with drugs before flowering.
How to plant a variety on the site
Tarusa is an unpretentious plant. Raspberries are easy to grow in your garden. It is advisable to buy seedlings in specialized nurseries. Before planting, you need to choose a place where the bush will feel great. Tarusa loves areas well lit by the sun. You can plant raspberries along the beds, near low hedges.
It is recommended to plant raspberry bushes away from strawberries, potatoes and tomatoes. These crops suffer from the same diseases as raspberries and can increase the likelihood of infecting nearby plants. Tarusa prefers loam, sandy loam soil, black soil. The ground should be neutral and slightly acidic. The culture does not tolerate swampy soil well.
Best drop off time
Tarusa is planted in spring, autumn or summer.After planting in spring, the bushes begin to bear fruit only the next year. Plants are planted early in spring, even before the buds awaken. This method guarantees a complete adaptation of the culture to the climatic characteristics of the region. In autumn, raspberries are planted in September, 2 months before the onset of frost.
The plant needs to have time to take root in a new place and get stronger a little. The bushes planted in autumn bear fruit the next summer.
Cooking planting holes and seedlings
A month before planting, soil preparation is carried out in the garden. The earth is dug up, fertilized with rotted humus (0.5 buckets for a bush), minerals (superphosphate, potassium sulfate - 30 grams each). If the soil is acidic, then add 500 grams of wood ash, lime or dolomite flour. If the soil is fertilized with organic matter, nitrogen fertilization is not applied.
Raspberry bushes are planted in holes or long dug trenches. The dug hole should be 50 centimeters deep. The distance to the neighboring plant is 0.5-1 meter. Before planting, the stems on the bush are cut to 40 centimeters. The roots of the plant are placed for 10 hours in a solution of Kornevin or Heteroauxin.
The plant is lowered into the hole and the roots are covered with fertilized earth along the root collar. Then the bush is watered abundantly with water. After watering, the soil can be mulched with dry bark.
Technology and schemes for planting bushes
Raspberries are planted with a bush or tape method. With the bush method, separate holes are dug at a distance of 1 meter from each other. With the belt method, a trench is dug, 50 centimeters wide and deep. The planting scheme is as follows: young seedlings are immersed at a distance of 40 centimeters from each other, and then sprinkled with fertilized soil.
Culture care
After planting, the tree needs to be looked after. Raspberries of the Tarusa variety require regular maintenance and timely fertilization.
Forming and garter bush
It is important to ensure that the plant develops more side shoots. It is advisable to pinch the tops of the bushes. This technique will lead to the formation of additional side branches. With good care, you can get 10 shoots. Thanks to this agricultural technique, by the end of the first season, the standard bush will look like a young tree. The yield will increase significantly only in the second year.
Raspberries are a tree that can always be cultivated and cared for.
Watering
If the weather is too dry in spring and summer, raspberries are watered twice a week. The earth should be well saturated with moisture. It is advisable to pour at least 10 liters of water under one bush. The moisture will not evaporate much if the soil is previously mulched with dry grass or bark.
Fertilization
Organic and mineral additives are added to the soil just before planting raspberries. Then, every spring, the bushes are fertilized with a mullein solution, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. To reduce acidity, 500 grams of wood ash is added to the soil. Mineral and organic additives are not added in one step, they are alternated. Raspberry bushes can be fertilized with nettle infusion. During the formation of fruits, complex fertilizers are applied under the root (Kemira-Lux, Ryazanochka).
Preparing for winter
Before wintering, the bushes are cut a little, the top and side stalks are cut by 20 centimeters. Be sure to get rid of old and diseased branches, prune them. In late autumn, while the stems of the plant are not dry, they are bent to the ground. Plants can be wrapped with agrofibre before cold winter.
Treatment against diseases and pests
Raspberries are often attacked by insects. Bushes in the spring, before the appearance of the berries, are treated with insecticides. The main pests: raspberry beetle, gall midge, aphid, weevil. The following chemicals save from insects: Aktellik, Alatar, Iskra-M.
Raspberries can get purple spot, powdery mildew, anthracnose.For the prevention of diseases, the bushes are sprayed with Bordeaux liquid, Hom, copper oxychloride, Abiga-Peak. The culture will not get sick if it is properly looked after, diseased twigs and leaves are removed in time, the soil is mulched, and only healthy planting material is used.
For disinfection, the plant is sprayed and watered with a solution of copper sulfate or Fitosporin-M.
Ripening and harvesting
The culture is considered mid-late. The berries ripen on July 10. The number of harvests is up to 5 times. The culture ends fruiting in August. The berries are harvested as they ripen. Otherwise, the raspberries will crumble. It is advisable to pick berries during the day, in dry weather. If raspberries are plucked with the stalk, they will last longer. Berries are eaten fresh or jams, juices, and preserves are made from them.
Raspberry breeding methods
How raspberry Tarusa reproduces:
- dividing the bush;
- root cuttings;
- root shoots.
Raspberries reproduce by dividing the bush extremely rarely. With this method, the bush must be dug up and divided into parts. Usually, raspberries are propagated by root cuttings. The mother plant is pre-dug in. A root with dormant buds is taken out of the ground. It is cut into cuttings. Each division should have roots. The cuttings are pre-germinated in a nutritious soil mixture. When the stems appear, the plants are transplanted to a permanent location.
For reproduction by shoots, creeping roots are separated from the mother plant together with the stems formed on them. They are immediately planted in their permanent place. Root shoots can be transplanted all summer long.
The best varieties of standard raspberries
In addition to Tarusa, there are other standard cultures - Krepysh, Skazka, Bogatyr, Galaktika. In these crops, the stem reaches a height of 2 meters. It has no thorns. The largest berries are in the Skazka variety (15 grams), the smallest are in the Galaktika variety (6 grams).
All cultures are winter-hardy, rarely get sick, give a few root shoots. The fairy tale begins to bear fruit at the end of July, it is possible to collect 6 kilograms of harvest from one plant. You can collect 10 kilograms of sweet berries from a bush of the Galaxy variety.
