sorry Jay. these laws seem so outdated to me. why try and fix something that doesn’t need to be fixed. not pushing anything political but some things are best left alone. these things sometimes go from nothing to a big something if the right people get pissed enough about it and push it through the right routes. seen it many times.
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A few years ago I started collecting honeyberries and wanted one of each variety. That was a mistake and looking back I wish I would have done beauty / blizzard / beast. I just ripped out a bunch and threw them in the corner to compost.
Blue mist, blue Hokkaido- OGW varieties, just started to seem mediocre in comparison so ripped them out.
Borealis- grows out instead of up, too hard to pick or find the berries. Berries didn’t taste good. I didn’t feel bad about ripping this one out.
Honey bunch, solo, Keiko, Maxie- pure Japanese. These plants grew really well and seemed decently productive. The berries never ripened year after year so they had to go.
Strawberry sensation- pure Japanese. I felt bad ripping this one out. I had high hopes. Berries as hard as a rock at the end of the season. It had to go.
Sugar mountain blue- old variety. Taste was good but the plant was too small and the berries were tiny.
Pure Japanese varieties are probably better in places that get a longer or warmer summer.
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i agree. my neighbor had some of the ones you removed. he removed them as well. strawberry sensation grows pretty good here. it ripens but the flavor isn’t that great yet but it only set about 6 berries this summer. maybe better next year. i like and have all the boreal series but still prefer the taste and productivity of Aurora over the others.
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Since the year 2000, I have been continuously changing varieties, starting from seedlings that were small and slightly bitter. Among the first noble varieties I had Amur, Altai and Wojtek.
Amur’s taste remains unbeatable so far, it’s early, but the yield has been very low. I also discarded Altaj, which grew into huge bushes but was poorly productive. I completely got rid of Wojtek, despite its fertility, as its branches were always on the ground, the fruits didn’t ripen, and thus the taste was inferior. Poles no longer even mention this variety during plantings.
This year, I removed a lot of the Amfora variety bushes, which are fruitful, with large and tasty fruits. However, the fruit’s surface is very soft, posing a problem during harvesting. I left some of the bushes, though. I also eliminated some varieties, such as Jugana and Bakcharsky, as the bushes were too big. The fruits were large and tasty, but when ripe, they were very soft.
The varieties I gradually planted in their place were Fialka, Aurora, Vostorg, and Beast, which now constitute the majority of the plantings. The rest serve only for peripheral planting, increasing the diversity of varieties and serving more as pollinators for tasting and comparison. L. Velikan is just a delicacy. Honeybee, Blizzard are only marginal.
Aurora and Fialka will constitute the majority of the plantings.
This year, I planted around 50 pieces of the Aurora variety.
Now, I want to drill holes for the poles for the bird and hail protection net. I’ll see if I can manage to do it before winter.
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I also pulled out a bunch of less desirable Berries Unlimited genetics this fall and replaced them with Beast and Aurora. I didnt count exactly, but I probably planted another 50 of each. Do you have Beauty? If so what do you think of it?
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Good post, Viktor.
Of course, your results in Slovakia may not necessarily be the same as Americans, Canadians or Scots experience.
Do you guys ever think of selling or giving those bushes you are eliminating? Seems a shame they’d go to a brush pile or the dumpster.
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I don’t have the Beauty variety yet. In the past, I even ordered it, but it didn’t arrive. I’m not sure if it’s still worth planting. If its taste stood out above the rest, then why not. However, here, it’s not preferred as much as Blizzard and Beast.
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Those are the two varieties I planted this spring. Got them from: Haskap STORE if that helps anyone.
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I think people keep honeybee around just for pollination. What’s marginal about blizzard?
Which varieties did you pull? I got rid of strawberry sensation but that’s only because it won’t ripen here (pure Japanese). I’m sure it would be fine in the lower 48 somewhere.
I have a honey beast and blue banana and they are still pretty small but so far I’ve been happy with the flavor.
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They are often large and older bushes with wide roots, which I uproot by cutting the bush entirely and splitting the center into parts. Then the roots can be pulled out more easily. Otherwise, it would be very strenuous work.
And nobody wants to plant such large and old bushes when I have multiplied many young and new varieties. They propagate very easily.
I burn the old bushes and use the ashes for new seedlings as fertilizer.
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The Honeybee is a good pollinator, but the fruits are not to be wasted either. I plant it only sporadically. I have other pollinators as well.
I only plant Blizzard in smaller quantities because I have an issue with harvesting. It ripens quickly and softens. The fruits are susceptible to damage.
It is suitable for small plantings where the fruits are only harvested by hand.
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Despite continental and regional differences, gradually there will be a preference for varieties that have favorable characteristics, especially for commercial cultivation.
The Poles have extensive experience in growing various varieties on vast areas. They also have their own varieties but have started favoring varieties from Canadian breeding.
I had the first Haskap seedlings from Poland before the year 2000. They were somewhat bitter but sweet with a taste reminiscent of wild strawberries. Then I got access to domestic Slovak varieties like Amur and Altai, and later to varieties from Polish breeding, such as Wojtek, Atut, Duet, and many others, which didn’t establish well.
Gradually, varieties from Russian and Canadian breeding came to the market, which was crucial in selecting suitable varieties and led to opportunities for replacement, for those that were already outdated.
Over the course of 20 years, I’ve gone through about 20 different varieties. The ones I prefer combine the most favorable traits for me, such as Aurora, Fialka, Vostorg, and Beast. Though Vostorg is quite susceptible to dropping, time will tell if it was a suitable choice.
I also have older varieties, but I’m gradually getting rid of them depending on the arrival of new ones. I keep some delicacies, although their fertility is very weak.
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have you noticed that beast seems to grow significantly faster than other varieties?
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i pulled a bunch of blue jewel, while they grow fast, the fruit produced was less desirable.
The Beast variety bush is indeed larger, so when I plant it, I do so with greater spacing. I hope it doesn’t grow to 2 meters like the bushes of the Altaj variety did. However, the yield of Beast compared to the Altaj variety is incomparably larger.
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A 6’ Bush appeals to me more than a short one.
Also, varieties that you have commercial success with is not the main consideration for home gardeners. Still, it is interesting information, and thank you for sharing it.
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I noticed Aurora getting to 30 inches one year faster than Beast.
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I agree
The commercial interest in individual varieties also influences the interest of small gardeners, although small gardeners can afford to cultivate varieties with low fertility, strong susceptibility to falling, fruits with a soft surface, sprawling and small bushes, a high susceptibility to bush thickening, and the need for constant pruning.
Therefore, in commercial plantings on large areas, growers cannot afford to plant such varieties. Larger fruits are commercially more appealing, but they often contain larger seeds in the berries, making them heavier.
I have it divided into a section where I plant varieties that are consistently fertile, tasty, and also suitable for mechanical harvesting, and a section where there are varieties for testing, including old varieties that excel in taste for some reason, have high nutritional value, but also have their drawbacks, such as fertility gaps, freezing of small fruits during late frosts, often with early varieties there is a susceptibility to secondary flowering in autumn or during warmer winters, and so on.
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