Many gardeners are worried about the correct selection of varieties of garden (pineapple or large-flowered) strawberries, which are still called strawberries out of habit (from a scientific point of view, only nutmeg strawberries can be called, for which the Milanese variety is known).
How should you choose? First of all, when choosing varieties, you need to remember in what form most of the crop is used. Indeed, for some, most of the berries are eaten fresh, for others - canned, someone freezes it, and some simply sell part of the harvest, making their own small agribusiness on this.
From this point of view, the varieties must correspond to the form of use. For example, for fresh consumption, especially from a bush, it makes sense to choose dessert varieties with a particularly pleasant taste or aroma. These varieties include Marishka, Zephyr, Dukat, Stranger, Junia Smides. At the same time, for freezing or long-term transportation, it is important to select varieties with sufficiently dense berries. These are the Ruby pendant, Totem, Borovitskaya, Corrado, Chosen One. On the other hand, those who sell berries should choose varieties with berries that have a good presentation, for example, beautifully shaped. The varieties "Gift to the Teacher", "Marmalade", "Marshall" are distinguished by a beautiful appearance of berries, and the varieties Ruby Pendant and Carmen also have comparatively beautiful berries.
The varieties Ruby Pendant, Carmen, Chosen One, Fireworks, Totem, and Yield TsGL can be considered relatively versatile and at the same time high-yielding.
Another principle for selecting varieties is the berry "conveyor". This approach means providing berries for most of the summer. With this approach, it is advisable to have early, mid-early, medium, mid-late and late varieties in the garden. Early varieties include Zarya, Orlets, Khonei, Relay. Ruby Pendant, Marshmallow can be considered mid-early; mid-season - Fireworks and Marishka, from the old varieties - Festivalnaya; medium late - Carmen.
Let's get acquainted with some varieties in more detail.
- Marishka. A variety of domestic selection. Mid-season, winter-hardy, fruitful, disease-resistant. The bushes are vigorous. The berries are large, the flesh is always very sweet, fragrant, the aroma is like that of wild strawberries. Up to 60 rather large berries are formed on the bush (up to 20-25 g each). The seeds that protrude on the surface of the berry are bright yellow, which gives the berries an elegant appearance. A distinctive feature of the variety is the sweetest and driest berry.
- The chosen one. The variety was bred in 1968-1975. Medium ripening. Winter-hardy, but in some years it grows out. Can tolerate drought. Resistant to brown spots, powdery mildew, root rot. High-yielding variety.
- Universal. The berries are large, from 15 to 30 g, cone-shaped, with a neck. The skin is purple, shines in the sun. Achenes are numerous, from yellowish to purple, impressed into the flesh. The pulp is dense, juicy, purple. The taste is sweet and sour, with aroma.
- Ducat. A variety of Polish selection. A high-yielding variety with large, sweet berries with a juicy firm pulp. Resistant to gray rot and some other diseases. Late ripening variety. Highly transportable berries can be stored without refrigeration for several days.
- Ruby Pendant. A variety of domestic selection. Medium early. The berries are large, oval-conical, ruby-red, shiny, tasty and aromatic, they are distinguished by a special dense pulp, which almost does not crease during transportation. The variety is fruitful, winter-hardy, resistant to a complex of fungal diseases. Berries for universal use: they are suitable both as a dessert and for all types of processing.
- Carmen. A medium-late variety of Czech strawberries, high-yielding, winter-hardy and disease-resistant. Berries of the first collection weighing 25 grams, and mass - 20 grams.The bush is powerful, vigorous, erect, densely leafy, with large dark green leaves. There are cases when from 1 bush of this variety it was possible to get up to 860 g of berries per season.
- Fireworks. A variety of domestic selection. Bushes are powerful, with dark green leaves. The berries are very large, truncated-conical, ruby-red, shiny, with dense, juicy, dark red pulp, tasty and aromatic, transportable. Large berries remain until the last harvest. It is a fruitful, winter-hardy, versatile variety resistant to a complex of fungal diseases.
- Totem. A variety of medium ripening. The yield is abundant. The variety is resistant to rot damage. The berries are dark red, the flesh is dense, excellent sweet and sour taste, universal use.
- Beauty of Zagorya. A variety of dugouts. A bush of medium height and foliage. It winters well under the protection of a snow cover, The variety is self-fertile, that is, it does not require obligatory cross-pollination, early ripening. Berry picking lasts 25-30 days. The yield is relatively high: one bush gives 350-400 g of berries. Berries are oval-conical, with a neck, very large, the first collection is up to 35 g, the subsequent ones are smaller, dark red, shiny. The pulp is red, juicy, sweet and sour, sometimes sweet. Berries are easily affected by gray mold. The berries of this variety are large enough, at the same time quite sweet. This variety of garden strawberries is quite old, susceptible to disease, but for the sake of a pronounced pleasant taste, you can keep a few of its bushes.
Repairing strawberry varieties
For those who cannot remember when which variety bears fruit or does not want to look for all types of varieties in shops or markets in the city, we can offer remontant varieties, that is, those that give (genetically can give) 2 harvests per season or generally bear fruit continuously during summer. These include Mount Everest, Ada, Sakhalin, Inexhaustible, Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth-2. However, they need a special approach. Firstly, the beginning of flowering and fruiting may occur during spring frosts, and secondly, long-term fruiting varieties require more nutrition, i.e. for them it is necessary to find places with highly fertile soil, or such plants will have to be fed more often than ordinary ones.
Let's get acquainted with some varieties.
The main difference between remontant varieties and non-repaired ones is that they bloom and bear fruit from June to the end of autumn, and the fruits are formed on both mother and daughter plants.
- Mount Everest. High-yielding French remontant variety. Berries of medium and large size, light red color, pleasant sweet and sour taste. Fruiting from late June to late autumn with a short break. Winter hardiness is high. Resistance to pests and diseases is average.
- Hell. The bush is tall, compact, densely leafy. Berries are medium to small, red, shiny, elongated-conical, smooth. The pulp is loose, white with a red heart, sweet and sour pleasant taste. The yield is good - 200-300 grams per bush. The strawberry variety is heavily damaged by strawberry mites and white spot.
- Inexhaustible. The bush is high, densely leafy. The berries are medium, the first ones weighing up to 15 grams, oval-conical, slightly ribbed, shiny, red. The pulp is red with white veins, sweet-sour taste with aroma. The yield is high.
- Sakhalin. The bush is tall, compact, densely leafy. At the first harvest, strawberries weigh an average of 17 g, round, shiny, light red. The flesh is red with white veins, very good taste. The variety is transportable, the yield is high.
Of course, the varietal structure of your strawberry plantation should be determined by the taste preferences of the gardener's family members. But in any case, I advise you to keep 3-4 varieties.The fact is that in different years, different varieties manifest themselves in different ways, both in terms of yield and winter hardiness, or rather, in resistance to freezing and damping off.
