Why does not honeysuckle fruit and how to fix it?
One of the very first berries that appear on the tables of compatriots is blue or, as it is also called, edible honeysuckle. In addition to refreshing sweet-sour taste, it has a huge amount of medicinal properties that are comparable in strength with pharmaceutical medicines. Unfortunately, rarely any gardener manages to get a big harvest even from several shrubs, because honeysuckle is a rather capricious plant.
The composition and use of berries
Garden honeysuckle - a storehouse of vitamins and beneficial trace elements. Not only berries have healing properties, but also roots, leaves, and even shrub bark. Culture contains a large amount of organic acids, calcium, potassium, phosphorus and iodine. It is saturated with vitamins of groups A, B and C, useful fructose and pectin. Also, the berries of the plant include manganese, sodium and silicon, keeping them even when frozen or dried.
Low-calorie fruits have a choleretic and diuretic effect, have anti-inflammatory and antifungal properties. They are used as a febrifuge, as well as the prevention of colds and viral diseases.
Blue berries improve liver function, stabilize blood pressure and help with diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Berries are recommended for use in diabetes, metabolic disorders and to strengthen the immune system. In addition, honeysuckle - it's just a tasty treat, which is like both children and adults. You can make fruit salads with berries, add them to cakes, cakes and, of course, use fresh.
Causes of low berry yield
There are several main reasons for the low yields of bushes planted on the site.
Lack of sunlight
Honeysuckle is a light-loving plant, its berries grow only on the open, lit ends of branches. In the shade, not only berries, but even the leaves do not want to grow. In order to provide the shrub with good lighting, you will have to either transplant it to another place, or cut down the surrounding shrubs and trees.
The color was frost beaten
Since honeysuckle blooms very early, the temperature can still fluctuate in a fairly wide range. The very branches and leaves of the plant tolerate cold quite well, but the delicate petals of flowers may die in one cold night.
In order to postpone the flowering of the shrub a little later in the spring, it is necessary to delay the thawing of the earth. This can be done with the help of sawdust, which still fall on the ground under the honeysuckle. Sawdust delays the melting of snow and the melting of ice.
Insect free
If the shrub does not fruit well, it may not have been pollinated. Sometimes the warm weather is set at the end of March. Then the shrub blooms, and there are practically no insects, and there is no one to pollinate the plant. To deal with this is also necessary with the help of delayed flowering. In addition, the berry planted in open space will also not be pollinated by insects. This is due to the fact that the wind will blow them away, so pollination will not be produced. If it is not possible to transplant a bush into a less ventilated place, then it is necessary to make a barrier on the spot.
Nutrition Diseases
Cultivars of honeysuckle fruit badly without additional feeding. Plus, honeysuckle is subject to various diseases, but the pests practically do not spoil the plant.
For good protection against diseases and increase in the quantity and quality of the crop, the plant is fertilized with humus in the spring, phosphorus in the summer, and sprinkled with ashes in the fall.
Error with the choice of variety
Firstly, there are only decorative varieties of honeysuckle. They bloom beautifully and give a good shade, but no berries will be found on them. Secondly, this plant is cross-pollinated. In order for cultivars to begin to bear fruit, it is necessary to transfer the pollen from the wild honeysuckle to them.
Sometimes it happens that none of the above reasons are found, and tasty blue berries are still not visible. This happens because the plant is either too young or too old. Wild honeysuckle, the berries of which are small and have a bitter taste, can live up to almost 100 years. The plant begins to bear fruit not immediately, but only in the fifth or even the seventh year of its growth.
Cultural honeysuckle does not live so long, you can watch the growth of one bush for no more than 10-15 years. Nevertheless, the berry begins to bear fruit, like the wild-growing, in the fifth or sixth year. After the first 8-10 years the shrub begins to age, and its fecundity drops sharply. In order to return the yield, the shrub must be timely cut, giving it a spherical shape.
Where, when and how to plant?
The best time to plant honeysuckle is the beginning of autumn. A shrub planted in spring starts blooming very early and does not have time to pollinate insects. It is best to plant a honeysuckle two year old sapling in the prepared soil in the right place. It is good if it is a lighted area, free from other cultures. On the side of it, there must be some kind of structure or fence to stop a strong wind. On the ground, it is necessary to preliminarily conduct liming in order to protect the plant from pests and diseases.
A hole of 50 x 50 and a depth of about 30–40 cm is dug in the selected area. The resulting well is filled with earth mixed with peat and rotted manure last year. 50 g of potassium salt, ammonium nitrate and superphosphate are added. The mound is formed in a neat mound, in which the seedling digs. The roots of the young honeysuckle should be gently straightened, and the earth tightly rammed. One bucket of water is poured on the planted bush and fine sawdust is poured out. If you cut a seedling at a height of 15-20 cm, the bush will take root much faster.
Proper care of the plant, timely weeding and fertilization will allow honeysuckle to grow quickly and begin to bear fruit in the fifth year. And the annual pruning of high branches will make the bush more "fluffy" and increase the already rich harvest.
See the following video for tips on caring for honeysuckle.
