Strawberries Nightingale: cultivation technology and description of the variety

Breeding history

The authorship belongs to breeders from Bryansk. Scientist of the Bryansk Agricultural Academy S.D. Aitzhanova has created many drought-resistant and frost-resistant varieties of strawberries. The Solovushka variety was obtained more than 10 years ago, but has not yet passed variety testing and is not included in the State Register.

But in the regions the plant is grown with pleasure. Gardeners living in harsh conditions, where the thermometer in winter drops below -30 degrees, are especially pleased. Planting strawberries of the Solovushka variety tolerates frost well and delights with a harvest of delicious berries.

Description

Deciding to grow a new strawberry variety is not easy. You definitely need to get acquainted with the description, characteristic features of the bush and berries.

Bushes

The bushes of the remontant strawberry variety Solovushka are distinguished by their strong growth. They are compact, round, with a large number of rich green leaves, and they grow in size already in the first year after planting.

The Nightingale has 7-9 thin, long peduncles with numerous buds on each bush of the first year of life. On two-year-old bushes there are up to 20 pieces. They are spreading, located below the foliage. Due to their thinness, the flower stalks cannot hold ripening berries, so it is advisable to mulch the beds.

Abundant weed formation on the plantings of the first year; it is during this period that the Nightingale strawberry should be propagated. In subsequent years, few whiskers are formed.

Advice! To obtain high-quality planting material to replenish new strawberry beds, it is better to grow mustache on selected mother bushes.

Berries

The shape of large, up to 50 g, round-conical berries. Moreover, the berries of the first wave are almost twice as large as the subsequent ones. The fruits of the Solovushka variety are rich red and shiny. The achenes are yellow, medium in size, located almost on the surface of the berry.

The pulp is juicy, bright red, not too dense, but not watery either. There are strawberries with an empty center, as in the picture below.

With abundant watering or during the long rainy season, the berries become loose and watery. This nuance must be taken into account when growing strawberries of the Solovushka variety.

The berries are sweet, with a balanced taste, aromatic, like wild strawberries.

Productivity

Strawberry variety Solovushka is a fruitful plant. 500-600 g per bush is the norm for the first year. In the second and third years there are more berries; you can harvest up to 1000 grams. Fruiting is long, but the maturation of the “waves” is amicable.

Transportability

As for transportability and keeping quality, these indicators for the Solovushka strawberry variety are average. Berries need to be processed immediately.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

In addition to the description and characteristic features when choosing a strawberry variety, it is important to take into account the positive and negative aspects of the crop. The Nightingale has more advantages than disadvantages; they are all listed in the table.

Interesting information about the remontant strawberry variety Solovushka:

Features of growing in pots

Growing strawberries in pots has its advantages:

• the berries do not spread along the ground and remain clean and beautiful when picked;
• convenient to collect, no need to bend over each bush;
• you can move the pots for the winter;
• saving space not in a small area.

Regular flower pots, as well as small plastic buckets, are suitable for strawberries. The size of the pot depends on the number of strawberry bushes in it. There must be holes at the bottom of the pot so that excess water comes out through them and the roots do not rot.

When growing Nightingale strawberries in pots, special attention should be paid to the soil.

It should be nutritious and contain humus and turf soil. It is also necessary to regularly fertilize the soil in the pot with minerals.

Reproduction methods

Nightingale, like other strawberry varieties, is propagated in different ways:

• seeds;
• mustache;
• dividing the bush.

Usami

As noted in the description, abundant formation of whiskers in the Solovushka variety is observed in the first year after planting. Therefore, you should not miss the moment. The mustaches take root well on their own, but it is best to plant the rosettes in separate cups and place them next to the mother bushes.

Dividing the bush

Already in the first year, strawberry bushes of the Solovushka variety are suitable for propagation. Select cuttings with the presence of hearts and a good root system. The seedlings are planted in a prepared bed and watered well.

Growing from seeds

The seed method of propagating Nightingale strawberries is possible, varietal qualities are preserved. But growing seedlings at home is not so easy:

• seeds germinate slowly and for a long time;
• seed stratification is required;
• seedlings need to be illuminated, since in February and March there is insufficient natural light.

Attention! Detailed information on growing strawberries from seeds.

Diseases and pests

This bush is definitely not a survivor - late blight has “eaten” the roots.

Under unfavorable conditions, damage from gray rot, white and brown spot is possible , therefore preventive treatments with fungicidal preparations should be present, which will protect against late blight and other pathogenic pathogens.

Landing

The best time to plant strawberries in open ground is April and May. The remontant variety Solovushka begins to bear fruit already in the first year after planting. To do this, you need to use high-quality planting material and follow the recommendations of experts regarding agricultural cultivation techniques.

When planting, special attention should be paid to the heart: it should not be buried. The photo shows how to plant strawberries correctly.

Attention! Detailed information about the rules for planting strawberries.

How to choose seedlings

Strawberry seedlings must be of high quality. They should have the following indicators:

• strong stem, green growing point;
• from 3 to 5 green leaves;
• sufficient thickness of the root collar;
• light roots no shorter than 7 cm;
• absence of signs of diseases and pests.

Advice! You should not buy strawberry seedlings of the Solovushka variety from random sellers; it is better to use the services of nurseries or special stores.

Site selection and soil preparation

A well-lit area with neutral or slightly acidic soil is suitable for planting strawberries. Salt marshes, acidic soils and wetlands are not the best choice for arranging strawberry beds.

The composition of the soil is light. If there is none on the site, you can improve the structure by adding river sand and lowland humus peat. If there is initially a lot of sand in the soil, then you need to add clay.

Fertilizer is applied before digging the site. Per square meter, add 1-2 buckets of compost, 50 grams of mineral fertilizers and 1-2 liters of wood ash.

Attention! The beds are prepared half a month before planting seedlings of the Solovushka variety, so that the soil has time to mature and settle.

Planting scheme

Plants can be planted in one or two lines. The distance between seedlings is 40-50 cm, but 30-35 cm is possible. Row spacing is at least 50 cm. According to the rules of agricultural technology, no more than 4 plants are placed in one square place.

Strawberry variety Nightingale

Solovushka is a mid-season non-repairing variety of garden strawberries (strawberries) for universal use. It was bred at the Kokinsky stronghold of the All-Russian Selection and Technological Institute of Horticulture and Nursery Growing. The author is S. D. Aitzhanova. The variety is valued for its good yield, excellent taste, excellent immunity to diseases, ease of care and undemandingness to soils and climate. It can be successfully grown in almost all regions of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, which is confirmed by numerous reviews from gardeners.

The plant is powerful, vigorous (up to 40 cm in height and up to 60 cm in diameter), abundantly leafy, and has a spherical outline. The growth of the Nightingale is abundant, especially in the first year of the bush’s life, then it gradually declines. Strawberry leaves are light green, with sharp teeth along the edges, medium wrinkled, with clear veining. The flowers of the variety are bisexual, white, collected in spreading multi-flowered inflorescences. The flower stalks are numerous, thin, drooping, spreading, multi-flowered, located below the level of the leaves, and laid on the ground under the weight of the fruits. On first-year bushes, about 7-9 flower stalks are formed, on two-year-old bushes - about 15-20 pieces. 8-15 berries are formed on one peduncle.

The fruits of the Nightingale are large and very large, with a regular round-conical shape; when first collected, the largest specimens can be truncated-conical and slightly comb-shaped. The skin is dark red, and when fully ripe it acquires a beautiful dark purple hue. The number of achenes is average, they are yellow in color, pressed to an average depth. The strawberry pulp is bright red, medium-dense, often with voids inside, juicy, fleshy, with an intense strawberry aroma.

The taste of the variety is very pleasant, balanced, sweet with an elegant, unnecessary sourness. The berries are universal in use, excellent for fresh consumption, excellent for any processing, especially good in jam, and suitable for freezing. The transportability of the fruit is average, transportation over short distances in small containers is possible, but the harvest may not survive long-distance travel. During rainy seasons, transportation can be problematic - during such periods the fruits become softer.

The average weight of berries in the season is 25-30 grams; at the first harvest, specimens weighing more than 50 grams can be observed. The fruiting of the Nightingale is quite stable, the fruits do not become much smaller by the end of the season, although this tendency still exists, but this is typical for many varieties, especially non-repairing ones. Gardeners note rapid ripening, which begins around the end of the second ten days of June.

The yield of strawberries is very decent; from a one-year-old bush you can collect about 500-600 grams of fruit, from two-year-olds and older - 700-900 grams and more than 1 kg, subject to intensive agricultural technology. The industrial yield is very impressive - 19 t/ha. Gardeners confirm that it is quite possible to get 1 kg of berries from one plant, and for this you do not need to “stuff” the bushes with a cocktail of fertilizers and growth stimulants, as required by many foreign popular intensive varieties with great productivity potential.

The nightingale has excellent immunity, it is resistant to a complex of various diseases and confidently resists the strawberry mite; powdery mildew and brown spot avoid this strawberry. But, of course, not without a fly in the ointment. In unfavorable seasons, plants can be affected by gray rot, late blight and red root rot, but timely prevention will help avoid these problems. This strawberry boasts excellent winter hardiness and frost resistance; according to VNIISPK research, our heroine can be called one of the most winter-hardy among domestic and foreign varieties - the degree of freezing during tests was no more than 1 point.

Nightingale also has excellent heat resistance and drought resistance, and can be successfully grown in the southern regions, as well as in the northern ones. In general, this strawberry is quite undemanding to the climatic conditions of its growth, adapts very well to a new unusual environment and produces consistently high-quality fruit. It’s just that in unfavorable periods (excessively rainy or hellishly hot seasons) you may not be pleased with the harvest, but this nuance is perhaps characteristic of many varieties. Our heroine is also undemanding to soil, which again expands the potential range of its distribution.

In agricultural technology, strawberries are standard, very unpretentious, you can even classify them in the symbolic “plant and forget” group. However, you should understand that with insufficient care you will not get a good yield. By the way, Nightingale responds very well to intensive agricultural technology. Just a couple of points should be highlighted from the nuances of growing. Firstly, when planting, you need to take into account the size of the plants - it is advisable to leave at least 40 cm between the bushes, if possible 50 cm, no more than four plants are planted per square meter. Secondly, do not forget about fertilizing, they have a great influence on the yield and taste of berries. By the way, since our heroine sets a large number of fruits, gardeners resort to one simple trick - they remove some of the ovaries so that the remaining berries are larger.

Solovushka is an excellent domestic variety, very reliable and stable, high-yielding, and also very tasty. It really deserves attention, it is especially attractive to gardeners and farmers who grow strawberries in small quantities. This variety has many positive qualities in which it is often superior to many popular strawberry market favorites. The disadvantages are the insufficient density of the pulp, which is why our heroine is not particularly suitable for commercial cultivation, as well as a tendency to fungal diseases during rainy periods, but this problem is solved quite simply.

Care

Caring for the Solovushka variety is no more difficult than caring for other representatives of the crop.

Spring period

After the snow melts, remove the cover from the beds, remove old leaves and remove dried bushes. If the root system is exposed, it is covered with earth, but the growth point should remain above the surface.

Then the plantings are loosened to a depth of no more than 5 cm, and water-recharging irrigation is carried out.

Watering and mulching

Warm water is used for irrigation. The soil under the bushes should be moist, but not soggy. Water the strawberries at the root, being careful not to get on the leaves, flower stalks and berries.

It is best to mulch the ridges to maintain moisture and cleanliness of the berries. Agrofibre, sawdust, straw, pine needles or cardboard are used as mulch.

Fertilizing

Timely feeding of Solovushka strawberries allows you to get a bountiful harvest of large, sweet berries. At different periods of the growing season, certain organic or mineral fertilizers are needed.

Attention! You can find out when and what to feed strawberries from the article.

Preparing for winter

In the southern regions of Russia, it is enough just to cover the beds with strawberries with ordinary straw, as in the photo. In more severe climatic conditions, major protection from frost will be required, despite the winter hardiness of the Solovushka variety.

Attention! Rules for covering strawberries for the winter, materials and nuances.

Reviews

From “our” varieties I plant “Tsaritsa” and “Nightingale”. I think the names should be swapped. My Nightingale gives higher yields, the bushes are more powerful, and I don’t get blight. But the Tsarina is a very average variety, nothing outstanding.

For many years my strawberries have been affected by thrips. First of all, Italian varieties, but also Solovushka, albeit to a lesser extent. I came up with a workaround. Already in February I plant petunia seedlings. By May they are a good size and placed in pots. I take the pots to the beds with strawberries, thrips are transferred to the flowers, which I move to the side and actively treat with Aktara and Fitoverm. Then I bring it back to the berry patch. It’s very convenient, I don’t use drugs for strawberries, and I managed to get rid of thrips.

Strawberry Nightingale has won the hearts of gardeners with its ease of care and high yield. Large and sweet fruits and abundant fruiting help to close one’s eyes to such drawbacks as average transportability and shelf life, low resistance to late blight and rot.

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