Krasa Severa grapes: variety description, photos, reviews

Beauty of the North, or, as it is also called, Olga, is one of the interesting varieties of table grapes, bred more than half a century ago at the Central Genetic Laboratory named after. I.V. Michurin, currently transformed into the All-Russian Research Institute of Genetics and Selection of Fruit Plants, located in Michurinsk, Tambov Region. The authors of the hybrid form were a family couple of breeders - Lena Timofeevna Shtin and Ivan Maksimovich Filippenko. According to one version, the hybrid received its second name, Olga, in honor of the researchers’ daughter.

The task of the breeders was to develop new forms of grape plants that could feel comfortable and produce harvests of decent volume and quality in the regions of the central part of the country that are not traditional for viticulture. To accomplish this, they experimented a lot with varieties and hybrids that had in their DNA the genes of frost-resistant Amur grapes, which were crossed with high-quality southern varieties of “sunny berries”. So the Beauty of the North was the result of pollination of the technical, half-Amur variety Zarya Severa, with the pollen of the magnificent ancient Central Asian Taifi pink.

The result of the crossing, as often happens, turned out to be, so to speak, a “compromise”. In particular, the new product showed increased frost resistance, although slightly below the indicators of the maternal form, but at the same time the clusters turned out to be quite large and pleasant to the taste, thanks to partially transmitted heredity from the paternal variety. However, the most important property, thanks to which Olga began to be considered a truly northern grape, was its early ripening and very modest need for heat.

For 17 long years, from 1977 to 1994, Beauty of the North underwent variety testing, as a result of which it was included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements and allowed for industrial cultivation in the Central Black Earth region of the country. In addition to Russia, our heroine has become widespread in Belarus, the Baltic republics, Kazakhstan, and domestic grape lovers cultivate it far beyond the zoned regions. Even despite the recent appearance of many magnificent hybrids that surpass Olga both in the attractiveness of the bunches and in terms of ripening, she continues to remain popular among many of her loyal admirers.

Breeding history

The Krasava table grape variety was bred by Ukrainian breeder Viktor Mikhailovich Kalugin. Presumably this variety appeared as a result of crossing the Talisman and Velika varieties. The new form of the hybrid was planted with seeds in 2013, and in 2022, Viktor Mikhailovich collected the first harvest, which met his expectations. In 2022, during the second fruiting of the seedling, the breeder managed to obtain 18 bunches of excellent quality. It is believed that the name of the variety was traditionally invented by guests who visit the vineyards of Kalugin.

Grape variety Beauty of the North (Olga)

Description of the variety and its characteristics

This variety, called Beauty of the North, has another name - Olga. That’s what it was called by a married couple of breeders, who developed this species by crossing the Taifi Rozoviy and Zarya Severa varieties. The hybrid was included in the State Register of our country in 1960.

Description of plants

The Krasa Severa grape bushes are just a sight for sore eyes! They will decorate any garden plot with dignity:

tall and spreading, the plants of the variety reach enormous sizes;
are distinguished by almost complete ripening of shoots;
numerous leaves of the vine - light green, three-lobed and carved, thin with a glossy gloss;
in May there is abundant flowering, lasting about 10 days;
flowers are white, small, collected in tassels;
plants have flowers of both female and male flowering types, that is, they are self-pollinating, and they do not require additional pollinators - they themselves can become pollinators for other grape varieties;
After planting, the vine begins to bear fruit in the 3rd year.

More than three inflorescences are formed on each shoot, therefore, it is necessary to form a harvest by cutting off excess inflorescences, leaving at least 2.

Description of berries and bunches

The fruits of the Krasa Severa variety are large, round, slightly elongated, weighing 5-8 g, green in color (when ripe, the color becomes closer to white with a pinkish tan), and have juicy, fleshy pulp.

The taste is sweet, with some sourness, rich, quite simple, with a herbal aftertaste given by the thin skin. The pulp contains 2-3 seeds, which are not felt when eating.

The disadvantage of the fruits is that they crack in wet weather, therefore, it is best to grow grapes under a canopy.

100 g of grape juice contains:

sugar - about 17%;
acids - about 6 g;
folic acid - up to 23%.

Due to the presence of a large amount of folic acid in grape fruits, this variety is widely used for medicinal purposes.

In addition to folic acid, the composition of this type of grape is rich in:

macroelements - P, Na, Mg, Ca, Cl, S, K, etc.;
vitamins - A, group B, C, H, E, PP;
microelements - F, I, Zn, F, Mn, Cu, Si, Co, Mo, Al, etc.

On a ten-point scale, the taste of the fruit is rated at 8 points.

The clusters are large in size (from 300 to 900 g), not very dense, and have the shape of a cone.

Usage

The Krasa Severa variety is a table variety. Its fruits have universal uses. They are eaten fresh, juices are made from them, and are also widely used in winemaking.

Dates of fruiting and harvesting

This type of grape is early ripening. Its growing season is 100-105 days. Mass ripening of berries begins in mid-August, and at the end of the month you can harvest.

Transportability and shelf life of fruits

The berries of this variety can be stored for quite a long time without losing their appearance and taste, therefore, they tolerate transportation well over long distances.

The beauty of the North is loved by farms for commercial purposes.

Reviews from gardeners

Beauty of the North is very popular among gardeners due to its high yields and endurance to various climatic conditions. The variety is cultivated in the northern regions and Siberia, right up to the Far East. The excellent presentation of the fruits of this type of grape and long shelf life allows it to be grown for sale.

Sergey, 47 years old

“Three years ago I planted the Beauty of the North bush. The plant took root well and began to produce shoots, but for some reason there were no fruits. I already wanted to dig it up and throw it away, but in the third year the vine produced so many inflorescences that I immediately didn’t want to throw it away. The harvest was truly amazing!”

Characteristics of the variety

Description of Krasa Severa grapes:

earlier maturation;
growing season 110-115 days;
vigorous bushes;
high rate of shoot ripening (up to 95%);
winter hardiness down to -26 °C;
large, slightly dissected leaves;
light green thin leaf blade;
bisexual flowers of grapes;
conical loose clusters;
bunch weight 250-500 g.

Features of berries of the Krasa Severa variety:

dimensions 20x20 mm;
round shape;
average weight 4-5 g;
fleshy juicy grape pulp;
simple tart taste;
white color with a pinkish tint;
thin, durable skin that has no taste;
small seeds in the amount of 2-4;
increased concentration of folic acid (0.23% per 1 mg);
taste properties are rated 8 points.

Up to 12 kg of berries are harvested from the Krasa Severa variety bush. Transportability of fruits is assessed as average. 1-2 bunches are left on the shoot. After ripening, the berries remain on the bushes for a long time and do not spoil.

Agrotechnical features

Despite its adaptability to northern cultivation conditions, the variety has a high adaptive ability, adapting to different climates, in particular growing well in arid regions of traditional viticulture. During the cultivation process, it is not particularly demanding, although it requires timely care, especially in terms of combating diseases.

When planting, the requirements are not much different from other varieties of grapes. The soil should be as light as possible, structured, water- and breathable. High fertility is not a prerequisite, however, to ensure the rapid development of the Beauty of the North in the first years after planting, it is necessary to fill the planting hole well with fertilizers, carry out regular watering and fertilizing with macro- and microelements. The site must be provided with heat, for which in areas at risk from the point of view of sufficiency of SAT, grapes are planted on slopes with warm exposures, or on the south side of various buildings or dense fences, where they will be protected from cold northern winds. Sufficient moisture supply is preferred, but the variety tolerates moderate drought better than planting in damp and marshy areas, as well as areas with high groundwater levels.

The need to cover the aboveground part of the bushes for the winter is determined in accordance with local climatic conditions and Olga’s extreme frost resistance. If there is a guaranteed absence of winter cold below -25°C, the crop can be cultivated on a high trunk without any insulation. In this case, powerful plants will be able to accumulate a significant supply of perennial wood, which will have a beneficial effect on the large fruit size and quality of the harvest. In more severe conditions, even the Beauty of the North will need shelter, for which the bushes should be formed low from the ground in order to be able to remove the vine from the trellis without damage for subsequent insulation. Most often, in such cases, domestic winegrowers use schemes such as a multi-armed fan or an oblique cordon. In some, figuratively speaking, “transitional” regions, it makes sense to try to use a combined formation, in which the main part of the grape bush is cultivated on a trunk, and a lightweight covering lower tier is put out as a reserve, allowing you to quickly restore a full-fledged above-ground part, in case of severe damage to extreme conditions. cold weather.

Due to the low fruitfulness of Olga's shoots, the load on the variety during spring pruning is increased - 40-45 buds, with an average length of fruit shoots - 8-10 buds. Excess shoots, first of all the sterile ones, and then the weakest ones, are removed when broken off before flowering. After this, the number of productive young vines should remain between 20-24. The brushes on them should not be thinned out.

One of the biggest disadvantages of Beauty of the North is its susceptibility to such harmful grape diseases as mildew and oidium. To combat them, multiple sprayings with fungicides will be required, the number of which can reach up to 7-8 per season. Protection of the crop will also be required from wasps and birds, and the most reliable option would be to place the bunches in special protective bags, where they will remain safe until harvest.

Back and forth

Advantages and disadvantages

When deciding to grow “Beauty of the North” grapes on your plot, you should first become familiar with its advantages and disadvantages.

Among the advantages of the variety, confirmed by the long period of its cultivation in Russia, are:

stable and high productivity;
pleasant taste and versatility of using berries;
early ripening;
frost resistance;
sufficiently long storage and good transportability.

In addition, the “beauty of the north” does not have any special care requirements, and the fruits are not prone to cracking even under conditions of high humidity.

This variety has practically no disadvantages. Only its tendency to be attacked by insects and low disease resistance are noted.

Reviews from gardeners

Good variety, what are we talking about? It’s just that most bushes transplanted “at age” “sit” for some time, and only after 2-3 years they begin to actively grow. As a rule, this is due to improper planting, and most often due to insufficiently short pruning during transplantation. In general, when planting/transplanting, a bush should be pruned by 2–4 buds, this is an axiom, but few people do this!

SeRiToYoH

https://dacha.wcb.ru/lofiversion/index.php?t10077–100.html

Apparently this is still one of those varieties that require a supply of perennial wood.

Wolodia

https://vinograd.belarusforum.net/t27-topic

It didn’t bear fruit for me for three years. At all. This year I was going to cut it down. But I threw away a bunch of inflorescences. I'll hold off on the ax for now.

serge47

https://vinograd.belarusforum.net/t27-topic

Krasa Severa is considered one of the best varieties for growing in areas with unfavorable weather conditions. The grapes are distinguished by excellent frost resistance - the vine does not freeze at low temperatures, and with good shelter it will withstand severe Siberian frosts. The berries of this variety have juicy pulp and a pleasant taste.

Landing

Even a novice winegrower can plant the Beauty of the North on his plot, following simple rules:

It is necessary to choose the right place for planting seedlings. A well-lit, dry, elevated area, protected from strong winds, is suitable;
the variety grows well on sandstones and sandstones, where the distance of groundwater from the soil surface is at least 2.5 meters;
The area for grapes is dug up in advance, all weeds and roots are removed. Then fertilizers, organic matter and mineral complexes are added;
two weeks before planting, prepare holes 60 x 60, at a distance of 2 m from each other. If there are a lot of bushes, then make the distance between the rows 3 m;
drainage is placed at the bottom of the holes, then a mixture of the upper fertile layer with humus and compost is placed so that a mound is formed;
a seedling is placed on this mound, the roots properly straightened, and covered with the remaining soil;
then, the soil around the seedling is compacted, watered with 2 buckets of water and covered with mulch - peat, humus or rotted manure.

The optimal time for planting seedlings is spring, when the soil is well warmed up, or autumn, when severe cold has not yet set in.

It is necessary to care for the Beauty of the North in the same way as other types of crops. Care consists of:

watering, which is done in spring and autumn. In spring, moisture is added before sap flow begins. Plants are watered abundantly, at the roots. In autumn, watering is carried out after harvesting. In dry summers, the amount of watering is increased;
fertilizing carried out 5 times per season. The first is carried out in the spring with any complex fertilizer. An aqueous solution is also suitable (superphosphate - 20 g, ammonium nitrate - 10 g, potassium salt - 5 g per 10 liters of water). The second application of fertilizer is made before flowering. Cow manure (2 kg) is used, which is infused in 12 liters of water for a week. The third time the vine is fed for better formation of ovaries. To do this, ammonium nitrate (20 g) and potassium magnesium (10 g) are diluted in 10 liters of water. As the fourth feeding (20 days before harvest), superphosphate and potassium sulfate, 20 g each, dissolved in 10 liters of water, are used. The fifth fertilizing is carried out after harvesting only with mineral fertilizers. At this time, plants need sulfur, zinc, boron, iodine and manganese;
weeding and loosening. The soil around the plants must be cleared of weeds and organic residues, which may contain fungi, pathogenic bacteria and insect larvae. With the help of loosening, they improve the access of oxygen to the root system of the vine;
pruning, which is necessary for the formation of a bush, as well as for regulating yield. The procedure is carried out in the spring. The shoots are cut into 6 eyes;
tying up. For better growth and fruiting, the bush must be tied to a support;
preparation for winter. Plants, although frost-resistant, need to be covered during winters with little snow and frost. Before this, all damaged and dry shoots are cut off, the vine is removed from the trellis, bent to the ground and covered with spruce branches, and sprinkled with earth on top.

Nuances of caring for the Krasa Severa grape variety

In the first three years after planting, the gardener needs to pay special attention to the formation of the vine and protecting the grapes from frost.

Trimming

It is usually recommended to form the vine into a fan. To form the so-called sleeves, allowing the grapes to increase their supply of perennial wood, proceed as follows:

In the first year, the 2 strongest shoots are left and all the stepsons are cut off.
In autumn, the top of these shoots is cut off by 30–40 cm.
Next year, 4 shoots are left, cutting off the shoots from them.
The sleeves are tied to the trellis wire at an angle of no more than 45°.
Minting takes place in August. As a rule, more than half of the grape shoot does not ripen, so this part must be shortened. It is cut above the top wire of the trellis, approximately above 18–22 leaves. This procedure will be sufficient to form a good harvest and obtain large bunches.
In October, the final pruning is carried out: all the leaves remaining on the vine are removed and unripe shoots are removed.

Fan-shaped single-plane grapevine formation is the best way to grow the Beauty of the North

The advantages of the fan formation are obvious. The grape bushes are illuminated from both sides, and it is convenient to lay the vines in trenches for wintering. Fruit branches produce an excellent harvest of well-ripened berries, and the bush can bear fruit for 10–15 years. After this period, you can simply form new sleeves, and the grapes will continue to give their owners an excellent harvest.

Feeding and watering

Grapes need abundant watering in the first half of summer, and all the soil in the plantings must be moistened. The procedure is carried out in the morning or in the evening after sunset, trying to prevent drops from falling on the leaves (this can cause a burn).

Drip irrigation is well suited for irrigating grapes - water is guaranteed not to get on the leaves

Grapes require both root and foliar feeding. Terms and fertilizers for root feeding:

In early spring (after removing the cover). 50 g of nitrogen, 40 g of phosphorus, 30 g of potassium fertilizers are added to the grooves dug under the bush (sprinkle everything with soil).
1.5 weeks before flowering. A solution of chicken manure (diluted with water in a ratio of 1:2) is diluted with water 5 times, adding 20 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium salt (per 10 liters of mixture). 1-2 buckets are needed per bush. Immediately after this procedure, the grapes need to be watered generously.
The period when the berries have reached the size of a pea. Feeding similar to the second, but in a much lower concentration.
The period of ripening of berries is 50 g of potassium and phosphorus fertilizers per bush.

Frost resistance and the need for shelter

Despite the fairly good frost resistance of -22 degrees, the Krasava variety requires shelter for the winter. This is especially true for the northern regions. The grape vines are removed from the support after pruning and carefully laid on the ground. Most often, straw or spruce branches act as shelter.

Climate and cultivation regions

Krasa Severa grapes are resistant to harsh climates and weather changes. It can easily tolerate frosts down to -28 °C without any shelter.

The variety also tolerates extreme heat and drought well, so it can be cultivated throughout our country, even in its northernmost regions, however, where the thermometer readings in winter drop below -30, the plants must be covered.

Diseases and pests

Plants of the variety are generally resistant to disease and attacks by insect pests, however, there is a risk of vine disease:

mildew;
oidium.

They also like to eat berries:

birds;
wasps;
grape aphid (phylloxera).

The main symptom of mildew is a white coating on the lower parts of the leaves, which appears in early summer.

To prevent plant disease, they are treated in the spring, after the buds have swollen, with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture (take 100 g of lime and copper sulfate per 10 liters of water). One treatment is enough for prevention.

If symptoms appear, then the treatment is repeated. Also effective against mildew are the drugs Acrobat, Strosby, Radomil. It is recommended to treat bushes in dry weather.

Oidium appears both on parts of the plant and on the fruits themselves, which can no longer be eaten. Treatment of bushes with powdered colloidal sulfur, as well as spraying with fungicides Topaz and Skor will protect against oidium.

Ultrasonic devices are placed on the site to deter birds, which repel birds, and baits with a sweet treat are used to deter wasps. If there are a lot of wasps, then it is necessary to destroy their nests. For phylloxera, plants are treated in the spring with Karbofos or BI-58.

There is a small chance of vine disease:

chlorosis;
rubella;
anthracnose;
bacteriosis;
bacterial cancer.

From these misfortunes, annual preventive spring treatment of plants with an aqueous solution of iodine is necessary (10 ml of the drug is used per 10 liters of water).

Features of care

The growth of bushes of this variety requires special attention to be paid to calculating the free space for each bush when planting. The optimal distance between castes in a row should be approximately 1.5-2 meters, and the distance between rows should be about 2.5 meters

The variety is not picky about the choice of soil, that is, the place for planting, in terms of soil quality, must meet the general requirements for soils for grapes.

To protect the berries from cracking, experienced winegrowers recommend planting these bushes under a canopy that protects the plant from excess moisture. With large harvest volumes, the berries become smaller; to avoid this, you must carefully monitor the formation of inflorescences on the shoot. Under natural conditions, 2-3 inflorescences are formed on the shoot. In order for the berry to be large, it is recommended to leave one or two inflorescences, the rest are removed.

Despite the fact that there are quite a lot of stories from winegrowers on the forums that Olga’s bushes tolerate winters very well even without shelter in regions with little snowfall, it is recommended to cover the plants in autumn. This will ensure that the grapes are protected from damage due to low temperatures.

Description of the sheltering procedure:

The grapes are untied and removed from the trellis. All dead, damaged leaves are removed. Trimming is in progress. The bush is carefully laid on the ground and pressed against it. Covered with covering material. These can be natural (soil, sawdust, spruce branches, etc.) or special industrial materials (film, agrofibre, etc.)

When using soil, it is important that the layer is 15-20 cm. When using film, prepare a trench, install small arcs (it is better to prepare them from wood), on which the film is applied

It is important that the vines do not come into contact with the film.

Half-covering grapes for the winter

Description of wasp control methods:

Using special mesh bags on the bunches.
Installation of sweet traps and baits.
Clearing the areas surrounding the vineyard from wasp nests.

Description of methods to counteract feathered fauna:

Installation of mesh canopies made of materials that perfectly transmit sunlight and moisture.
Using mesh bags on bunches.
Equipping areas with special sound repellers.

Particular attention should be paid to measures to prevent and counteract fungal infections (mildew, powdery mildew, oidium). The most effective remedy is spraying

Bordeaux mixture is most often used against mildew. Primary preventive treatment is carried out in May. When diseased leaves appear, re-treatment is carried out. The best time for spraying is morning. In order for the product to be absorbed as much as possible and to be effective, the procedure is carried out on days without precipitation. In addition, you can use other means, such as copper sulfate or special preparations from the chemical industry. A solution of colloidal sulfur is effective against oidium.