New raspberry variety Daughter of Hercules: description and characteristics, planting and care rules

Raspberries are one of the most beloved berries in Russia. Its fruits have a special rich aroma and a pleasant sweet-sour taste. They are eaten fresh and processed into preserves, which are eaten in winter as a cure for the common cold. Even the leaves and shoots of this plant are fragrant and tasty, so it is popular and breeders around the world are actively working on it.

One of the most successful varieties, according to many gardeners, is the Daughter of Hercules. Such raspberries are resistant to most diseases and pests, large-fruited and high yields. However, when growing it, several nuances should be taken into account.

Description of the remontant variety of raspberries Daughter of Hercules

The daughter of Hercules is a relatively young remontant variety. It is considered an improved variation of the Hercules variety.

Raspberry Hercules and the Daughter of Hercules have the same description. However, the improved version is characterized by increased winter hardiness and resistance to diseases. Also, the Daughter of Hercules branches more strongly than Hercules, and has even larger fruits.

Main characteristics

Raspberry Hercules' daughter is liked by both experienced and novice gardeners. The plant has excellent characteristics that allow it grow in most regions of our country.

Description of Raspberry Daughter of Hercules:

1. The bush is medium spreading. Forms 2 to 5 shoots every year. This makes it easier to form. The branches are powerful, do not break under the weight of the fruit. Height reaches 2 m. Stems are erect, covered with long thorns. In early summer, young shoots have a green tint, by autumn they turn red.
2. The leaf plate is medium in size, dissected. The color is bright green. Abundantly leafy bush.
3. The fruits are large. The weight of one berry is 10-20 g. They are oval or ovoid. Dense, juicy, but not watery. When ripe, they have a dark red hue. Unripe fruits are green or brown. They have a pronounced raspberry aroma. The taste is gentle, sweet with a slight sourness. Suitable for fresh consumption and conservation.
4. The yield is high - up to 10 kg of berries for one collection from a bush. During the season, the Daughter of Hercules gives it twice.
5. In terms of ripening, the variety is late ripening. The fruits are harvested from August to October.
6. High transportability. Dense, strong fruits do not wrinkle during transportation.

Features of the variety

The daughter of Hercules is famous not only for large berries. The variety has a number of other features:

1. Immunity. It is resistant to viral and fungal diseases. The plant is rarely affected by pests.
2. Frost resistance. It tolerates cold winters well. Due to its late maturity, it is suitable for growing in the southern and central regions, but not in the northern regions.
3. Repairability. Fruits are formed on the shoots of the past and current year. The first berries are formed already in the year of planting.
4. Demanding on lighting, so it is planted only in well-lit areas.
5. Demanding on humidity. But with high humidity, the shoots rot.

In the central regions, the berries of the second harvest do not always have time to ripen before frost. In this case, the shoots with fruits are cut off and placed in water at room temperature. They mature in a few days.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Daughter of Hercules

Before buying the Daughter of Hercules, you should familiarize yourself with the advantages and disadvantages of the variety.

Let's look at the merits first:

• immunity to viral and fungal diseases;
• high productivity;
• winter hardiness;
• ease of formation;
• fast rooting of cuttings;
• rich aroma;
• large-fruited;
• undemanding to the composition of the soil;
• renovation.

The variety also has disadvantages. They should also be considered:

• Some gardeners consider the presence of sourness in the taste of berries to be a relative disadvantage;
• late maturity is an obstacle for those who live in the northern and central regions;
• the presence of thorns, making it difficult to pick berries, on the shoots;
• small growth of shoots for reproduction.

The disadvantages of this raspberry are relative. Some gardeners see them as virtues.

Landing

Raspberry The daughter of Hercules will be a reward for gardeners who care about their site. It will bear a large amount of fruit every year. But in order to appreciate all the advantages of this variety, it is important to plant it correctly.

Site selection and preparation

Growing raspberries begins with choosing a suitable site and preparing the soil. It depends on it ease of care for plantings and whether they will hurt.

Raspberries need a well-lit area of ​​the garden, sheltered from the wind. This plant is often planted near a fence.

The location should not be where the groundwater is close to the surface. It is better to place the raspberries on a dais. This will prevent stagnation of water after precipitation.

Note! Hercules' daughter is sensitive to waterlogging. In such conditions, it begins to hurt and rot.

If a raspberry plant was located in the chosen place, a year before planting new shrubs, green manure plants are planted there - legumes, lupines, wheat, etc.

A nutritious loose soil with a low acidity is suitable for raspberries. In acidic soils, the plant will produce less fruit.

At least a month before planting raspberries, it is recommended to prepare the soil - add 13 kg of rotted manure, 45 g of potassium sulfate and 60 g of superphosphate per 1 m². The soil is dug up and leveled with a rake.

2-3 days before planting the plant, the soil is disinfected. To do this, it is watered with a solution prepared from 1 tbsp. l. copper sulfate and a bucket of water.

Landing rules

Daughters of Hercules seedlings are sold in nurseries and on the market. They should have a developed, preferably closed root system and elastic branches. There should be no signs of disease or damage on the planting material.

Council. As planting material, you can use trimmingremaining after formation.

The daughter of Hercules is easy to propagate independently by cuttings. For this, branches of the current year are selected... Cut off shoots 12-15 cm long. They should have several live buds.

The cuttings are soaked for 30 minutes. in a light pink solution of potassium permanganate. Then immersed for a day in the stimulator of root formation "Heteroauxin". They also do with ready-made seedlings, but in this case only the root system is treated.

The cuttings are planted in a fertile mixture of peat, garden soil, sand and humus. They are buried so that they can stand unsupported. The soil around them is compacted and watered.

To create high humidity, a greenhouse is assembled. Sometimes it is replaced with a transparent bag worn on a branch. The stalk is aired daily and sprayed with warm water. Water as the soil dries. The rooting of the planting material will be evidenced by awakened buds. Saplings are planted in a permanent place in early spring or autumn.

Note! If the seedling is dark brown or black, this indicates that it has suffered from frost.

There are several schemes for planting raspberries:

1. Tape. In this case, trenches are dug at a distance of 1.5 m from each other. The distance between plants in them should be 70-90 cm.
2. Triangular. Groups of three bushes are formed by triangles with sides of 50-60 cm.The distance between them should be 1.2-1.5 m.
3. Square-bush. The bushes are planted in rows. Use a 1 × 1 m or 1.5 × 1.5 m pattern.
4. Curtain. Raspberries are planted in groups of 3. The distance between them should be 60 cm.

In any of the options, the planting technique for raspberries is the same:

1. The seedling is shortened by 1/3.
2. A hill of fertile soil is poured into the place where the bush will be.
3. A seedling is placed in the center, evenly distributing the roots around the earthen mound.
4. The free space is covered with earth so that the root collar of the seedling is not buried.
5. The soil around the bush is compacted and mulched with peat or humus.
6. Watered with warm, settled water.

Plant care

In order for the Daughter of Hercules to develop rapidly and bear fruit abundantly every year, she must be properly looked after:

1. Watering. Repaired varieties are watered every week. It is important to ensure that the water does not stagnate, as this will lead to root rot. If precipitation has passed, the raspberries are not watered. In very hot and dry weather, the frequency of watering is increased to 2 times a week. For irrigation, use settled warm water. The soil is moistened in the morning or evening, when the sun is inactive, so that burns do not appear on the leaves of the plant.
2. Formation. All old shoots are cut out. Leave only fruiting last year's shoots and branches of the current year. The procedure is carried out with a disinfected pruner in the morning or evening. Places of cuts are lubricated with garden pitch. On the day of pruning, the plant is not watered. There should be 6 to 8 shoots left on the bush.
3. Garter. Despite the fact that the branches of the Daughter of Hercules do not break, but bend under the weight of the fruit, it is recommended to tie the shoots to a support. This makes the plant easier to grow.
4. Loosening. The next day, after watering and precipitation, the soil is loosened to a depth of 8-10 cm in order to destroy the earth crust, which impairs air exchange in the roots and promotes stagnation of liquid.
5. Mulching. Be sure to annually mulch the soil around raspberries with humus, peat or rotted straw. This layer protects the roots from frost and pests, slows down the growth of weeds, acts as an additional fertilizer, and reduces the need for loosening.
6. Top dressing. Fertilizers applied to the soil when planting a seedling are enough for a year. They begin to feed raspberries from the second year of life. Nutrient mixtures are applied 4-5 times per season. Pre-moisten the soil.
7. Preparation for wintering. In autumn the bush is removed from the support. Cut branches and thin stems are laid on it. The mulch layer is raised as high as possible. In winter, the raspberries are covered with snow. If the winter is not snowy, it is covered with spunbond.
8. Pinning. To increase the yield of the plant, the shoots that have reached a length of 1 m are pinched - they break off the tip 5 cm long.

It is recommended to plant fragrant flowers (tobacco, oregano, thyme) near raspberries to attract pollinators.

Top dressing

When growing raspberries, use the following scheme:

1. In the spring. At the beginning of spring, mineral dressing is applied. It is prepared from 10 liters of water, 60 g of superphosphate and 40 g of potassium sulfate. Half a bucket is poured under 1 bush.
2. At the beginning of summer make organic fertilizers. They are prepared from rotted manure diluted in a ratio of 1:10 with water and infused for 3 days, or from chicken manure diluted in proportions of 1:20.
3. At the end of July apply mineral fertilizers. You can prepare top dressing from 0.5 kg of ash and 5 liters of a bucket of water.
4. In August use a complex fertilizer. A solution of chicken manure or rotted manure is often prepared with the addition of 2 tbsp. ash on the bucket.
5. In autumn apply mineral fertilizers and humus. Fall asleep under the bush for 1 tsp. potash and phosphorus fertilizers, as well as a bucket of humus.

Diseases and pests

The daughter of Hercules has high immunity. Therefore, it is extremely rarely affected by diseases. Pests attack fruit and berry bushes more often.

To avoid possible problems, you must follow the rules of prevention:

1. The soil, planting material and garden tools are disinfected before use.
2. Raspberry plantings do not thicken. The soil around the plant is weeded. Old branches must be cut off.
3. In the spring, the plant is sprayed with a Bordeaux mixture or a solution of copper sulfate.
4. In the fall, all plant residues are removed from the site and burned.
5. Follow the watering rules. Make sure that the liquid does not stagnate. Do not use water from a hose.

Conclusion

The daughter of Hercules is one of the best raspberry varieties. This is an improved version of the notorious Hercules. It has a higher yield and large fruits, resistance to diseases, ease of rooting, high winter hardiness. This variety is superior to its progenitor in several ways.

Growing raspberries Daughter of Hercules is not difficult. The variety is unpretentious in care and is suitable for breeding in a summer cottage. Even with minimal maintenance, gardeners get more than 15 kg of crops per year from one bush. The main thing is to make top dressing in a timely manner, water and make sure that the water does not stagnate.