Features of caring for honeysuckle after harvest in July

Honeysuckle belongs to spring crops, as its fruits ripen in late May or early June. After harvesting, most gardeners stop paying attention to the shrub during the summer and fall months. But the plant needs constant care, although not too laborious. This article will tell you what to do next with honeysuckle after fruiting.

Post-harvest Honeysuckle Care

If the crop is not cared for properly, the harvest will decrease every year, the berries will become smaller, and the original taste will go away. Honeysuckle is unpretentious, but still requires regular maintenance.

How to water properly

This plant is moisture-loving. Its roots are located near the soil surface, so the drying out of the land immediately affects the general condition of the shrub and the quality of the crop.

The soil under the plants must be mulched. For this, plain paper is often used, which is updated during the season. Dry grass is also laid out, but always without seeds, since they attract rodents. Mulch keeps the topsoil moist.

A shallow trench or sides are made around the plant. In dry weather, honeysuckle is watered once a week in a bucket per bush. If it rains heavily on a regular basis, moisture is not required. After watering, the mulch layer is corrected, removing sprouted weeds.

Top dressing

The shrub spends a lot of energy on flowering and fruiting, so honeysuckle needs feeding. Moreover, after harvesting, the second stage of shoot growth begins.

So that the plant regains strength after fruiting, it is fed with nitrogen fertilizers. After 15 days, the mineral complex is added.

In order for the plant to absorb fertilizers well, it is also fed on foliage. In the evening, spray with urea solution... For preparation, take 50 g of the substance per 10 liters of water. After a week, the procedure is repeated.

Complex mineral fertilizers are used in liquid form or dry granules are embedded in the soil around the bushes. For 1 sq. m of near-trunk area requires 20 g of fertilizer. Top dressing is carried out every 3 weeks. The last fertilization is carried out before the beginning of leaf fall, when the first yellow leaves appear on the bushes.

What to process after fruiting

After fruiting, honeysuckle for prevention is sprayed 2-3 times with a systemic fungicide. This is absolutely safe, since the chemicals will not get into the fruits that will ripen next year.

When shrubs are affected by aphids, the treatment is carried out every 10 days, alternating the active ingredients in the preparations. Usually, thiamethoxam (Aktara) and imidacloprid (Tabu, Colorado, Commander, etc.) are used alternately.

Pruning honeysuckle

For this culture, sanitary and preventive trimming... The first is performed immediately after harvest.

Honeysuckle is an early berry that begins to ripen in late May. In July, the bushes are carefully examined for twisted leaves, darkened spots on the bark, and withered branches.... These are all signs of disease. The affected branches are immediately cut and burned, and not sent to the compost pit, where conditions are good for the growth of pathogenic bacteria.

If the bush is badly damaged, all diseased branches are cut out at the root.... The bush is not completely cut off, at least a few relatively healthy shoots are left. A garden var is applied to the cut sites as a disinfectant.

Preventive pruning is carried out so that the honeysuckle does not take on a neglected look. The branches of the shrub are thin and flexible. During intensive growth, they gradually intertwine with each other.

The first 5 years do not perform such pruning. They begin to remove excess branches from the age of 6. Cut off non-fruiting shoots at the root. This procedure is carried out every 2-3 years.

Preparing for winter

The plant has a high resistance to frost, therefore, in the southern regions and the middle lane, it does not need special protection from frost.

For the winter, honeysuckle is protected from rodents by covering it with a synthetic net or a bag.

In the northern regions it is worth playing it safe. If the winter is frosty and with little snow, honeysuckle may not survive it. For protection, they take spruce branches and make a structure from it over a bush in the form of a hut. The internal space is filled with sawdust, and the soil is covered with agrofibre.

It is interesting:

What year does honeysuckle bear fruit after planting?

Spring processing of honeysuckle from pests and diseases

What to do with berries

After harvesting, the fruits of honeysuckle are sent for storage or various dishes and preparations are immediately prepared from them.

How to store honeysuckle

Fresh honeysuckle is stored for only 2-3 days, in the refrigerator - up to 4 days. During this time, it is important to have time to process the entire crop, otherwise it will deteriorate.

For longer storage, honeysuckle fruits:

• dried;
• freeze.

On hot days, the berries are dried directly in the sun. This will take 10-12 sunny and dry days.

The drying procedure is carried out as follows:

1. The fruits are sorted out, leaving only intact. Remove all debris.
2. Lay the berries in one layer on a flat surface.
3. Cover with gauze to keep out insects and birds.
4. In the daytime, the berries are left under the sun, and brought into a cool room at night.
5. Dried fruits are collected in cloth bags or paper bags and stored in a dark and cool place.

If it is not possible to dry the honeysuckle outdoors, use a dryer. At + 50 ° C, the berries will be ready in 10-12 hours.

For freezing, the fruits are washed, dried well and sent to the freezer.

What to cook

Honeysuckle berries have a unique taste with many shades, so they are used to prepare a wide variety of dishes and drinks.

Jam

Making honeysuckle jam is a simple and not troublesome process. It takes no more than an hour. A large number of nutrients are stored in the finished product.

Required ingredients:

• 2 kg of berries;
• 2.5 kg of sugar.

Cooking process:

1. The berries are washed and sorted, removing the spoiled ones.
2. Crush with a wooden crush and add sugar.
3. Send the resulting mass to the fire and stir it constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved.
4. Make sure that the jam does not boil.
5. After the sugar dissolves, the jam is poured into sterilized jars and rolled up.
6. Then they are turned over and left in this position until they cool completely.

Compote

To prepare compote, you need the following ingredients:

• fresh berries - 0.5 kg;
• sugar - 300 g;
• water - 1.5 l.

Cooking process:

1. Pour water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
2. Then add sugar, stir it and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Washed berries are poured into a sterilized jar. Fill no more than 1/3 of its volume.
4. Pour berries with boiling syrup and cover the jars with a lid.
5. Place them in a pot of boiling water for pasteurization for 15 minutes.
6. Then the compote is taken out and rolled up.
7. After cooling, the cans are stored in a cool place.

Pouring

Ingredients Required:

• vodka - 1 l;
• honeysuckle - 400 g;
• sugar - 400 g;
• water - 250 ml.

Cooking process:

1. The berries are washed, dried and chopped.
2. The resulting mass is transferred to a 3 L jar and all the remaining ingredients are added.
3. The jar is tightly closed and the contents are shaken.
4. They are removed for 3 weeks in a dark place. The contents are shaken every day.
5. After 3 weeks of infusion, the liqueur is filtered with gauze and bottled.

Only good quality berries are used for the preparation of this drink.

Conclusion

Caring for honeysuckle after harvest in July is simple. Timely implementation of agrotechnical measures will allow the weakened shrub to recover from fruiting and prepare for the next season. It is important to water the plants and fertilize on time.