If you want to give the garden exotics, pay attention to the plant actinidia, planting and caring for it is easily feasible. It belongs to the category of lianas, in nature is widespread in the Himalayas, China, Japan, on Sakhalin. The name of the culture comes from the Greek word and means "star". Breeders brought forth varieties that bear fruit in many regions of Russia.
Actinidia Description
The charming actinidia is a perennial shrub liana, climbing on supports to a high altitude. It pleases the eye with its beauty and attracts the healing qualities of berries. Everyone knows the fruit of actinidia delicacy (Chinese) - kiwi. Culture attracts gardeners with decorative, medicinal properties and fecundity. Brief description of the culture:
- This is a dioecious winding culture with stiff branches, to obtain fruits, male and female seedlings are needed.
- The sex of shoots is determined by the criterion: on male flowers are grouped by 6 or more pieces, on female they are isolated.
- Leaves are leathery, notched at the edges.
- Blossoms actinidia snow-white, orange, yellowish buds, reminiscent of asterisks.
- The bush in September gives sweet and sour greenish fruits with small seeds and the aroma of pineapple. By the share of vitamin C, the berry has surpassed the black currant and citrus fruits.
The winding liana pleases gardeners all year round: in the spring bright foliage, in the flowering period - with aroma. In some varieties in August the foliage becomes variegated crimson. In autumn the plant becomes bright golden color, in October the leaves fall off. The bush is suitable for vertical landscaping, it serves as a colorful decoration for a fence, a lattice, a gazebo, a facade of a house.
Actinidia - varieties
There are many species of shrubby actinidia, they differ in the time of ripening fruits, the size of berries and bush. The most popular for the garden is polygamous and the argument. The most valuable for the territory of Russia is considered a sort of colomict, from which subspecies Michurin and Clara Zetkin are derived. The plant is remarkable for its frost resistance, it lives at -45 ° С. Oval leaves have an amazing property - 5-10 days before flowering, the plate becomes white, then pigmented into crimson color. Buds smell nice, and the emerald berry, has a considerable size and a pleasant taste.
Actinidia's argument
In size it occupies a leading position, the height of the vine can reach 30 meters. The thickness of its trunk varies from 10 to 20 centimeters. Arguta beautifully spans the trees, gives them an exotic look. The fruits of the variety are the largest among all the relatives, resemble mini kiwi, actinidia of the argument has white flowers. Her berries on the aroma resemble pineapple, dark green, juicy and fleshy. The weight of the fruit is 6 grams, it will ripen the harvest by the end of September, the ripened fruit is sweet.
Actinidium Issai
Self-pollinating (hermaphroditic) actinidia, planting and caring for it do not require the presence of male and female subspecies. Liana grows up to 9 meters, fructifies up to 30 years. The bush has curly shoots of brown-green color, pubescent with red-brownish hairs. The leaves are large, bottle-shaped, leathery, velvety. The shape of the plate is oval, the length is 17-25 cm. Actinidium flowers of Issyi are dissolved in May-June, they have a cream color, a cup-shaped shape, 2.5-5 cm in diameter. In the middle of October on a bush there are sour-sweet fruits, inside olive, outside are covered with a red hair.
Actinidia Far Eastern
The coldest species of the plant is Actinidia, a garden far eastern. Another variety called Amur gooseberries. From the Far East this culture has come to the gardens of the middle latitudes. In one place the bush fructifies to 50 years old, has an early maturity period. He has brown stems, shoots grow quickly. Fruits are long, cylindrical, have a dense green color. They taste sweet and sour, reminiscent of pineapple, they have a thin skin. Liana has a high winter hardiness. As part of the fetus, there is a record dose of vitamin C, only in rose hips.
Actinidia pineapple
Dioecious actinidia of "Pineapple" is considered to be a fast growing liana, one of the most prolific. It reaches a length of 10 meters, blooms in fragrant flowers in May-June. Fruits grow up to 3 cm in diameter, they are green with a reddish blush, taste good with a refreshing acid, reminiscent of kiwi with a delicate aroma of pineapple. They can be eaten with peel, ripen in October, well transported. Seeds in berries are very small, with food not felt. For pollination requires 1 male plant for 6-8 female.
Actinidia purple
From the point of view of decorativeness, the purple variety looks interesting. Such actinidia in the description is characterized by the presence of flexible stems, reaching a height of 3 m. With brown stems, covered with exfoliating bark. The leaves are elliptical, with occasional pubescent hairs, with a pointed tip. Flowers with snow-white petals and black anthers, collected in small groups.
The main difference is a round smooth berry with a purple flesh and skin, with a sweet taste, weighing 5 grams. During the ripening of the fruit, the plant looks decorative - as if red sweets are hung among the leaves. Purple variety is characterized by poor winter hardiness and late ripeness. This heat-loving plant, the extreme halo of its growth runs along the breadth of Kiev.
Actinidia Jumbo
Italian variety with large, sweet fruits of cylindrical shape, when ripe they acquire a greenish-yellow color. They can be eaten with peel, the harvest ripens in October. The plant is strong, reaches a length of 8 meters, the stems are wrapped around trees or spread along the ground, forming dense thickets. The variety is winter-hardy, withstands frosts down to -30 ° C, but needs a place protected from the wind. Jumbo, in contrast to actinidia hermaphroditic, a kind of dioecious, for the stringing of fruits requires a pollinator - the presence of male and female plants. They sit close together.
Actinidia - landing
Now it is promising to have an actinidia plant in the garden, planting and caring for it are carried out according to the developed agrotechnics. Rooting of the plant is best in spring or early summer. Place it expediently along the perimeter of the garden, along walls or fences, arbors, a curling stalk will need trellis to fix the branches. How to plant actinidia:
- the diameter of the holes is 70 cm, the depth is 50-60 cm, the distance between the bushes is 1.5-2 m;
- to the bottom lay gravel, rubble layer of 15 cm;
- you need to immediately fertilize actinidia, for planting and care you need a mixture of garden land with 10 kg of humus, 200 g of superphosphate , 50 g of ammonium nitrate, 80 g of potassium salt;
- when the substrate settles (in half a month), a hillock from the fertile soil without impurities is poured over the filling mixture, the seedlings are planted;
- the soil is gently tamped, the bush is watered abundantly with 2-3 buckets of water;
- The root cervix should be at ground level after planting;
- For the first time (14 days), the seedling is covered with a light cloth;
- soil is mulched with sawdust or peat;
- for actinidia, planting and nursing are permissible and in the autumn, it is necessary to implement it for the same agricultural technology 2-3 weeks before the first frost. For this purpose, seedlings at the age of 2-3 years are suitable, the older ones are hard to tolerate the autumn rooting.
Reproduction of Actinidia
The climbing plant reproduces simply - taps, seeds, cuttings. The vegetative method will yield fruits for 3-4 years. The plant, grown from seeds, will give the first berries in 7 years. The main ways of multiplying actinidia:
- Taps. When the spring sap flow comes to an end and young leaves appear, a powerful shoot is selected and the apex down pinned to the ground. The place of attachment is poured with soil at a level of 15 cm and sawdust. The top of the shoot should remain above the ground. The soil is watered systematically, weeds break out. The next year, the larvae can be separated from the maternal trunk and rooted, using agrotechnics - how to plant actinidia in the spring.
- Cuttings. This method is the fastest. Cuttings are produced in June, several healthy branches about a meter long are cut off. The ends of the shoots are lowered into water, divided into 15 cm segments with two internodes. The planting of cuttings in the greenhouse is carried out on the bed. In the soil, humus and river sand are introduced in a proportion of 2: 2: 1 and mineral fertilizer (100 grams per square meter). The gap between the specimens is 5 cm, the upper kidney should be above the ground. The soil is abundantly irrigated, for winter cuttings need care - they are covered with fallen leaves, and in spring planted in the garden.
- Seeds. The material for seeding is taken from the fruit, dried. In December they are soaked for 4 days, placed in a kapron stocking and a box of sand. Seeds need care - they are moistened weekly so that they do not wither. In January, a box of sand is put in the refrigerator. In March, it is transferred to a place with a temperature of 10-12 ° C, the seeds continue to be regularly moistened and washed.
When some of them proklyutsya, the grain is planted in containers with a mixture of river sand and fruit soil to a depth of 1.5 cm. The culture is sprayed, covered from the sun's direct rays. When 3-4 shoots appear on shoots, sprouts are planted in a greenhouse. The first time the seedlings will bloom after 3-5 years, then it is possible to determine their sex and plant them in a permanent place.
Actinidia - cultivation and care
Garden actinidia, planting and care for which are performed competently, yields yield up to 20 kg of berries from the bush. The basic rules of growing a plant:
- Pruning. On 3-4-year-old saplings in the summer remove broken, underdeveloped shoots and branches, thickening the crown. Liana is formed in the form of a fan and horizontal lines. At the age of 8-10 years, actinidia treatment is carried out in terms of rejuvenating pruning - for the winter leave only a stump 40 cm.
- Wintering. After harvesting, the plant is covered with sawdust and fir-tree lapnika near the roots. They do not remove the vine from the trellis.
- Loosening. During the maturation of the fruit, the ground is carefully podpushivayut to a depth of not more than 10 cm, with care it is important not to damage the roots that are in the surface layer.
Actinidia - top dressing
Cultivation of actinidia involves replenishing the plant, it stimulates the growth of new shoots, improves winter hardiness. Fertilizers are brought in autumn after harvesting at the rate of 1 square meter: 2 kg of humus, 40 g of superphosphate, 10 g of potassium salt. In the spring, before flowering, the top dressing should include the addition of 30 grams of nitrogen and 20 g of potassium and phosphoric preparations per square meter.
Actinidia flowers - watering
Winding actinia in the garden is moistened by air-drop method - by morning and evening irrigation. In hot weather, 6-8 buckets of water are poured under a separate bush every week for the whole vegetation period, so that the liana does not lose leaves. The earth is needed for the roots moist, but the water should not stagnate in the near-barrel circle. It is useful to mulch the substrate with 10-12 cm of sawdust to preserve moisture.