Gooseberry Commander (Vladil): Description And Characteristics Of The Variety, Advantages And Disadvantages, Planting And Care Features + Photos And Reviews

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-17 22:26

Gooseberry Commander: there are benefits, but no thorns

Everyone remembers the taste of gooseberry since childhood. But the sharp thorns of this bush are especially unforgettable. In order to make picking and consuming berries a pleasure, breeders have bred thornless gooseberry varieties, including the majestic Commander.

Content

• 1 Description of Thornless gooseberry Commander

  1.1 Advantages and disadvantages of the variety - table

• 2 Landing features

  • 2.1 Site selection
  • 2.2 Preparatory work

  • 2.3 Step by step process

    2.3.1 Secrets of competent planting of gooseberries - video

• 3 Plant care

  • 3.1 Watering
  • 3.2 Fertilization
  • 3.3 Shelter for the winter

  • 3.4 Cropping

    3.4.1 Autumn Gooseberry Pruning - Video

  • 3.5 Reproduction

    3.5.1 Gooseberry breeding methods - photo gallery

• 4 Diseases and pests

  • 4.1 Possible gooseberry diseases and methods of their treatment - table

    4.1.1 Diseases characteristic of the Commander, in the photo

  • 4.2 Insect pests and control measures - table

    4.2.1 Harmful insects in the photo

• 5 Harvesting
• 6 Reviews of gardeners

Description of Thornless Gooseberry Commander

The gooseberry variety Komandor is also called Vladil. This name he received in honor of his "parent" - professor-breeder Vladimir Ilyin, who received the variety in 1995, crossing the Chelyabinsk green with a small number of thorns and a thornless African. The Commander took the best qualities from his ancestors, and the result was a variety that became very popular for cultivation in the middle lane.

Gooseberry variety Komandor is resistant to many diseases

Gooseberry Commander is a tall, slightly spreading bush with slender branches 2 to 5 cm in diameter. There are no thorns on its shoots, which is sometimes a decisive factor in choosing a variety for planting on the site. Because of this feature, even those who previously did not particularly welcome this healthy berry are happy to grow Vladil in their garden.

The Commander's leaves are wide, dense, shiny, alternately arranged on the branches. Gooseberries bloom in mid-May in small flowers in the form of a beautiful pink bowl. The fruits ripen in mid-July, so the variety is mid-season. Burgundy-brown berries weigh from 3 to 6 g, they lack pubescence. The skin of the fruit is thin, the flesh is juicy, with a small amount of black small seeds. The taste is sweet and sour, received a high tasting rating - 4.6 out of 5 points. One berry contains 13.1% sugar.

Vladil is frost-hardy. If the temperature does not drop below -25 ° C, and the winter does not promise to be with little snow, then the gooseberries need not be covered. The Komandor variety has excellent immunity to common gooseberry diseases - anthracnose and powdery mildew, even such a dangerous pest as a sawfly is too tough. But the Commander is weakly resistant to leaf spot, and other insects will enjoy it with pleasure.

The Commander gooseberry blooms in mid-May

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety - table

Advantages	disadvantages
Absence of thorns (they are present only at the base of the shoots)	Low transportability
Excellent taste	Short shelf life
Long fruiting period	Capricious care
Abundant yield	Immunity to leaf spot
High immunity
High frost resistance

Landing features

It should be said right away that it is better to purchase seedlings with a closed root system, that is, each plant should be in an individual bag with soil. The branches of the bush should be greenish and look healthy, without a hint of drying out.

Site selection

The gooseberry planting site should be protected from drafts and well lit by the sun

1. The soil is sandy loam, loamy or soddy-podzolic.
2. The landing area should be protected from drafts and wind and well lit.
3. Water should not stagnate at the planting site. If there is no other option, then you first need to build a good mound.
4. The soil should be loose, air and moisture permeable.
5. There should be sufficient snow at the landing site in winter.

Preparatory work

Gooseberries, like other shrubs, can be planted in spring and fall. But professionals still agree that it is better to plant the bush in the fall. It is believed that in this way the gooseberry will grow the root system better and will more willingly start new shoots.

The ideal time for the Commander to land is from the second decade of September to the end of October. Preparatory work should be taken seriously.

A gooseberry planting pit is dug in a well-prepared place

1. The site of the intended planting, at least 1 m², must be properly cleared of weeds, dug up, leveled, break up all large and caked pieces of soil.
2. In the prepared place, they dig a hole 50 by 50 cm in size, and about 40 cm deep. The whole trick is that the upper fertile layer must be thrown in one direction, and the lower one in the other, below it will be clear why.
3. 10 kg of humus, 40 g of potassium salt (or 300 g of ash) and 50 g of superphosphate are added to the heap with the top layer.
4. If the soil is clayey, then one bucket of river sand is added to the heap with the bottom layer to loosen the soil.
5. If a group of seedlings is planted, then the distance between the plants should be at least 1.5 m, and between the rows - 2 m.

Step by step process

Gooseberry seedling is best purchased with a closed root system.

1. The roots of the plant are carefully examined. If necessary, you need to remove the dead roots.
2. A bush is placed in the hole at an angle of 45 ° so that the gooseberry can form new shoots.
3. The root system of the seedling is carefully straightened, sprinkled first with the lower layer of soil, then with the upper, fertile one.

4. The planted gooseberry is watered with five liters of water, mulched with humus and watered again.

   

   Planted gooseberries can be mulched with humus

Secrets of competent planting gooseberries - video

Plant care

Watering

Gooseberry does not tolerate drought well - the leaves become smaller, turn yellow, fruits fall off. For good development and successful fruiting, the Commander needs regular moisture supply. There is no definite framework and strict recommendations for the number of irrigations. It is necessary to look at the condition of the soil of the near-stem circle and prevent waterlogging.

The amount of water recommended for irrigation is:

• for adult plants - 5 liters per bush;
• for young - 3 liters per bush.

Two weeks before the fruits ripen, watering must be reduced, otherwise the skin of the gooseberry will be sour. Continue with the same intensity after harvest.

Gooseberries are well watered until late autumn. For the winter, it is poured to a swampy state - so the bush will better tolerate frosts and temperature drops.

Watering gooseberries before winter should be abundant

Fertilization

The commander is responsive to feeding and will respond with a rich harvest and new strong shoots. It is recommended to fertilize gooseberries annually (after harvest) with nitrogen-containing complexes. Organic and mineral dressing, which is made independently, will be ideal. In 10 liters of water, 1 liter of chicken manure or mullein, 10 g of potassium salt and 20 g of double superphosphate are diluted. This volume is enough for 1 m².

Shelter for the winter

The commander is frost-hardy and tolerates frosts down to -25 ° C, but given the conditions of modern winters - little snow, with sharp cold winds, it is better to play it safe and wrap the bush with any covering material or constantly cover it with snow, bending the branches to the ground.

Pruning

Gooseberry pruning is very important. If negligence is allowed in this matter, then the bush will become a wonderful overgrown hostel for pests and diseases. The procedure is carried out in spring or autumn - preferably in the autumn. The thing is that the gooseberry wakes up very early, in early March, and you may not have time before the sap flow begins.

Cut off the branches even before planting the Commander. If the bush is healthy, then 4 buds are left, when it does not look very cheerful, then 2. All broken, damaged, diseased and weak shoots are removed.

After the first year, 5 branches are left, shortening them by a third. In subsequent years, all infected, dry, weak shoots are destroyed, healthy ones are cut off by 1/3.

An unkempt gooseberry bush is a great place to develop diseases

Autumn Gooseberry Pruning - video

Reproduction

There are three popular ways to breed gooseberries:

1. Cuttings. Carried out in June by cutting cuttings from young shoots, then planted in the soil at an angle of 45 °.
2. Division. The easiest and most affordable way. It should be noted that young gooseberry bushes grow quite apart from the mother plant. Therefore, boldly, but carefully, you just need to dig out such shoots. In this case, an adult gooseberry will not be affected.
3. Layers. With this method, holes 15 cm deep are dug from the base of an adult bush, into which the desired branch is laid (it is not cut off from the bush!), Pinned and sprinkled with earth along with the top. After a while, shoots will appear.

Gooseberry breeding methods - photo gallery

Dividing a gooseberry bush is the easiest way to reproduce

Cuttings are carried out in mid-June

Reproduction by layering allows you to get many new shoots with a minimum of effort

Diseases and pests

This gooseberry variety is rare, but it is still affected by diseases and attacked by dangerous pests, which, as they say, need to be known by sight.

Possible gooseberry diseases and methods of their treatment - table

Name	Description	Control methods	Prevention methods
Drying bush	Cracks appear on the bark, fungal spores are observed in wounds.	Treatment of affected areas with Bordeaux liquid.	Using a sterile tool when pruning; processing of cuts with garden pitch.
Septoria (white spot)	Light gray spots are found on the leaves. Occurs with temperature changes.	Fungicide Nitrofen according to the instructions.	Removal of diseased leaves; timely destruction of weeds around the bush.
Gray rot	On the bottom of the bush, the berries rot and fall off. It occurs with high humidity and thickening of the bush.	Immediate destruction of diseased berries, shoots and leaves.	Annual pruning of the bush.
Rust	Orange pads appear on the underside of the leaves with spores easily carried by the wind and insects.	The bush is treated with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid.	Timely weeding of the periosteal circle; destruction of affected leaves.

Diseases characteristic of the Commander, in the photo

Rust is caused by a rust fungus whose spores are easily spread by the wind.

Drying of the bark leads to the death of the bush

Septoriosis appears with sudden changes in temperature

Gray rot develops with strong thickening and high humidity

Insect pests and control measures - table

Pest	Description	Method of struggle
Aphid	Small insect. Females are wingless, males fly. They create colonies, feed on cell sap, and live on the tender parts of the plant.	Use Insecticide Actellic when insect colonies appear; Dilute 10 g of mustard in 1 liter of water, leave for 2 days, dilute 5 times with water, spray the gooseberries.
Currant glass	Small winged insect, lays eggs in wounds on the bark. The larvae gnaw passages in the branches.	Avoid mechanical damage to the bark; use a sterile tool when pruning; lubricate the wounds with garden pitch; apply Actellic insecticide according to the instructions after flowering.
Gooseberry fire	Night moth. Lays eggs in buds. The larvae bite into the ovary, entangle the inflorescences and fruits with cobwebs.	Destruction of the affected plant parts; insecticides Actellik and Etaphos according to the instructions after flowering; regular digging of soil in the periosteal circle.
Gooseberry moth	Moth. Lays eggs on the underside of the leaf. The larvae gnaw the leaf plate down to the veins. Caterpillars pupate in young leaves, entangling them with cobwebs, and fall together with the leaves.	Insecticide Karbofos according to the instructions when buds appear and after flowering; destruction of affected leaves.
Currant gall midge	It looks like a small mosquito. Larvae damage stems, leaves and buds, and can kill the plant.	Insecticide Rovikurt during bud formation; timely pruning of the bush; digging up the soil of the near-stem circle.
Spider mite	A very small insect, it feeds on plant sap, braids leaves with a thin web. They then dry out and fall off.	Insecticide Anti-mite according to the instructions; weed control.

Harmful insects in the photo

Spider mites appear in hot weather or low humidity

Aphids form colonies

Currant glass lays eggs in cracks in the bark

An adult specimen of currant glass is an insect with webbed wings

Currant gall midge lays eggs on stems, leaves and buds

Caterpillars of the gooseberry fireweed entangle leaves and fruits with cobwebs

Gooseberry moth larvae pupate in young gooseberry leaves

Harvesting

This fun-filled moment comes in mid-July. On an adult bush, about seven kilograms of useful berries ripen. The fruits are good fresh, they have a lot of vitamin C. Also, many people prepare delicious gooseberry jam and freeze the berries.

The gooseberry of the Komandor variety is stored in a refrigerator for no more than three days. It is not recommended to transport berries, because of their thin peel, they are unlikely to withstand transportation.

Aromatic gooseberry jam with an unforgettable taste will provide vitamins for the whole winter

Gardeners reviews

Angela

https://www.vinograd7.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?p=193588

lyulik

vas.tam

https://www.vinograd7.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?p=193588

The Komandor gooseberry variety is an undemanding plant that requires standard care. By following simple recommendations, you can get a high yield of tasty and healthy berries with minimal effort.