Black currant Jubilejnaja Kopanja

Black currant Jubilejnaja Kopanja (Ribes nigrum Jubilejnaja Kopanja) – a high-yielding mid-late cultivar of black currant, developed in 1983 from a cross between the cultivars Novost Prykarpattya and the hybrid form S106, and named after the breeders who developed this cultivar, K.N. Kopan and V.P. Kopan.

It is a medium-sized shrub with a sprawling, spherical crown. Shoots are greenish, becoming woody and turning gray with age. Leaves are medium-sized, a deep dark green color, matte, deeply wrinkled, five-lobed. It flowers in mid-May. The cultivar is self-fertile.

Berries are large, weighing 3.5 g, rounded-oval, black, glossy, ripen simultaneously. Thanks to the dense skin, berries have a dry detachment and, when fully ripe, do not drop. The aromatic flesh is thick, greenish-brown in color with a pleasant delicate sweet-and-sour taste. Yield is high and stable.

Hardiness zone: 4 (-34°C)

Location: prefers well-lit sites but can grow in partial shade, moisture-loving but does not tolerate waterlogging or excess moisture. Does not like heavy, clay soil; the groundwater level should not exceed 75 cm below the soil surface. Not demanding regarding soil fertility; grows well on any garden soil. Prefers slightly acidic, well-drained, sandy loam, light or medium-loamy soil. Drought-tolerant.

Planting: planting is carried out in August. For this, beds or trenches are dug and bushes are planted at a distance of at least 1.3 m from each other (otherwise the bushes will shade each other and the berries will be small). The soil mix consists of soil and manure. After planting in dry weather, plants are watered at a rate of 1 bucket per bush.

Care: during the growing season additional feedings are carried out – in early spring apply nitrogen fertilizers - ammonium nitrate (30 g per bush) or urea (20 g per bush); after flowering and at the beginning of fruit set - poultry manure (1:12) or cow manure (1:6), at a rate of 1-1.5 buckets per currant bush and after harvest.

Pruning: tolerates trimming well, suitable for shaping hedges and borders. Requires thinning (removal of old stems). Pruning is carried out in spring: young shoots are shortened by 5-6 buds and old ones are removed. Each bush should consist of 10-15 stems. Old branches are removed because large berries form on 3-4-year-old stems.

Propagation: propagated vegetatively (by dividing the bush, grafting, green cuttings, vertical or horizontal layering) or by seeds. For vertical layering, bushes are severely pruned in spring almost to ground level; in July young shoots are earthened up. In autumn the young shoots are planted in a nursery. To obtain horizontal layers, rooted shoots are left until the following spring, then bent down, earthened, and separated from the mother plant in autumn.

Diseases: good overall resistance to powdery mildew, anthracnose, and septoria

Pests: gall aphid, yellow gooseberry sawfly, blackcurrant clearwing.

Uses: the cultivar is characterized by large fruits and high, regular yielding. In breeding it is used as a donor of large fruit size, overall resistance to diseases and some pests, and drought tolerance.