Black currant Medveditsa

Synonyms: Black currant 'Slavyanka'

Black currant Medveditsa (Ribes nigrum Medveditsa) – a medium-yielding black currant cultivar with a mid-season ripening period, bred at FSBSI VSTISP from a cross of the cultivars 'Pobeda' and 'Nochka'. It has been under variety trials since 1986.

It is a vigorous, slightly spreading bush with straight shoots of medium thickness and thick.

Clusters are of medium size. Berries are large, weighing 1.1–1.7 g, uneven, rounded, black, glossy, with a dense and elastic skin and a dry detachment. Ripening is uniform, almost simultaneous. Transportable. The berry flavor is good, pleasant and not very sweet, with a mild aroma. Vitamin C content is 200–240 mg%. Yield is 3.9 kg per bush (1.28 kg/m²).

Hardiness zone: 4 (−34°C)

Location: prefers well-lit sites but can also grow in partial shade; moisture-loving but does not tolerate waterlogging or excessive wetness. Does not like heavy, clay soils; the groundwater level should not exceed 75 cm below the soil surface. Not demanding on 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. 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 the rate of 1 bucket per bush.

Care: during the growing season perform additional feedings – 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 apply poultry manure (1:12) or cow manure (1:6), at the rate of 1–1.5 buckets per currant bush and after harvest.

Pruning: tolerates trimming well; suitable for forming hedges and borders. Needs thinning (removal of old stems). Pruning is done 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 grow on 3–4-year-old stems.

Propagation: propagated vegetatively (division of the bush, grafting, green cuttings, vertical or horizontal layering) or by seed. For vertical layering, bushes are cut back in spring almost to ground level; in July young shoots are mounded. In autumn the young shoots are planted in the nursery. To obtain horizontal layers, rooted shoots are left until the next spring, then bent down, mounded and in autumn separated from the mother plant.

Diseases: moderately resistant to anthracnose, rust and bud mite; not resistant to powdery mildew.

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

Usage: the cultivar is distinguished by large fruits, high and regular cropping. In breeding it is used as a donor of large fruit size, overall disease and some pest resistance, and drought tolerance.