Red currant Jonkheer Van Tets

Synonyms: Jonkheer van Tets, Jonkhir van Tets

Red currant Jonkheer Van Tets (Ribes rubrum Jonkheer Van Tets) – a mid-early cultivar of red currant. Bred in 1941 in the Netherlands by crossing the cultivars Faya Plodorodnaya and Rynok Londona. The cultivar is widely grown in Western Europe.

It forms a dense, upright, vigorous bush with thick, glabrous, pinkish young shoots. Woody shoots are straight, not brittle, light beige in color. Buds are small, ovoid, on a short stalk, inclined away from the shoot. The leaf petiole scar is narrow, broadly cuneate in shape.

Leaves are five-lobed, with well-developed basal lobes, large, rounded, leathery, dark green. Lobes are triangular in shape, acuminate, broad, equal in length. The central lobe has barely noticeable projections. The leaf blade is slightly concave along the main veins, moderately rugose, with a straight, slightly raised margin. Margin teeth are large, doubly serrate. The base is cordate with a shallow sinus. The petiole is medium, thick, sparsely pubescent along its length.

Flowers are large, saucer-shaped. Sepals are greenish. Petals are obtriangular in shape, large. The peripetalous tube (hypanthium) is greenish, tall, pentagonal in outline. Racemes are medium to long (up to 10 cm), with about 10 berries, of medium density. The raceme stalk is green, long, of medium thickness, pubescent, brittle. The cultivar is self-fertile and can pollinate other shrubs.

Berries are large, up to 0.7 g, round or slightly pyriform, bright red, with firm skin, containing 4-5 large seeds inside, pleasant in taste, suitable for fresh consumption and processing. Remnants of the perianth on an irregular five-sided base. Chemical composition: dry matter – 13.3%, total sugars – 6.2%, titratable acidity – 2.7%, ascorbic acid – 31.3 mg/100 g. Berries ripen in July. Yield is high, 16.0 t/ha (6.5 kg/bush).

Hardiness zone: 4a (-34°C). Flowers may be damaged by spring frosts.

Location: prefers well-lit sites but can grow in partial shade, moisture-loving but does not tolerate waterlogging or excessive moisture. Does not like heavy, clayey 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 clay-loam soils. The cultivar is resistant to drought and frosts.

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 mixture 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 applied – in early spring nitrogen fertilizers are applied: 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

Pruning: training to a standard (single-stem). Requires thinning.

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

Diseases: resistant to powdery mildew, slightly affected by anthracnose.

Pests: gall aphid, yellow gooseberry sawfly, currant clearwing. Bud mite affects it moderately.

Use: early fruiting, high yield, good transportability, excellent flavor qualities, large and highly marketable berries, suitable for fresh consumption and processing. A valuable cultivar for industrial cultivation for berry processing.