Red currant 'Rovada'

Red currant Rovada (Ribes rubrum Rovada) – a cultivar of red currant. Developed by L.M. Wassenaar in the Netherlands in the 1980s at the Institute for Plant Breeding of Agricultural Plants, Wageningen. Originated from a cross between the cultivars Fay’s Prolific and Heinemann Rote Spatlese. The cultivar is protected by Dutch Plant Breeder’s Rights.

It is a medium-vigour shrub with strong replacement shoots.

Leaves five-lobed, dark green, densely pubescent beneath, leathery. The central lobe is elongated, the lateral lobes are short and acute. Leaf base straight.

Ripening period – late. Clusters long, compact, 20–22 cm in length, without empty flowers, with 16—17 berries. Berries uniform, large, 0.7–1.5 g, round, intensely red, slightly tart in taste. When ripe they remain on the shrub for a long time. Yield 7—10 kg per bush or more.

Hardiness zone: 4a (−34°C)

Site: prefers well-lit locations but can grow in partial shade; moisture-loving but does not tolerate waterlogging and excessive moisture. Does not like heavy, clay soils; the groundwater level should not be closer than 75 cm below the soil surface. Not demanding to soil fertility, grows well on typical garden soil. Prefers slightly acidic, well-drained, sandy loam, light or medium-loamy soil. Drought resistance is moderate.

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

Care: during the growing season additional feedings are carried out – 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 (1:6), at a rate of 1–1.5 buckets per currant bush, and after harvest.

Pruning: trained on a stem. Requires thinning.

Propagation: propagated vegetatively (by division of the bush, grafting, green cuttings, vertical or horizontal layering) or by seeds. For vertical layering, bushes are heavily pruned in spring almost to ground level; in July the young shoots are earthed 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, earthed up and separated from the parent plant in autumn.

Diseases: resistant to American powdery mildew, rust, leaf spot; susceptible to anthracnose.

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

Uses: high yield, berries large and highly marketable, suitable for fresh consumption and processing. A valuable cultivar for commercial production for berry processing. Berries store for 2–3 weeks at 1–2 °C.