Raspberries are loved for their great taste and rich vitamin and mineral composition, which determines its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Since the culture is quite unpretentious, it is grown by amateur gardeners in many private areas. Among other varieties, the Senator is particularly distinguished by its high productivity and resistance to external conditions.

Selection history

Most raspberry varieties are characterized by low productivity - up to 2 kg per bush and a small berry size - not more than 4 g. The English breeder Derek Jennings managed to improve these indicators, who in 1961 isolated the L1 gene, which is responsible for the size of raspberry fruits.

Based on this discovery, at the end of the 20th century, Russian scientist Viktor Kichina bred several fruit raspberry varieties with large berries at once. One of his most successful developments was the Senator.

Description and characteristic

The senator is a non-remontant, mid-season variety whose bush is formed from several erect stems with a dark shade bark. The plant forms a new shoot well, there are no thorns on the branches. Such features, along with yield and size of fruits, attract attention to the variety of many gardeners. According to reviews, such a landing is much easier to care for, to harvest.

Did you know? From the point of view of botany, raspberries are not berries, but multi-seedlings, that is, they consist of many miniature fruits with seeds grown together.

Ripe Senator berries practically do not crumble from the bush, are perfectly transported and can be used both fresh and as raw materials for preparing all kinds of blanks.

Description and characteristics of the Senator cultivar:

• bush - medium-sized, about 180 cm;
• stems - powerful, erect, do not require tying;
• leaves - large, wrinkled, green;
• spikes - absent;
• fruit size - large, weighing 7-12 g,
• the color of the pulp is red-orange;
• the shape of the berry is cone-shaped;
• pulp - dense, juicy, velvety, easily removed from the bearing;
• taste - sweet with a slight acid aftertaste, pleasant, characteristic;
• keeping quality - good, retain a presentable appearance for a long time;
• productivity - about 4.5 kg per plant per season.

Important! WITHorth refers to mid-season. The fruiting of the Senator begins in July and continues almost until frost.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

• Positive Features of Raspberry Senator:
• high stable fruiting;
• great taste and large fruit size;
• frost resistance and good immunity;
• lack of spikes and the need for tying;
• excellent presentation;
• good transportability.

Growing Features

For planting, you should choose a suitable plot of soil and buy seedlings in specialized (certified) stores or nurseries.

Young plants should be at least 15–20 cm tall with a strong root system and a stem diameter of at least 8–10 mm. It is better not to buy raspberries from unknown producers - in addition to varietal mismatch, it can be infected with various diseases or pests.

Optimal timing

Raspberry planting time depends on the climate of the area. So, in warm regions, the Senator is better to land between the end of September and the middle of October. Then the bushes can take root well before the onset of cold weather and actively grow in the spring.

In cold areas, it is better to use spring planting in the ground - after the end of frost and the establishment of warm weather. If you plant raspberries in the fall, but it may not suffer frosts and die.

Seat selection

The senator should be planted in an open, sunny area, protected from strong winds. It is better to choose a flat place, since the soil on the hill will dry out too quickly, and in the lowlands, on the contrary, moisture can accumulate. You also need to consider that raspberries of this variety prefer loamy soils.

Unfavorable precursors for raspberries are strawberries and solanaceous crops. It is best to choose a place where legumes or grains grew before that.

Before planting, the site must be dug up and composted at a rate of 6 kg per 1 m² of area. You can use complex dressing according to the instructions for use.

Landing pattern

Before planting, you should check the integrity of the seedlings, inspect the roots, if necessary, shorten too long bushes to 25 cm. 3 hours before planting, place the plant roots in a growth stimulator.

Landing is as follows:

1. Prepare holes with a depth of 0.5 m and a diameter of 0.4 m with a step between them of 1 m and a distance between rows of 2 m.
2. Pour part of the extracted soil into the hole and place a seedling on top, spreading the roots.
3. Cover the hole with earth, slightly compact and form a near-trunk circle.
4. Moisturize the plant with cold water.

Watering and fertilizer

After planting, you should take care of regular agricultural activities - irrigation and top dressing.

It is necessary to water raspberries as the top layer of the soil dries, I use warm water and increase the amount of watering during the period of active laying of the ovaries. A few hours after watering, gently loosen the soil and remove weeds. To preserve moisture in the soil, you can mulch it with mowed grass, peat.As fertilizer, it is recommended to use slurry rich in nitrogen.

For more intensive fruiting should be used:

• superphosphate;
• potassium sulfate.

Such complex fertilizers are applied “under the bush”, 30 g per 10 liters of water, during the flowering period of the plant and the formation of ovaries.

Pest and Disease Control

With good care, the Senator variety is resistant to typical ailments and pests of this culture. Therefore, it is necessary to comply with all the basic rules of agricultural technology, which is the main preventive measure.

Did you know? According to one version, the name of the thieves' brothel - “raspberries” is not associated with a popular berry, but was a distorted version of the word “melina”, which in Hebrew means «shelter» or «bunker».

Malicious insects are perfectly neutralized by the preparations “Karbofos” and “Actellik”, which are treated on the eve of winter and early spring (before the start of vegetation). An excellent preventive method against pests is spraying bushes with infusion of onion husks or dusting with a fine fraction of wood ash or tobacco chips.

Winter preparations

The variety is characterized by high frost resistance and tolerates a short-term decrease in temperature to -35 ° C. In regions that are too cold, they must be protected to maintain the viability of the plants. To do this, gently bend the bushes and fix them near the ground. Then cover with improvised materials and cover with snow.

If an ice crust forms on the surface of the shelter, ice must be removed so that the plant receives sufficient air. If there is too little snow, then fallen leaves can be used for shelter with a layer of at least 30 cm.

Did you know? Since the raspberry flower is turned down, the bees can collect nectar even during rain. Moreover, these insects are able to increase the yield of bushes by 60-100%.

Harvesting and storage

Raspberries are harvested as the berries ripen, and it is better to do this in the early morning after the dew has dried. The ripened but not overripe berries should be removed together with the peduncle, after which they should be placed in a sieve or special baskets up to 4 kg in volume.

It is not recommended to use a large container so that the berries are not damaged under their own weight. Pour raspberries into another container is also not worth it, so you should sort the berries immediately during the collection. With the processing of raspberries, it is better not to delay it and do it as soon as possible.

If you need to preserve the crop, you should place the containers in a well-ventilated cold room for a period of not more than 5 days. Senator is an excellent high-yielding and large-fruited raspberry variety. Having planted these bushes on your site, you can get a large number of tasty and fragrant berries, which will be enough not only for the summer period, but also for winter harvesting.

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