Sweet cherry Autumn Virovskaya

This variety was developed at the Far Eastern Experimental Station of VNIIR in 1978 from crossing of the varieties 'Krasnaya Sladkaya' x 'Smесь Pyl' (Leto + Damanka). Author: V.P. Tsarenko. Introduced into the State Register in 1996.

The bush is vigorous, 1.8 m tall, broadly oval, compact. Multi-year branches are gray, shedding, with numerous light lenticels. One-year shoots are brown, hairy. Buds are small, pointed, form in groups of three, the terminal ones generative, the middle one vegetative, hairy, divergent from the shoot. Leaf blade slightly concave, oval (4.0 x 2.6 cm), dark green, with a pointed apex and acute base, corrugated, hairy on the abaxial side with short hairs, on the adaxial side — woolly. Leaf blade margin is doubly toothed. Petiole 0.5 cm long, thick, green, hairy, with two acute, linear, hairy stipules. Flower (1-2) dish-shaped, medium size 2.5 cm in diameter of corolla, five-petaled, petals pink, touching. Stamens 27, single pistil, hairy, stigma hairy. Stigma positioned above stamens. Calyx cylindrical, with strong anthocyanin, hairy on the outside, five calyx lobes, finely toothed, hairy. Stamens length 0.4 cm, pistil 0.6 cm. Flowering and fruiting type continuous along the branch: on one-year and multi-year wood (bouquet branches, fruiting twigs).

Fruit. Average weight 3.3 g, maximum 3.6 g, size 1.5 x 1.8 x 1.8 cm. Fruit shape broadly oval, slightly expanded at the base, with medium-depth depression, ventral suture in the form of a stripe. Skin shiny, dark burgundy, hairy with noticeable short hairs. Flesh red, firm, cartilaginous. Juice color red. Peduncle length 0.4 cm, medium thickness, hairy. Pit creamy, average weight 0.18 g, constitutes 5.5% of fruit weight, broadly oval, with pointed apex and rounded base, does not detach from flesh.

Fresh fruits contain dry matter — 11.2%, sugars — 8.9%, acids — 0.57%, ascorbic acid — 28.3 mg/100g. Fruit appearance is attractive and eye-catching. Flesh juicy, firm, cartilaginous. Taste tart-sweet, harmonious. Sensory evaluation 4.0 points. Semi-dry fruit detachment. Transportability weak. Not suitable for mechanized harvesting. Utilization is universal: consumption fresh and processing into juice, jam, jelly, nougat, marmalade, compote, wine, etc.

Flowering period 14–24 May. Ripening period 23–30 July. Fruits ripen simultaneously. Grafted seedlings enter fruiting at 2 years, rootstock plants at 3–4 years. Plant longevity 18 years. Variety is self-sterile. Wind- and insect-pollinated.

High yield — 9 kg per bush at 7 years old. Bush, shoots, and generative buds are winter-hardy, flowers are resistant to spring frosts. Variety is drought-tolerant, does not tolerate waterlogging. Resistant to coccomyces, relatively resistant to clasterosporiosis. Flowers and fruits are susceptible to moniliosis under waterlogging.

High production rating: winter hardiness, early fruiting, high yield, large fruit size, semi-dry fruit detachment, longevity. Easily propagated by green cuttings. Suitable for intensive orchards with nearby processing facilities; for nurseries and amateur gardening.

Advantages: large fruit size, good fruit taste, high yield, semi-dry fruit detachment, high winter hardiness.

Disadvantages: fruit size reduction under heavy fruit load, susceptibility to moniliosis.