Sweet cherry Oceanic Virouska

This variety was developed at the Far Eastern Experimental Station of VNIIR in 1987 from crossing of varieties 'Krasnaya Sladkaya' x pollen mixture (Leto + Ogon'ek + Damanka). Author: V.P. Tsarenko. Introduced into the State Register in 1996.

The bush is strong-growing, 1.8 m tall, compact, medium density. Multi-year branches are thick, gray-brown, with numerous light-colored stipules. One-year shoots are red-brown, hairy. Buds are small, acute, form in groups of three, the outer generative, middle vegetative, hairy, deviated from the shoot. Leaf blade slightly concave, broadly egg-shaped (5.3 x 3.3 cm), dark green, with pointed apex and acute base, rigid, corrugated, hairy on the abaxial side with short hairs, on the adaxial side woolly. Leaf margin doubly toothed. Petiole 0.4 cm long, green with anthocyanin, hairy, with two acute-linear, hairy stipules. Flower (1-2) bowl-shaped, 2.7 cm in diameter of corolla, five-petaled, petals pink, moderately open. Stamens 24, pistil one, hairy, ovary hairy. Calyx elongated-oval, green with anthocyanin, hairy on the outside, five sepals, toothed, hairy. Pedicel 0.4 cm long, hairy. Flowering and fruiting type continuous along the branch: on one-year and multi-year wood (bouquet branches, fruiting twigs).

Fruit oval-shaped, attractive in appearance. Average fruit mass 3.0 g, maximum 3.6 g, size 1.6 x 1.5 x 1.5 cm. Fruit color burgundy, skin hairy with short, barely noticeable hairs. Apex slightly angled, rounded base, medium-depth funnel, ventral suture barely noticeable. Flesh red, cartilaginous, firm, juicy, weakly aromatic, pleasant sour-sweet taste. Juice color red. Pedicel very short 0.3 cm. Pit medium size, mass 0.18 g, light brown, with acute apex and pointed base, oval, constitutes 6% of fruit mass, does not detach from flesh.

Fresh fruits contain dry matter — 14.2%, sugars — 9.1%, acids — 0.8%, ascorbic acid — 27.7 mg/100g. Fruit appearance attractive. Flesh juicy, firm, cartilaginous. Taste sour-sweet, harmonious. Sensory rating 4.0 points. Semi-dry fruit detachment. Transportability weak. Not suitable for mechanized harvesting. Utilization universal: consumption fresh and processing into juice, jam, jelly, paste, marmalade, compote, wine and other products.

Flowering period 15-25 May. Ripening period 21-27 July. Fruits ripen simultaneously. Grafted seedlings enter fruiting in 2 years, rootstock in 3-4 years. Plant longevity 17 years. Variety self-sterile.

High yield — 9.0 kg per bush. Bush, one-year and multi-year branches resistant to winter frosts, flowers to spring frosts. Variety drought-tolerant, does not tolerate waterlogging. Resistant to coccomyces, relatively resistant to clasterosporiosis. Under waterlogging, flowers and fruits are affected by moniliosis.

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 near processing facilities; for nurseries and hobby gardening.

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

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