Sweet cherry Victoria

Introduced by T.V. Morozov at the VNIIS (Institute of Horticulture named after I.V. Michurin) from seed of Vladimirskaya cherry, treated with the chemical mutagen DMS at a concentration of 0.025% during the germination stage. Under state variety trials since 1995.

Medium-sized, fast-growing tree with a rounded, slightly elevated crown of moderate density and good foliage. Fruit set on cluster branches. Bark on trunk and scaffold branches is brown. Shoots are medium-sized, gray-green, with few medium-sized white stipules. Buds are egg-shaped. Leaves are medium-sized, oval, with doubly serrated edges, smooth surface, matte texture, green color, without hairs. Petiole is short, medium thickness, with anthocyanin coloration along the entire length. Two medium-sized, dark-red glands are present at the base of the leaf blade. Absence of stipules. Flowers are large, white, rose-like, with round petal shape. Stigma is positioned higher relative to stamens.

Fruits are medium-sized (mass 3.8–4.1 g), round, with rounded apex, moderate depression at base, faint small seam. Pedicel is long, with weak attachment to stone. Fruits are dark-red, with few small epidermal dots on skin. Flesh is dark-red, with dark-red juice, medium density, juicy. Stone is medium-sized, smooth, easily separates from flesh. Taste is sour-sweet.

Medium-ripening fruits — harvest maturity in Michurinsk occurs in late July. Good transportability. Chemical composition: sugars — 12.08%; acids — 1.54%; ascorbic acid — 34.66 mg/100g. Universal-purpose variety.

Medium flowering period. Self-fertile. Best pollinators: Zhukovskaya, Morozovka, Lebedyanskaya, Michurinskaya Griot. Fruit production from 4th–5th year. Regular yield, 60–80 centners/ha in Michurinsk conditions. Suitable for vibration shaker harvesting. Highly winter-hardy, drought-tolerant, with high field resistance to coccomyces.

Propagation by budding and green cuttings. Rootstocks — seedlings of cultivated varieties, clonal rootstocks of Vladimirskaya. Rooting rate with green cuttings reaches up to 80%. Pruning similar to Zhukovskaya variety.

Advantages: regular yield, high resistance to coccomyces, suitability for mechanized harvesting, ability to propagate via green cuttings.

Disadvantages: fruits are not sufficiently large.