Currant Spas

A very late-ripening variety, obtained at the Mountain Horticulture Department of the Siberian Institute of Horticulture named after M.A. Lisavenko from crossing the varieties Yadrnaya and Plotnokistnaya. Breeders: L.N. Zabelina, E.I. Nakvasina. Under state variety testing since 2008.

Medium-height, weakly spreading, medium-density bush. Growing shoots are medium-thick, straight, light-green with many glands, slightly hairy, lignified — medium-thick, gray-brown, hairless. Buds are large or medium-sized, solitary, egg-shaped, pointed, light-green, slightly hairy, deviated from the shoot. Terminal bud is free.

Leaf five-lobed, medium-sized, light-green, hairless, slightly wrinkled, dense, convex, shiny. Central lobe is broad and elongated, curled. Angle between midveins of lateral lobes is obtuse. Basal lobes are well-developed, their veins spread out or directed toward the petiole. Base of leaf has a small, open notch. Color of main veins is light-green. Teeth are short and curled. Petioles are short, thick, hairy, green, arranged at right angles to the shoot in the lower part of the shoot, and at acute angles to the shoot in the upper part.

Flowers are medium-sized, sepals are pink, petals are cream-colored, not closed, deviated. Inflorescences are medium-sized (4-6 berries), dense.

Berries are large (1.6-2.4 g), spherical, one-dimensional, black, with a moderate number of bright-brown seeds, firm skin with dry detachment, sour-tasting, refreshing. Calyx is small and falls off, pedicel is short, light-green, slightly hairy. Chemical composition: soluble dry matter — 11.8%, total sugars — 6.6%, titratable acidity — 3.1%, ascorbic acid — 90.2 mg/100 g.

The variety is winter-hardy, self-fertile, resistant to fungal diseases, bud mite, and high-yielding (8.6 t/ha).

Advantages of the variety: high winter hardiness, stable and high yield, large fruit size, very late ripening, clean and dry detachment, and very high labor productivity in berry harvesting (8 kg per hour), resistance to anthracnose, septoria, and rust.

Disadvantages of the variety: sour taste of berries.