Gooseberry Vladil (Commander)

Medium-early maturing variety, developed at the South Ural Research Institute of Fruit and Vegetable and Potato Growing from crossing the varieties Chelyabinsk Green and African. Author V.S. Ilyin. Since 1995, it has been included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements approved for use in the Volga-Vyatka, Middle Volga, Ural, and West Siberian regions.

Strong-growing, compact bush; slightly spreading and dense when bearing heavy yields. Growing shoots are straight, thin, green, with anthocyanin coloring in the upper third or even half of the shoot. Thorns are absent on most shoots; when present, they are single, medium or thin, light-brown, positioned perpendicular or slightly downward along the shoot.

Large to medium-sized, green, glossy, slightly wrinkled leaves with flat or convex blades; on some leaves, slightly concave along the midrib. Five-lobed, with medium or deep indentations; central lobe exceeds lateral ones. Angle between midribs of lateral lobes is acute, occasionally straight; lateral lobes are widely spaced. Basal lobes are moderately developed. Leaf base has a medium indentation. Teeth are large, blunt, not curled. Petiole is medium-thick, long, slightly hairy, light green. Buds are small, solitary, elongated, with pointed apex, deviated from the shoot. Petiole scar is round or nearly straight.

Flowers are medium-sized, brightly colored, arranged in two- to three-flowered clusters, bell-shaped. Sepals are long, narrow, not fused, red or pink, reflexed. Pedicels are long, thin, green, not hairy.

Berries are medium-sized (2.5–4.5 g), one-dimensional, round, dark red, nearly black, with thin skin. Receptacle is half-open, pedicel is long and thin. Flavor is sweet-sour, pleasant, rated 4.9 points. Chemical composition: total sugars — 13.1%, titratable acidity — 2.2–3.0%, ascorbic acid — up to 54.8 mg/100 g. Berries are versatile in use.

The variety is winter-hardy, high-yielding, with average multi-year yield of 10.0 t/ha and maximum yield of 25.1 t/ha (3.0–7.5 kg/plant), characterized by good self-fertility (48.2%), resistance to powdery mildew, weakly affected by anthracnose and fire blight.

Advantages of the variety: high yield, winter-hardiness, resistance to powdery mildew, nearly complete absence of thorns on shoots, high flavor quality.

Disadvantages of the variety: insufficient berry size.