Dukat strawberry variety
Ducat is a mid-early non-repairable variety of garden strawberries (strawberries) for universal use, bred by Polish breeders. It is valued for its high yield, excellent taste, good immunity to common crop diseases, and ease of maintenance. The variety is undemanding to soils, has good winter hardiness and drought resistance, so it can be grown in a wide variety of regions. Plants thrive best in a continental climate, which implies consistently hot summers and cold winters with sufficient rainfall, as well as the absence of sudden temperature changes.
The plant is vigorous, medium-sized, very compact, leafiness is medium. Strawberry whiskers are of medium thickness, formed in abundant quantities. Leaves are large or medium, light green in color. The flowers are medium in size and large, bisexual, with many stamens. Inflorescences are multi-flowered, spreading. Peduncles are numerous, branched, of medium length, strong, located below the level of the leaves, under the weight of the fruit they are laid on the ground. The peduncles are thick, short.
Dukat berries are medium and large in size, regular round-conical shape, the neck is poorly expressed. The variety does not differ in particular uniformity of forms, therefore, there are heart-shaped and wide-conical specimens. The skin of the fruit is bright scarlet with a pronounced shine, rather strong. The pulp is intense red, medium-dense, juicy, with a delicate strawberry aroma.
Strawberries have a wonderful sweet taste with a subtle hint of sourness. Berries are versatile in use, especially good fresh, excellent for processing, and also suitable for freezing. The fruits tolerate transportation over short distances and short-term storage rather well, but the pulp density is not enough to speak of a high level of transportability and keeping quality. Ducat is very attractive for low volume commercial cultivation to sell fresh produce to the market, and it is also very good for home cultivation for personal consumption.
Various sources indicate unequal ripening times for the variety, and this has a very simple reason - in different climatic conditions, strawberries begin to bear fruit either earlier or later. In the southern regions, our hero can ripen on a par with the early varieties, and in the northern regions - at the same time as the mid-season ones. In general, Dukat can be attributed to the mid-early group. Plants bear fruit quite steadily, but with insufficient care, the berries can become very shallow by the end of the season.
The average weight of fruits varies within very large limits - from 10 to 30 grams. With proper agricultural technology, the indicators are averaged up to 15-20 grams. At the first harvest, the berries are larger, up to 30 grams and a little more, then gradually decrease in size. The variety forms quite a few flower stalks, on which, in turn, a large number of berries are tied, which provides a very impressive yield. On average, it is possible to collect about 1 kg of fruits from one plant, and with intensive agricultural technology - 2 kg. Such a yield can be confidently called high, therefore Dukat is very promising for growing for commercial purposes.
Strawberries are quite resistant to a complex of common diseases of the root system and foliage, especially resistant to spotting. However, in unfavorable seasons, the risk of fungal diseases increases, so timely prevention is highly desirable.Plants have quite good winter hardiness, but in winters with little snow and at extremely low temperatures they can freeze out, so it is advisable to take care of planting shelter, the same applies to the spring period. In general, the variety tolerates both high and low temperatures quite persistently, but a sharp change in these extremes affects the plants very negatively. Ducat has excellent drought resistance and heat resistance, in hot seasons everything will also delight you with harvests. But in rainy periods, preventive measures against fungal diseases should be strengthened.
In agricultural technology, our hero is standard, does not require increased attention to himself, but he responds very well to additional care. Strawberries are very moisture-loving, they need regular abundant watering, it is best to install a drip irrigation system. The moisture level has a strong influence on the size of the berries, and therefore on the yield. Another main point is that plants need a sufficient amount of fertilizer. Ducat does not require excessively abundant dressings, but one should not spare them either, since a lack of nutrition has an extremely negative effect on the yield and taste of the variety.
Otherwise, there are no outstanding features in the cultivation of this strawberry. But remember that the better you take care of it, the more bang for your buck. It is advisable to use plants for 3-4 years, and then renew the planting. If the cultivation is intensive, then the rejuvenation of the plantation may be needed earlier - after 1-2 years. By the way, due to abundant reproduction, there will be no problems with reproduction, however, if you want to get a rich harvest, you should normalize the number of whiskers.
Ducat is a very good variety, attractive to both farmers and ordinary summer residents. This strawberry is very stable and reliable, not particularly demanding in agricultural technology, in exchange for standard care it gives abundant and tasty harvests. Gardeners speak very well of this variety, praising it for its unpretentiousness and excellent taste of the berries.
