Strawberry variety Gariguetta (Gariguette)
Gariguetta is a French mid-early non-renovated variety of garden strawberries (strawberries) for dessert use. It is one of the most recognizable and valuable varieties that has earned warm reviews and immense popularity due to its excellent taste. Our heroine is also known as Gariget. There is no exact data on the origin of this strawberry, however, there are two main versions. Some sources claim that the variety appeared in the 1930s in the French province of Provence, and it got its name in honor of the area located in the south of France. According to other sources, the strawberry was bred in 1976 by crossing the Favette and Belrubi varieties. Frenchwoman Gariguette has earned her place of honor among the unique varieties that every lover of garden strawberries dreams of having in their collection. Despite her capriciousness, she continues to be very popular and in demand, gaining more and more attention to herself.
The plants are vigorous, spreading, abundantly leafy. Bushes are dense, medium compact: about 50 cm in diameter and up to 30 cm in height. The root system is powerful, superficial, branched, deepened by 30-35 cm, requires a sufficient feeding area. The leaves are large, strongly corrugated, wrinkled, light green in color. The shape of the leaf plate is round, the veins are deep and light, which is a distinctive feature of the variety. The teeth of the leaf plate are sharp, inclined slightly forward. Abundant maneuvering, one plant is capable of forming up to 20 rosettes. Peduncles are long, powerful, multi-edged, one peduncle can form up to 20 berries, located below the level of the leaves. Pedicels are long and strong, sepals are very large, easy separation.
Strawberries are large, very large at the first harvest, with a comb-like shape. A feature of the variety is the bi-conical shape of the fruit, which is observed at the beginning of fruiting. In the bulk, the berries are of a beautiful elongated-conical shape, resembling a truncated cone, but Gariguetta cannot boast of uniformity in the shape and size of the fruit. The skin of the berries is thin, but strong, bright orange in color with a strong glossy sheen, at the stage of full ripeness it acquires a rich bright red hue. Often, with a lack of sun, fruits that are in the stage of technical ripeness can have a white neck. In general, the coloration is uniform over the entire area of the berry. Achenes are small, deeply sunk. Pulp in the context of red color with a white heart, without voids. The consistency of the pulp is very delicate, which is why the berries do not tolerate transportation quite well.
The taste qualities of strawberries are truly delicious and unique, deserving many positive reviews and love of strawberry gourmets. The taste is very multifaceted, balanced, full-bodied. The sweetness is complemented by a graceful acidity, and the bright strawberry aftertaste and the intense aroma of real wild strawberries make the palate truly excellent. The pulp is juicy, has a very pleasant texture, the berries simply melt in your mouth. The variety is really dessert, it fully deserves this title. Moreover, in some dessert recipes, the name of this particular variety is fixed. But it is worth noting that the taste of berries is highly dependent on the climate of the growing region, as well as on the weather conditions of the season. In cold areas and during rainy summers, the berries do not gain sufficient sweetness, and in overly hot regions with sunshine, Gariguetta's harvest is simply baked.
The berries are especially great fresh, great for cooking and decorating desserts, they are also suitable for making jams or jams, but they are not particularly suitable for freezing because of the very delicate pulp, which will turn into gruel when thawed.The strawberry crop tolerates storage very poorly, and is also not suitable for long-distance transportation. Gariget is not used in commercial cultivation, except that it can be grown for the purpose of selling the berries in the local market. In general, the crop does not have uniformity and evenness, which already has a bad effect on the presentation, moreover, during transportation, the berries can be damaged due to thin skin and delicate pulp. In a word, our heroine is more suitable for amateur gardeners; in commercial use, she does not expect any prospects, despite her delicious taste.
The average fruit weight is about 25-30 grams, at the first harvest the berries are larger, the largest specimens reach a weight of 50-70 grams. Strawberries do not differ in uniformity and stability of fruiting, the crop gradually becomes shallower by the end of the harvest, but the variety does not sin with trifles. The berries are not aligned in the total mass, which is why Gariguetta did not gain popularity as a commercial one. The yield of the variety is average, with the usual level of agricultural background, this indicator will keep at the level of 400-450 grams of fruits from one plant. This Frenchwoman does not have much potential, so you should not expect a very large harvest from her. Moreover, it is very sensitive to weather and climatic conditions, therefore it cannot boast of stability from season to season and will behave differently in different regions. However, the plants thrive in greenhouses, under controlled conditions on the substrate, and respond well to feeding.
There is a lot of controversy about the timing of the ripening of strawberries. So, in some regions, the harvest begins to ripen at an early date, in others - along with the mid-early varieties, and somewhere a French woman can show herself as a mid-season at all. It all depends on climatic conditions, and while in their homeland strawberries belong more to the early ripening segment, in the conditions of the Moscow region, for example, they often show themselves as medium early. Fruiting at Gariguetta is quite long.
Plants have quite good immunity, they are very resistant to major crop diseases and mites, however, the health of strawberries is extremely dependent on weather conditions and climate. In cold rainy seasons, berries can often be affected by gray rot, and the bushes themselves become more susceptible to various diseases. Winter hardiness and frost resistance of strawberries are insufficient; in cold regions, plants require serious shelter for the winter, as well as for the period of return frosts in the spring. Heat, drought and sunshine are also extremely harmful to the variety, causing great damage to yields, and the berries are heavily baked in the sun. In agricultural technology, the variety is, in principle, unpretentious, although in order to get a good harvest and reveal the full palette of berry taste, you will still need to pay enough attention to the plants.
Gariguetta is one of the elite varieties that are the highlight of any collection. But not in all regions, strawberries will be able to show themselves perfectly. In many regions of Russia, it will be significantly inferior to domestic varieties, without being able to reveal all its unique taste qualities.
