Kiss Nellis strawberry variety
Kiss Nellis is a mid-early non-repairable variety of garden strawberries (strawberries) for universal use. Its origin is not known for certain, it appeared on the market for a long time, it is believed that in its pedigree there was a famous Gigantella Maxim... Our hero is famous for its exceptional large-fruitedness, its berries are often larger than those of the currently popular "Japanese" Chamory Turusi and Tsunaki... Also, Kiss Nellis has excellent taste and decent yield indicators, excellent immunity and good winter hardiness.
The plant is very powerful, spreading, abundantly leafy, two-year-old bushes reach 50 cm in diameter. The cultivar has poor formation, the mustache is very thick, as they say, with a pencil. The leaves are corrugated, light green in color, dull, sometimes stipules are observed. The flowers are bisexual, white. Strawberry flower stalks are very strong and thick, up to 1 cm in diameter, located at the level of leaves and below, they hold berries perfectly, however, under the weight of the largest specimens, they are laid on the ground.
The fruits of Kiss Nellis are indeed sometimes gigantic, very unusual, one might even say decorative, truncated-conical in shape, without a neck, often comb-like, the largest can be fan-shaped. The skin is dark red, at the stage of full ripeness it acquires a cherry tint. Achenes yellow, small, shallowly depressed. Strawberry pulp is firm, but not firm, with a fleshy consistency, juicy, with a bright strawberry aroma.
The variety has excellent taste, among large-fruited it has earned the title of one of the most delicious. He definitely surpasses Gigantella Maxim, but with the popular Chamora Turusi at about the same level, although, according to gardeners, it is still a little better than her. Berries have a great dessert taste, very harmonious and rich. Compared to Chamora Turusi, Kiss Nellis has a slightly brighter taste and aroma.
Berries are versatile in use, excellent fresh, suitable for any processing and freezing. Due to their rather dense pulp, they perfectly tolerate transportation, moreover, after harvesting, they remain very dry and attractive. In general, the fruits of this variety are very spectacular and unusual, therefore they will definitely attract the attention of buyers in the market. An apple-sized strawberry that barely fits on the palm of your hand simply cannot leave you indifferent. Of course, Kiss Nellis is not used in industrial cultivation, but it is quite suitable for small farms, and even more so for your summer cottage.
The average weight of berries in the season is 50-60 grams, at the first harvest, the fruits are simply gigantic - from 100 to 110 grams, up to a maximum of 170 grams. And these are not fairy tales, some regulars on the forums claim that they really saw such huge berries. Of course, you should not expect that the plant will overwhelm you with such giants all season, nevertheless, large specimens are characteristic only for the first harvests, and it is possible to grow a record fruit with a weight above 150 grams only with special agricultural technology, which we will talk about a little below. The yield of the variety is also impressive - 1.5 kg of berries per bush and more. However, this figure sparked controversy among gardeners. It is worth saying that such an indicator is indeed slightly transcendental, and to be precise, it is simply not always achievable. To obtain such an amount of harvest, it is necessary to very painstakingly and competently take care of the strawberries, providing them with the necessary nutrition, in the first place.
Kiss Nellis has excellent immunity, staunchly resists common crop diseases, as well as pests. Of course, this does not mean that the plants do not need preventive treatments at all. Winter hardiness is quite good, strawberries overwinter without problems in Ukraine without shelter, in most regions of Russia you should still take care of covering materials.Drought tolerance is, in principle, normal, but dry periods will adversely affect yields and fruit size, which can automatically frustrate you, so do not forget about watering.
In agricultural technology, the variety is quite simple, but it has some peculiarities. If you do not want to grow giant berries (weighing more than 100 grams), then the plants should be treated with standard care typical of the culture as a whole. If you need record-breaking fruits, then you have to strain yourself: the bushes are planted at a distance of at least 50 cm from each other, then they are allowed to build up a full-fledged vegetative mass (you can not let them bear fruit in the first year of life), all mustaches are removed, they are regularly monitored watering, preventing the soil from drying out, and also feeding the plants abundantly. And the main point is that only 1-2 of the largest flowers are left on the peduncle. As you can understand, in this case, there is no question of high yield, these tricks are used purposefully to get giant berries.
Kiss Nellis is a very interesting variety that can not only please you, but also really amaze you. Reviews about him are very admiring, but there is one negative point - an unknown origin. Of course, this is not particularly important when strawberries in practice show the declared potential, but in this case it is quite easy to fall for the deception of unscrupulous sellers, so be extremely careful when buying planting material.
