Strawberry variety Malvina

Malvina is a non-repairable variety of garden strawberries (strawberries) of a very late ripening period. It was launched in 1998, appeared on the market recently, in 2010. It was obtained by German breeders by crossing Sophie and a clone from Schimmelpfeng and Weihenstefan. The author is Peter Stoppel. Our heroine quickly gained great popularity, becoming the favorite of many gardeners and farmers, and deservedly so. It is high-yielding, famous for its high percentage of marketable berries, has an excellent dessert taste, and is excellent for growing both for commercial purposes and for personal consumption. To this extensive list should be added the possibility of cultivation in a variety of climatic latitudes and good resistance to various diseases. But first things first.

The plant is vigorous, up to 50 cm in height, medium spreading, abundantly leafy. Strawberry bushes look very powerful, reaching 40-50 cm in diameter. Malvina forms an average number of whiskers and a large number of horns (about 7-9). The leaves are large, slightly wrinkled, dark green in color, shiny. The flowers are large, bisexual. There are many peduncles, they are rather short, located under the leaves, so that the fruits are not baked in the sun.

The berries of the variety are very large, of the correct wide-conical shape, sometimes double specimens can be observed. The skin has a bright scarlet color with shine; when fully ripe, it acquires a dark cherry hue. Achenes are yellow, immersed in the pulp to a medium depth. The strawberry flesh itself is red, juicy, rather dense, but not firm, without crunch on the bite, has a strawberry aroma of medium intensity. The variety has one characteristic feature - about 3% of Malvina berries begin to “bloom with leaves”. It looks very interesting, the fruits really "peck" small green leaves, which gradually develop, and then the berry looks like some unknown overseas fruit. In fact, this feature is a genetic defect and manifests itself quite rarely, it is also observed in some other species.

Malvina's taste is simply excellent! The taste of this strawberry can be confidently called dessert - it is very sweet, multifaceted, plays with various notes. According to gardeners, this variety really has very good taste, direct, different from the characteristics of other varieties. By the way, our heroine has one very pleasant feature - the berries are very sweet even at the stage of technical ripeness, and when fully ripe, they reveal their palette of taste to the maximum. The tasters rated the strawberries 6.3 points on a nine-point scale, while the generally accepted European standard Elsanta has an assessment of 5.7 points.

The fruits are versatile in use, excellent fresh, perfect for various kinds of processing, as well as freezing. Due to their very dense pulp, strawberries tolerate transportation and short-term storage well. In general, Malvina is very attractive for commercial cultivation, since its berries are distinguished by an excellent presentation and uniformity in size and weight, due to which our heroine focuses the attention of buyers on the market.

The average weight of fruits in the season is about 40-50 grams, at the first harvest a little more, and the largest specimens weigh more than 80 grams. A pleasant feature of the variety is a very stable fruiting, in which the berries retain their large size until the last harvest. At the same time, it is noted that the percentage of fruits of the first commercial class in Malvina is greater than that of the same reference Elsanta - the share of large berries in our heroine is 77−85%. And this is a really high figure that clearly deserves attention.

The yield of the variety cannot be called high, it is rather above average. So, with moderate agricultural technology (without strict control over the conditions for growing strawberries and abundant feeding with cocktails from fertilizers), it is possible to get from 500 to 800 grams of berries from one plant. With intensive technology, the indicators increase - from 1 kg per bush and more. It is worth saying that in this regard, Malvina loses to Elsante, yielding to her in yield by 10-20%. Another losing point is the slower harvesting rate - picking berries of our heroine takes 10-15% more time than it would take this event on the Elsanta plantation. This happens because the variety has short peduncles located under the leaves, which is why it takes longer to visually detect the fruits and remove them. On the other hand, this feature allows you not to worry about preserving Malvina's harvest from the scorching sun - the berries are hidden under the leaves and are never baked.

Strawberries ripen late and very late, fruiting begins around the end of July, and may start later. Thus, the main harvest begins about 20-25 days after Elsanta and 12-14 days later than Florence. Fruiting in our heroine is quite compressed, she gives up the entire crop very quickly. In addition, ripening occurs amicably, and even underripe berries can still be safely picked and sent to the market, since they already have an excellent taste. Thus, Malvina is very attractive for large-scale cultivation, harvesting does not stretch over time and is quite fruitful.

Strawberries are highly resistant to verticillium wilt and powdery mildew. Medium resistant to brown spot, rarely rotted. The variety is rarely damaged by pests, but it is especially attractive for thrips and weevils; it is against these insects that the fight should be directed. The winter hardiness of the variety is average, in periods of little snow it can suffer, so it is better to take care of the shelter. As for frost resistance, it should be said that the variety blooms very late, so the flowers are not afraid of cold, but the plants themselves in the spring are still better protected from frost with covering materials.

Malvina's drought tolerance is high, but dry periods have a negative effect on the size and taste of the berries, so it is extremely important to ensure that the plants are regularly watered abundantly. In general, according to gardeners, our heroine very steadfastly endures various natural disasters, she is very "tenacious" and is able to show excellent results even in the most unfavorable seasons, when other varieties cannot withstand the influence of the environment. So, strawberries do not lose their taste and marketability during periods of prolonged rains and they still remain invulnerable to fungal diseases. Even the hail plantation will survive absolutely calmly. The plant has an excellent ability to quickly recover from various stressful situations, which many other varieties cannot boast of.

Malvina has a potentially wide distribution area; with proper care, it can show excellent results not only in Central Russia, but also in more northern regions. It is also very attractive for growing in greenhouses, with this method, it can, firstly, give a potentially larger amount of yield, and secondly, the influence of unfavorable weather conditions will decrease, and as a result, the taste of the berries will improve. In general, for ordinary gardeners, the variety is very good, but whether it is promising for growing in order to sell it to the market is another question. On the one hand, it has all the characteristics necessary for the title of "commercial variety", but at the same time it has two big drawbacks in this regard - a relatively low yield and the impossibility of growing using the technology of compacted plantings.However, it should be said that our heroine is considered one of the latest varieties on the market, so she is very attractive as a strawberry to continue the berry conveyor after all early and mid-season varieties have already yielded.

Due to the very late ripening period, one nuance should be noted. Many gardeners are afraid that their beauty Malvina does not bloom at all, while other late strawberries on the site are already beginning to set fruits. But don't worry! Our heroine really begins to bloom much later than other varieties, but this will be a plus - when the yield of the rest begins to decline, she will delight you with large tasty berries.

In agricultural technology, the variety is quite simple, does not need any supernatural techniques. However, there are a few key points that should not be overlooked. Strawberries are really very productive and promising, they can delight with harvests in various climatic latitudes, but for this you need to find the right approach to it.

• The bushes should be planted at a distance of 50-70 cm from each other, 60-70 cm should be left between the rows. At first glance, it may seem that these numbers are too exaggerated, but this is not so. Malvina is a really powerful plant and needs a lot of space. With excessive thickening of the plantings, one can not hope for a high yield. By the way, because of this agrotechnical feature, the variety becomes not particularly attractive for growing for commercial purposes, since it requires large areas. It is much easier for farmers to plant more bushes on a large plot. And, frankly, such a choice is justified - from one square meter it is possible to get more berries when growing another variety, even less productive than our heroine.

• Strawberries do not require overfeeding, but will respond very well to higher fertilizer doses. When planting, a sufficient amount of organic matter should be added to provide a good basis for the growth of Malvina's green mass. Also, organic complexes are introduced until flowering, and then you should be careful with them - when the plant gains sufficient growth, an increased amount of organic matter can cause the bushes to “fatten”, in which the green mass will continue to grow to the detriment of the crop. At the onset of flowering, preference should be given to mineral complexes. By the way, adequate mineral nutrition has a very positive effect on the taste and size of the berries.
• Thin the plantings in time to avoid thickening - remove the mustache, normalize the number of leaves. Some gardeners practice thinning the leaves at the peak of fruiting - this will improve ventilation and illumination, as a result of which the berries will ripen faster.

Let us summarize briefly. Malvina is a wonderful, very promising variety that can please you with a delicious late harvest. He is really good in a variety of ways and clearly deserves a place on your site. We will not list again all the advantages of strawberries, but we will mention about its disadvantages. The main one is the relatively low yield. Although, rather to say, comparatively not gigantic. At present, we are no longer surprised by the indicators of 2 kg of berries per plant, and if there are remontants on the market, the level of 3 kg per bush is no longer considered something unattainable. Malvina, among these giant varieties, looks very modest, however, due to its other characteristics, it can deservedly be called one of the favorites.

Another big drawback of our heroine is the large size of the plant, which makes it impossible to grow this strawberry with compacted plantings. Moreover, this nuance is striking not only for farmers, but also for ordinary gardeners - not every one of them has a plot area that allows them to maintain such luxurious bushes.But by trying to plant just one copy, you clearly will not lose, and then most likely you will want to expand your plantation.