Raspberry variety Glen Ample (Glen Ample)
Glen Ample is a mid-season, summer-bearing raspberry variety that has begun breeding experiments at the Scottish Crop Research Institute as part of the raspberry breeding program. The Institute is located in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom. The variety was bred back in 1978 by the famous breeder Dr. Derek L. Jennings and breeder Ronnie J. McNichol. As a result of crosses of the lines SCRI 7326E1 and SCRI 7412H16 (complex hybridization between the Scottish varieties Glen Rosa, Glen Prosen and the North American widespread at that time Meeker) in 1981, the seedlings of a new numbered varieties 7815B8, which later received the name Glen Emple. In our country it is also called Glen Ample. The rights are owned by the James Hutton Institute, UK. The new variety was patented in 1998.
Our hero belongs to one of the world's most famous "raspberry families" - the Glen group, which includes numerous varieties with different characteristics, but the very word "Glen" in their name makes you involuntarily pay attention to them. This family includes such undisputed raspberry hits as Glen Fine, Glen Coe (raspberries with purple berries), Glen Dee, Glen Magna and many others. These varieties form the basis of British commercial raspberry plantings and are among the most popular and widespread varieties in Europe.
Description
Shoots at Glen Ample are strong, erect, slightly leafy, green in color, with a small waxy bloom, have excellent growth vigor. With age (in the second year), the shoots grow stiff. Leaves are green, closer to yellow-green, slightly wrinkled, rounded, with slight pubescence. The flowers are large, with a diameter of 2.2 cm. A big plus of this raspberry is that the shoots are absolutely smooth, without any thorns, which makes it easier to care for the plant and makes picking berries a very pleasant and uncomplicated event. Provided, of course, the correct placement of the stems on the trellis, so that you do not have to jump along the landings with a ladder.
The average height of the stems is about 2 meters, but with good agricultural technology, they reach the mark of 3.5 meters without problems, they have a really huge fruiting potential. One shoot grows from 20 to 30 laterals (fruit twigs) 0.5-0.7 m long, on which, after flowering, up to 20 berries are formed on each. The width of the bush itself reaches 2 meters, this must be taken into account when choosing a planting scheme, in particular for choosing the width of the row spacing.
The berries of the Scottish variety have a beautiful rounded-conical shape, bright red in color, with a weak or moderate sheen, they darken when fully ripe. Raspberry fruits are large (on average 23.2 mm long, 22.3 mm wide), dense, juicy, but with an elastic skin. There is a consistently high percentage of one-dimensional and large fruits of excellent presentation. The average weight of Glen Ample berries in a season is 4 grams, but some specimens can gain a maximum weight of 6-8 grams.
Fruits with a rich raspberry aroma, pleasantly refreshing, sweet and sour taste, estimated at 4 out of 5 possible points. The BRIX sugar level is quite high at 10.5. Drupes are large, tightly linked; when picked, ripe berries are easily removed from the bush and do not crumble. Fruit transportability and keeping quality are good, they choke a little during long-term transportation, 2-3 days can be stored without refrigeration and loss of marketability. And at a temperature of + 2 ° C in the refrigerator, the shelf life is 6-8 days.
Glen Ample has a large and stable yield, bears fruit almost along the entire length of the stem, as a result, 1.2-1.6 kg per shoot and a total of 22-25 tons per hectare when planted with a row spacing of 2.5-3 meters are obtained. The shoot-forming ability of raspberries is good, there is a lot of root growth even on old plantations, in this regard, there are no difficulties in reproduction.
The variety is of the middle fruiting period, ripens from mid-June in the southern regions of our country. In the UK, namely in the city of Dundee (Scotland), the beginning of berry picking falls on July 12, 50% of the sample harvest - on July 21, and the end of the harvest is on August 6. And, for example, the beginning of the season at the Brogdale Hortcultural Trust (Kent, UK) falls already on June 24, 50% of the sample - on July 13, and the end of the collection on July 31.
The frost resistance of the variety is good, it has been verified that in the conditions of our country it can withstand frosts down to -35 ° C. For successful wintering, shoots in late autumn are recommended to be bent and fixed to each other or braided in a horizontal position. Glen Ample is resistant to raspberry aphids and other common crop diseases, but susceptible to the dwarf virus.
Given the width of the bush, when planting raspberries, it is highly recommended to adhere to the following scheme, especially if it is planned to grow on an industrial scale: the distance between plants in a row should be 0.5-0.6 meters, between rows - at least 2.5-3 meters. Such a scheme is necessary for ease of maintenance, since when planting with a row spacing of 2 meters (and some managed to plant with a row spacing of 1.5 meters in order to save space), the result was an impenetrable forest, and the search for berries turned into a whole exciting adventure, since there are no thorns on the raspberry shoots, otherwise it would be impossible to get to the berries at all.
The variety is versatile, consistently producing many large tasty berries of excellent quality, well suited both for fresh consumption and for processing, canning and freezing. Glen Ample is perfect for both suburban areas and for growing on an industrial scale.
Author: Maxim Zarechny.
