Grape variety Talisman (Kesha 1)
The talisman is a real bestseller of domestic breeders. Developed by scientists of the All-Russian Research Institute of Life Sciences named after V.I. ME AND. Potapenko, in 2016 it was officially entered into the State Register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation, zoned in many regions of industrial viticulture, and enjoys well-deserved popularity and love of a huge number of amateur winegrowers. Such a wide distribution has led to the fact that the variety has many synonymous names - Kesha-1, Kesha-2, Kesha Muscat, Super Kesha - all this is about the Talisman.
The connection of our hero with also a very famous and popular grape Kesha based on common ancestors. Both, thanks to the skillful hands of breeders, descended from the same parents - Rapture and Frumoas Albe. The difference in origin lies only in the fact that in one variety, Delight is the maternal form, and in the other, the paternal form. This determined both many similarities observed between them, and some differences that determine the originality of each of them.
A characteristic feature of the Talisman is increased resistance to frost, impressive size of bunches and berries, excellent presentation, good affinity with rootstock varieties, high resistance to mildew.
Bushes are powerful, very vigorous, ripe shoots are smooth, thick, yellowish-brown. Leaves are large, strongly dissected, pubescence is medium, cobweb. The flower is functionally female, which is a definite disadvantage, since the grapes require the presence of a number of pollinators in order to avoid weak pollination and peas on the berries.
The bunches of the variety are large, branched or winged, of medium density, sometimes loose, with an average weight of 900-1000 grams or more. The comb is long, firmly attaching the bunch to the vine. The size of the Talisman berries attracts attention - they are very large, 35 by 31 millimeters or more, weighing 12-16 grams, sometimes up to 20-25 grams and measuring 40 × 45 mm. The berries are elliptical in shape, greenish-yellow in color, with a strong waxy bloom. The peel is medium in thickness, firm but edible. The pulp is fleshy-juicy, delicious consistency. The taste is simple, neutral, with a prolonged presence of the bunches on the bush, it becomes harmonious, distinct muscat tones appear, so beloved by many connoisseurs of grapes. The variety has few seeds, as a rule, no more than two, and their size is small relative to the gigantic sizes of the berries themselves.
The crop is intended for fresh consumption, suitable for transportation, including over long distances. Upon reaching the removable maturity, the bunches of grapes can continue to hang on the bush without losing, but only improving their taste. Bunches of precisely late harvest dates reveal for the time being hidden, but at the same time very valuable features of the Talisman, while in the early stages, despite their attractive appearance, the berries do not have the most outstanding tasting characteristics. This is the very case when you should not rush, maintaining the endurance in order to give the plant an opportunity to show everything that it is capable of. Moreover, given the good maturity of the vine of this variety, you should not worry that late harvesting will prevent the bush from properly preparing for winter.
In terms of ripening, the variety belongs to the early-medium with a production period of 127-135 days. During this time, in order to achieve technical ripeness, the grapes must receive at least 2700-2800 ° C of active temperatures, but if the climate allows it, then it is worth delaying harvesting longer. The yield on powerful bushes can be very high, but you should not abuse the generosity of the Talisman, trying to find a middle ground, so as not to harm the plant itself, which will certainly answer your concern with the stability of fruiting for many years. With proper care, fruiting shoots on a bush, as a rule, are 75-90%, the number of clusters per shoot is 1.4-1.8.On the shoots of this variety, there are mainly up to two inflorescences, and only sometimes three. In this case, the third (and on insufficiently strong vines and the second) bunch should be removed so that the remaining ones will surely grow large, mature, having an attractive presentation. The talisman is very early ripening, the first, albeit small, harvest can be obtained already in the second year after planting. The sugar content of grapes varies greatly depending on weather conditions and harvest time - from 170 to 230 grams per cubic decimeter. The acidity is 6-8 grams per liter of juice.
In terms of agrotechnical characteristics, our hero surpasses his brother - Kesha. The best winter hardiness - up to -25 ° С testifies in its favor. There is evidence of amateur winegrowers who claim that the bushes of this variety did not die even after a thirty-degree winter cold, however, there was no harvest this year, the plant spent all its energy on recovery after extreme frosts. In relation to diseases, it should be noted high resistance to mildew and gray rot, and weak to powdery mildew. Of the pests, it is worth paying attention to combating felt itching and wasps. The latter can cause serious damage during the ripening of the crop on the bushes. The rooting rate of grape cuttings is very good, but, like all "delights", the Talisman is affected by the root phylloxera, which makes it impossible for it to reproduce in its own-rooted culture in the zones of its distribution.
For the variety, powerful high-stamped or arched formations are preferable. Fortunately, the high strength of growth and frost resistance allow it. In order to avoid crop overload, the load on the grape bush should be limited to 35-40 eyes with a pruning length of 6-8 eyes. With the length of pruning fruit vines for 12-20 eyes, very large clusters are obtained - up to two and a half kilograms. However, it should be borne in mind that if the pruning is too long, the berries may crumble during ripening due to insufficiently strong connection with the ridge, well, and too short may affect the amount of harvest due to the low fertility of the first eyes.
Well, and the most important thing in the case of the Talisman is the need, due to the functionally female type of flowers, to take care of sufficient and high-quality pollination. For this, first of all, it is necessary to have nearby pollinating varieties, and for the best result, apply the technique of artificial pollination using puffs and gibberellin stimulation. Such manipulations, although they will require certain costs of manual labor, will be a hundredfold justified by a high and high-quality grape harvest.
