Black Currant Agate

Black currant "Agata" is a selection product of the Scientific Research Institute of Siberia named after Mikhail Afanasyevich Lisavenko and was obtained by crossing the varieties "Lepaan Musta" and "Seedling Golubki". Z.S. Zotova, I.P. Kalinina, N.I.Nazaryuk, M.A.Pershina, I.L. Teslya worked on the creation of black currant Agate. Since 2003, the Agatha currant has been under state variety testing, this variety is most common in the Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Omsk and Tyumen regions, as well as in the Altai Territory.

Blackcurrant Agate: description and characteristics

Blackcurrant Agata is a fast-growing, well-developed, but compact shrub about 130 centimeters high. Shiny lignified shoots are colored dark brown, young growing shoots are bright green. The leaf plate of the Agate currant can be either five-lobed or three-lobed, it is shiny, wrinkled, there is no pubescence. Large flowers have the shape of a glass, sepals are painted in a light shade of pink. On the fruit cluster there are 6-9 black matte very large berries, the weight of which is from 1.7 to 3.7 grams. The peel of the berries is dense, the separation during harvest is dry, thanks to which the transportability is very good. Tasters estimate the balanced sweet-sour taste of currant at 4.5 points. Especially noting the rich aroma of berries. The yield of Agate currants is from 3 to 3.8 kilograms per bush, if we talk about the cultivation of currants on an industrial scale, it is from 106 to 133 centners per hectare.

Fruiting of black currant Agate begins in the second or third year after planting the bush. Since the Agatha blackcurrant variety is self-fertile, there is no need to plant pollinating varieties, you will harvest a good harvest anyway.

Pros and cons

When deciding to buy a particular plant, the gardener carefully studies its characteristics, weighs all the pros and cons. Each plant has any drawbacks, and you should identify them in advance and figure out whether they are so significant as to refuse to buy seedlings of the Agate black currant variety.

The degree of damage to black currant Agate by pests or diseases is assessed using a four-point system, respectively, the lower the score, the less susceptible the plant is to the disease. So the only drawback of the Agatha blackcurrant variety is that it is sometimes affected by a kidney mite, the degree of damage is from 0.1 to 1 point. Agree that when carrying out timely preventive treatments, you will not have to worry about this shortcoming.

The advantages of black currant Agate are much more:

• Self-fertility.
• Early maturity.
• Excellent stable yield, large berry size.
• Good immunity to resist powdery mildew and hazelnut.
• Winter hardiness and drought resistance.

All these advantages are excellent arguments in favor of purchasing black currant seedlings of the Agata variety. However, we must not forget that all of these qualities are valid if you regularly take care of the garden.