Strawberry Festival description of the variety and reviews from gardeners

Festival strawberry is the most famous Soviet variety. From collective farm fields it came in huge quantities to gardeners' summer cottages and for several decades became almost the only strawberry variety grown on private farms.

Excursion into history

The first specimens of the new variety were obtained in 1954 at the Pavlovsk experimental station.Work to improve varietal qualities was carried out for 4 years, and in 1958 the strawberries entered state variety testing. In honor of the World Festival of Youth and Students held in the USSR in 1957, the new variety was named Festivalnaya.

At that time, breeders were faced with the task of obtaining a universal strawberry that was resistant to various climatic conditions, capable of growing in any soil, and at the same time high-yielding and with excellent taste. All these qualities were realized in the Festivalnaya variety.

Strawberry Festival chamomile is not at all an improved version of Festival chamomile, as is commonly believed, but a completely different variety. It differs in agricultural cultivation technology, disease resistance, and many other parameters. For example, the Festival chamomile variety is not as winter-hardy as Festivalnaya.

Description of Festival strawberries

Strawberries have a medium-late ripening period; the harvest ripens in late June and early July. The bushes are tall, compact, and the foliage is dense. The growth rate in the first year is high, then moderate, and gradually decreases as the bushes age. The first berries are large - up to 35 g, mass harvest 10-15 g, regular oval shape, with a short neck, bright red, shiny.

The taste is sweet and sour, good. The pulp is juicy, dense, bright red. A characteristic feature of the variety are dark red achenes (usually strawberries are yellow). The variety is non-repairable. Information on the Internet that Festivalnaya is a remontant variety is absolutely incorrect. Strawberries have never shown even semi-repairing properties.

Advantages of the variety.

Universal purpose. The berries are suitable for transportation and freezing.
Unlike most other varieties, Festivalnaya grows well in partial shade under the canopy of trees, without reducing either the yield or the taste of the berries.
Very high frost resistance. Bushes under snow without shelter can tolerate frosts of 30°C. There are practically no fallouts in the spring.
Flowers are almost not damaged by spring frosts.
If damaged, the bushes quickly recover, and the yield practically does not decrease because of this.
Tolerates drought well.
High self-fertility of the variety. Of course, when planting several varieties, the yield of Festivalnaya increases, but even in monoculture it gives high yields.
Festival strawberries are very productive - 1.5 kg/m².

Flaws.

The main disadvantage of this variety is the high susceptibility of fruits to gray rot. With proper care, you can significantly reduce the incidence of berry diseases, but if you neglect the plantation, you can lose almost the entire harvest.
In damp summers it is affected by powdery mildew.

Festival strawberries are suitable for growing in any region of the country. It can withstand both heat and rainy, cold summers without any problems.

The berries are well suited for processing: they do not become overcooked, do not become rubbery, compotes and jams turn out tasty and aromatic.

Features of agricultural technology of the Festivalnaya variety

The main task when caring for Festival strawberries is to reduce the incidence of gray rot in the berries. The bushes are planted strictly in one row according to a 40x60 cm pattern. Condensed plantings are absolutely unsuitable for this variety. Plants should be spaced freely; gray rot is rampant in compacted plantings.

To reduce disease incidence, the rows are mulched with straw or sawdust, previously soaked in a solution of humates or mullein.If it is not possible to use mulching materials, then plastic bottles, pipe cuttings, firewood, or simply plucked lower leaves are placed under the green berries. It is very important that the berries do not come into contact with the ground, since the causative agent of the disease is in the soil.

If the summer is very humid, it is better to treat the bushes with chemicals. The most effective of them is Euparen. It also suppresses the pathogen of powdery mildew. Spraying is carried out during the budding period. The drug must not be mixed with other chemicals, and adhesives must not be added to the solution (including soap, detergents, shampoos, paste, milk, etc.). After harvesting, repeat spraying is carried out. Consumption of the drug per hundred square meters is 6 liters. For preventive purposes or at the very beginning of the disease, you can spray with bacterial preparations Fitosporin, Alirin B or Planriz.

Strawberry rows should be completely free of weeds. In wet summers, the soil between the rows must be loosened. In dry summers, regular watering is carried out 2 times a week, but only the row spacing is watered; watering at the root cannot be done due to the risk of gray rot infecting the berries.

With proper agricultural technology, crop damage can be completely prevented.

The tendrils that form in fruiting bushes are torn off, and the peduncles are removed from mother bushes. The lifespan of the plantation is 4 years.

Strawberry propagation

Festival is propagated with a mustache in the first or second year of cultivation. Young rosettes are rooted in pots and then planted in a permanent place. Rooting of mustaches between rows is undesirable, since, firstly, the plantings are compacted, and secondly, when transplanting, the root system of young plants is damaged, but when planting with a clod of earth, the roots are not injured.

In general, Festival strawberries are excellent for growing in summer cottages; they are easy to care for and produce high yields. It is still very popular, despite the fact that new varieties with better characteristics have appeared.

Strawberry Festival reviews from gardeners

All these reviews about the Festivalnaya strawberry variety were taken from gardening forums, where gardeners share their experiences and discuss different varieties of strawberries.

Review of Festivalnaya strawberries from the Saratov region:

“We have been growing Festival strawberries for about 20 years now. The dacha is far from home, we rarely come there, and accordingly, we tend it from time to time. Strawberries grow in a continuous carpet, without any beds. We tried to plant other varieties, but they didn’t take root (after all, you have to look after them), but Festivalnaya grows like in a forest, without any care. We just water it and every year with a harvest, there’s enough for food and jam.”

Review of festival strawberries from the Oryol region:

“Festival’s vitality is amazing.
There are already beds where it grew for a long time; in the spring there will definitely be new beautiful bushes.
I’ll plant them in the main beds, it seems that’s all, but by spring the Phoenix is reborn again. »

Review of Festivalnaya strawberries from the Moscow region:

Last year I planted strawberry beds. I bought seedlings at the nursery. I took varieties 8-9, 4 bushes each. And the Festival one has 10 bushes. Today we harvested the first harvest. For some reason the festival didn’t impress me. It is, of course, large, beautiful, and moderately sour. But I didn’t like the consistency itself (i.e. elasticity, hardness). It turned out to be a bit dense for my taste. Of course, it will be great for transportation (I will recommend it), but I want to eat something more tender.

Review of Festivalnaya strawberries from the Ryazan region:

“I read unflattering reviews about the Festivalnaya strawberry variety. The accusations are unfair!... All my adult life as a summer resident (and this is since 1989), I have been growing this variety. The old lady has never failed. In the driest years, we always had berries. In good years, more than 20 buckets were removed from 20 square meters (a bucket - 6 kg). And how much was still left in the beds!... We just didn’t have time... Well, maybe this is not enough for some..."