Gumi is a close relative of sea buckthorn and shepherdia. Its barrel-shaped fruits are indeed a little similar to those of the sea buckthorn. There are rather unpleasant thorns on the shoots, especially in the lower part, but they are much safer than the thin and sharp stings of the sea buckthorn tree.
1. Description
2.Features of the plant
3. Useful properties
4. Decorative properties
5. Varieties
6. Reproduction
7. Planting and care
8. Loosening, covering, pruning
9. Diseases and pests
10. Harvest
Description of gum (Locha multiflora)
The multi-flowered oleaster is a small shrub that reaches a height of 3 meters and spreads its crown 2-2.5 meters around itself. It is interesting that the crown of even the same variety, depending on the place of growth, can be different and vary from narrowly pyramidal to spreading.
The root system is superficial, most of the roots are located in a soil layer 15-20 cm thick, so you need to be very careful when weeding and loosening the trunk zone. On the roots, like sea buckthorn, there are nodule bacteria, they are able to absorb nitrogen and accumulate it in the soil in the form of available compounds. The advantage is that this representative of the flora does not produce root shoots, which greatly facilitates care.
Gumi can reach 3 meters in height.
The shoots and leaves have an interesting coloring – the former are olive-green, while the leaves are light green on top and silvery on the bottom, making it easy to find seedlings of this plant in a nursery. In central Russia, gumi opens its buds at the same time as currants, blooms in May or late April, and the fruits are ready for harvesting in early or mid-August.
The fruits are usually the size of a cherry, have a bright red color with small silver dots, and the shape depends on the variety and growing conditions, it can be round or cylindrical. Inside there is a stone, reminiscent of an almond. The stone is soft, it can be chewed, inside is amygdalin, which is good for the heart.
Gumi berries
Features of shrub growth
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Gumi is characterized by some sluggishness in development. In the first few years after planting, it seems as if it does not grow at all. During this period, it settles in, its root system grows, and starting from the 3rd-4th year, it can suddenly start growing, gaining up to 1.5 meters of growth per season and forming up to a dozen new shoots.
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It has been noted that growth activity is directly related to soil moisture – if there is enough moisture, then growth is active, if there is not enough moisture, then the growth will be minimal.
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Gumi has many advantages, but it also has disadvantages. The main one is its weak winter hardiness. Having planted it in the center of Russia, you can witness how the seedling will restore its vegetative mass every year, which can freeze to the level of snow cover.
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It will be necessary to take care of the plant in the fall, carefully bending it to the ground and covering it with non-woven material. Do not rush to clean it up in the spring, wait until the weather is stable and warm, and only then remove the covering material.
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If you do everything correctly, then starting from the third year of life, the gumi will begin to bear fruit, and the yield, gradually increasing, by the age of six will reach 2-4 kg/bush. This is about half of what gumi can bring in the South.
What does the fruit of the sea buckthorn taste like?
If you have free space and desire, then feel free to plant the multi-flowered oleaster on your plot, even if you live in central Russia. The taste of the fruits will pleasantly surprise you. By the way, it is very difficult to say exactly what the aroma and taste of the fruits of this plant are similar to. Gourmets and lovers of berry crops rate it as a mixture of pineapple, apple, cherry, ripe persimmon and even sea buckthorn.
Useful properties of gummi
The fruits are rarely processed, mainly because there are few of them, but they are often eaten fresh. Cooked berries or berries after freezing lose most of their taste qualities, and vitamins too. By the way, about vitamins and other useful properties of gumi: the fruits contain up to 110 mg of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), as well as a large number of biologically active substances:
- anthocyanins,
- pectins,
- chlorogenic acid,
- amino acids,
- tannins.
Due to the presence of such a quantity of biologically active compounds, berries can be consumed by people suffering from stomach and intestinal diseases, those who have circulatory disorders. They are also useful for various inflammations and simply as a tonic for chronic fatigue and drowsiness.
Reference
Interesting fact: the leaves of the multi-flowered oleaster contain twice as much ascorbic acid as black currant! If your bush grows in an ecologically clean area, and you do not use chemical treatments on your site, then feel free to collect the leaves and brew them as tea.
Decorative properties of the multi-flowered oleaster
Besides everything else, the oleaster can also be considered a real ornamental plant: it has pleasant foliage, it can be darker or lighter in color, depending on the variety, and scarlet berries and small flowers complete the overall picture of uniqueness and originality.
A decorative form of gumi (form A) has been bred relatively recently, which is distinguished by more silvery leaves, as well as yellow-greenish-silver barrel-shaped fruits. This form can also be used as a rootstock for other forms, and very soon it will be transferred to the State Scientific Inspection, and then will become a variety.
What varieties of gummi can be grown in the regions
There are only four of them in the State Register of Selection Achievements, but many forms have been bred everywhere. Very soon, the number of varieties will at least double. But those that already exist also have a whole set of useful features, all these varieties were obtained at the Sakhalin Research Institute of Agriculture:
- Sakhalin first,
- monerone,
- Krillon (by the way, it is so winter-hardy that it almost never freezes even in central Russia),
- Taisa (Moscow selection), whose fruits contain an increased amount of vitamin C.
How to propagate gummi by cuttings
- Gumi can be propagated by rooting green cuttings in a greenhouse.
- Cuttings root best in river sand.
- Cut the shoots at the very beginning of June, cut them into 15 cm long cuttings, leave a couple of leaves on the top, after which you can safely plant them in a greenhouse.
- Provided that you water 5-6 times a day, roots will form on the cuttings and they can be safely planted in the ground in a permanent place.
Planting and caring for gummi
In order for all these varieties that you have propagated yourself to regularly bear fruit and live on your plot as long as possible, you should choose the most open and very well-lit place for them. It should be reliably protected from the cold northern wind and located where the most snow accumulates in the winter.
When planted in the shade, the multi-flowered oleaster will not die, but will yield a small harvest. It may partially or completely leave its foliage on itself, going into winter with it, and this often has a negative effect on development in the next season.
What kind of soil should you choose for planting a gumi bush?
As for soils, you should choose the most well-drained sandy loam or loamy soils. And it is better if these are highly fertile soils with a groundwater level of one and a half meters or deeper.
How to plant gummi to get a good harvest
If you want to get the highest yields, try to find several varieties and plant them next to each other. Or plant three or four plants of the same variety together for cross-pollination. If you don’t do this, the gumi will bloom, but will not bear fruit; in fact, this is the only reason for the lack of fruiting.
Planting of seedlings, as with other berry bushes, is done in planting holes. They need to be prepared in advance, dug according to the size of the root system of the seedling. If we are talking about standard seedlings with a well-developed root system, then its size is usually 50 cm in diameter and 40-50 cm in depth.
Considering that the multi-flowered oleaster does not like stagnant moisture, drainage must be placed at the base of the planting hole. This can be pebbles, expanded clay, broken brick, etc., in a layer of 2-3 cm.
In addition, fertilizers should be added to each planting hole, especially in the central region of Russia, since the nutrient soil does not freeze as much. Usually 15-20 kg of any organic fertilizers are added, as well as 25-30 g of superphosphate and a glass of wood ash. Plants are placed at a distance of about 3-3.5 meters from each other.
How often can you water gummi
- Immediately after planting, the seedling needs to be watered well (1.5–2 buckets per plant).
- The soil needs to be mulched with humus in a layer of 1.5–2 cm so that the moisture does not evaporate quickly.
- In the future, you will need to pay quite a lot of attention to watering. One plant about five years old requires at least six buckets of water every other day in dry weather. And three buckets are needed every two days in normal weather, when there is precipitation, but it is not very abundant.
- You shouldn’t overwater the plants, the rule “you can’t spoil porridge with butter” doesn’t apply here, humus reacts worse to excess moisture than to its lack.
Caring for a bush in summer
To avoid severe shedding of the ovary, try to water the bush more often during the period of berry setting, but only if there has been no rain for a long time.
How to feed gumi
In addition to watering, additional feeding is needed, and it does not matter: organic or mineral. The sea buckthorn responds well to both types of fertilizers.
Fertilizers are necessary if the soils of your plot are not fertile enough. On nutritious soil, you can do without them. But if you do several fertilizers during the season, it will not be worse.
The main thing is to strictly follow the order of applying fertilizers and not to apply fertilizers containing nitrogen in the second half of summer. A second wave of shoot growth may appear, they will not have time to lignify and will freeze in winter.
| Nitrogen and organic matter, which, as is known, contains enough nitrogen, should be added early in the spring at a rate of 25–30 g/m2 and 3–4 kg/m2 respectively. But it is better to apply potassium and phosphorus fertilizers in the summer and in liquid form at a rate of 25–30 g/m2. |
Loosening, covering and sanitary pruning of shrubs
Do not forget about loosening the trunk circle, about weed control, especially during the period when the bushes are still very young. It is important to remember about winter shelter in the central region of Russia and further north.
The best option for covering is as follows: immediately after the first autumn frosts or the beginning of active leaf shedding, the plants need to be carefully tied into bundles, either whole, if they are not large, or in parts – on individual branches, then carefully bent to the ground, secured with wooden or metal staples, then covered with non-woven material and pressed down with boards or bricks along its edges.
For extra security, you can throw spruce branches on top – they hold snow remarkably well. Or throw dry leaves – they retain heat well. As soon as snow falls, you can also throw it on top of the shelter, but you should not compact it, this can increase the humidity of the shelter and lead to freezing of shoots.
Diseases and pests
As for diseases and pests, so far there are none on this crop, so to speak. Sometimes aphids do harm, climbing onto the tops of young shoots; aphids need to be fought with insecticides.
Sometimes berries get rotten. To avoid it, you shouldn’t overwater the plants and harvest the crop on time.
How to Harvest Elaeagnus Multiflora
The most pleasant time is, of course, harvesting. The berries are picked as they ripen. Since this does not happen all at once, the picking is done in two or three stages. Due to the fact that the stalk of the fruit is quite large, picking them is a pleasure. By the way, few people know that gumi fruits can be stored indoors without spoiling for a couple of days, and in the refrigerator – up to a week.
