Lonicera caerulea "Zojka"

• Type: Edible honeysuckle (haskap)
• Latin name: Lonicera caerulea
• Cultivar: Zojka
• Ripening: mid-early
• Pollination: needs another haskap cultivar
• Pot: 1,5 L
• Light: sunny or semi-shaded
• Winter hardiness: USDA 2–7

Planting Plant in spring (late April – May) or autumn (September) in a sunny or partly shaded, sheltered spot with fertile, moisture-retentive, well-drained soil of neutral to slightly acidic reaction. Dig a 50×50 cm hole, mix the soil with compost and peat and plant the shrub at the same depth it grew in the pot. Haskap does not set fruit with its own pollen – plant at least two different cultivars close together for a heavy crop. Space plants 1.5 m apart.

Watering Haskap roots are shallow and like even moisture: water regularly, especially in dry spells and while the berries are growing. Mulch the soil with bark, peat or wood chips to hold moisture and suppress weeds.

Pruning No pruning is needed in the first years. From year 4–5, thin the shrub after harvest: remove dead, damaged and inward-growing branches and the oldest thick shoots. Do not prune in spring, as flower buds form on last year's shoots.

Feeding and winter care Feed in spring with an organic fertiliser or compost and in late May–June with a complex fertiliser for berry crops; avoid late nitrogen so shoots ripen before winter. Haskap tolerates Estonian winters without cover; ripe berries drop easily, so pick on time and net the shrub against birds if needed.