Olea europaea Nikitskiy-1

3 seeds from selected Russian coldhardy olive variety Nikitskiy-1 (Никитский I)

from Botanical Garden - Plovdiv, Bulgaria

The Russian olive variety Nikitskiy I (in Russian - Никитский I) was first described by The Nikitsky Botanical Garden from existing very old plantations (over 200 years) on the southern coast of Crimea. This is one of the most heavy bearing and most frost-resistant varieties.
The average weight of the fruits is 3.5-4 grams. Oil content is 47.2%. Nikitskiy I bears abundant yields and ripens early - at the end of October. The fruits are characterized by excellent taste.
In the absence of cross-pollination Nikitska I gives lower yields.

Russian science has always been a leader in the creation and introduction of new varieties of plants, especially those with high cold resistance. In Russia, experiments with scientific approach have started more than 150 years ago and since 1930 they became particularly large. There were numerous experimental stations and research institutes over the years that have been very successful in growing southern plants.

In the 60s and 70s of the 20th century many valuable varieties of olives, pomegranates, figs, citrus and others are imported in Bulgaria, mainly from USSR. At that time many experimental plantations were created within the country, but after the changes in 1989, they were all  abandoned and very quickly - destroyed.

Nowadays just single olive trees still grow in private gardens in various places in Bulgaria. It took us 15 years to seek out all the valuable Russian olives in Bulgaria and help from Russia was needed - to determine their varieties. We propagated them and created a collection that is the only such collection of olives in Bulgaria and represents a valuable genetic bank. We will start to produce young trees as well.

Olives are the most cold hardy subtropical fruit species. The seeds of cold-resistant varieties of olives is logical to grow into a frost-resistant generation. Moreover, the olives have the ability to increase their resistance to cold with age.

More information on experiments with olive seeds is available here:

http://forum.palmi.bg/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1380