The blackcurrant bursts. Cuttings of currants in spring. How to root currants in a jar. The reason for shedding berries
Currant is one of the most delicious and healthy berries, which is grown almost everywhere. But sometimes, instead of harvesting a generous harvest, the gardener gets one disappointment. Since the berries begin to crumble even before they are fully ripe.
There are a lot of reasons why currant berries fall off, but in the vast majority this happens because of a careless attitude towards this culture. So, why the crop from the currant bush crumbles and how to eliminate the causes, and we will consider below.
The reason for shedding berries
A large number of old branches on a bush
lack of moisture
Wrong landing zone
Lack of pollination
Defects and pests
Branches overloaded with harvest
Weather
Conclusion
The reason for shedding berries
As already described above, there are many reasons why currants crumble. But at the same time, every problem that served as a shedding of berries can be eliminated if certain measures are taken in a timely manner. So, what factors provoke such a problem:
- a large number of old branches on the bush;
- lack of moisture;
- improperly selected landing zone;
- lack of pollination of shrubs;
- defects and pests;
- weather factors;
- branches overloaded with harvest.
As they say, if there is a problem, then there is a solution. Therefore, it is worth considering in detail how to eliminate all the above negative factors.
A large number of old branches on a bush
The very first reason why the berries fall on the currant is the age of the currant bush. If the plant was planted relatively recently, then often the reason why it sheds part of the crop lies in the fact that the bush still does not have enough strength to fully grow and form berries.
Well, in the event that this happens with an old bush, then this is the first signal that the plant is running out of resources and it can no longer fully produce a crop.
You can overcome this problem in the following way:
- carry out sanitary and anti-aging pruning of red and black currants;
- apply fertilizer to the soil;
- loosen the soil, weed the currant beds, moisten each bush and mulch.
All these manipulations will help the plant to restore strength as quickly as possible and completely rejuvenate. And the result of this procedure will be a good harvest.
lack of moisture
The second reason why the ovary crumbles is the lack of moisture. If the spring turned out to be dry, take care of watering the currants yourself. And in order to understand that the reason for shedding is precisely the lack of watering, take a knitting needle and stick it into the soil: if the earth is dry by more than 4 cm, such a plant needs urgent watering.
Wrong landing zone
The third reason, due to which the berries begin to crumble, is the initially incorrectly chosen area for planting. It is important to understand that currants will not be able to ripen in the shade. And if it is planted in such a place, then the result will be a fall in the crop.
At the same time, keep in mind that this crop should not be planted in the wind either.
The best option would be to plant a garden beauty in a well-lit front garden. Well, in the event that the bush is already planted in an unfavorable place for growth, then with the onset of autumn, transplant it to another place.
Lack of pollination
The fourth reason for shedding berries may lie in the fact that currant bushes are not pollinated. This problem can arise when only one bush is planted in the front garden. You can correct this situation by planting at least a couple more currant bushes nearby.
It is worth highlighting one important point: in order to understand the reasons why the berries fall off, you need to regularly pay attention to the currant bush. Only in this case, you will quickly identify the provocateur and eliminate him.
Defects and pests
If your currant bushes are over 10 years old, then you should be more careful about them. Do not forget that it is from this period that the attacks of defects of fungal origin become more frequent and more ferocious.
As a result, the culture sheds even green berries. The fact is that the older the currant bushes, the more often fungal defects appear on them. It is possible to identify that the problem is in the disease by the following signs:
- If white spots appear on the foliage, then the plant is attacked by powdery mildew, which provokes the shedding of berries. At first, the fruits are covered with a white coating, due to which the stalks dry and crumble.
- The next defect, which can also provoke shedding of berries, is anthracnose. You can identify it by the black dots that appear on the leaf. When anthracnose begins to develop, it attacks all the foliage and fruits, on which brown spots begin to appear. Further, the bush begins to wither, and the fruits crumble, without having time to ripen.
As a rule, insect pests hibernate in fallen leaves or in diseased branches that have not been removed from the site in a timely manner. The main provocateurs of crop loss are the following insects:
- moth;
- sawfly;
- glass case.
Timely pruning, front garden cleaning and preventive treatment will help to overcome such a problem.
Branches overloaded with harvest
Another problem that often fails to harvest a novice gardener is the congestion of the branches. Quite often it happens that the year turned out to be very fruitful and the currant pleases with a generous harvest so far only green berries.
And when the time comes to collect ripe berries, the gardener discovers that there is nothing to collect from the bush: all the berries have crumbled. In this case, the person is to blame. The fact is that if the harvest is excessive, then the shrub can discard the berries, regardless of whether they are ripe or not.
To avoid such a problem, you need to take care in advance and tie up the bushes on which a lot of ovaries have formed. In this way, you will help the shrub cope with a heavy load and save the crop.
Weather
And the last reason why currant berries can crumble is weather conditions. Quite often, you can encounter such a nuisance: the gardener organized the proper care of the crop, but there is no harvest.
Such a problem can arise if the summer turned out to be rainy and cool. The fact is that currants are heat-loving plants, and if the weather deteriorates, it can simply reset the crop.
In addition, if strong winds blow, then such a factor negatively affects pollination. The fact is that bees do not fly under adverse weather conditions. Accordingly, there can be no talk of pollination, but if there is no pollination, then there are no fruits.
Conclusion
And in conclusion, it is worth emphasizing that there are a lot of reasons why a gardener observes a large number of fallen berries. But more often than not, the person himself is to blame for the problem. If you devote a little time to the plant and perform the simplest manipulations to care for currants, it will surely please you with a good harvest.
Blackcurrant, perhaps, is the leader in popularity among gardeners among berry bushes. There are many reasons for this: from the taste and benefits of its berries to the relative ease of caring for this plant.
It is recommended to plant blackcurrant seedlings in early autumn or early spring. The place of the intended planting should be as open as possible and be away from buildings and tall trees, since blackcurrant does not tolerate shaded places.
The result of planting a bush in a shaded place will be excessive elongation of the shoots, increased susceptibility to diseases and pests, as well as poor crop quality, both in size and in taste.
Seedlings are placed in planting cubic pits of about 50 cm. It will not be superfluous to add some organic matter to these pits. The seedling is placed in such a way that it is deepened by about 5 centimeters relative to how it grew in the nursery.
This is done in order to stimulate root and shoot formation from the buds on the deepened part of the seedling. When planting several seedlings, a distance of at least 1.5 meters should be maintained between them.
Then, holes must be formed around each planted bush and watered at the rate of 10 liters per seedling. After watering, it is recommended to mulch the topsoil with bark, sawdust or other materials.
In the first two years after planting the plant, all care comes down to the formation of a full-fledged bush with strong shoots. If this is neglected, then the fruiting of weak branches will more and more inhibit the bush in development, which will lead to its premature aging.
To do this, it is necessary to keep the soil of the plant moderately moist and loose, and also to remove weeds in a timely manner. It is also necessary to observe the bush: if only weak branches have formed in the first year, then it is recommended to cut them off, leaving no more than 3-4 buds on each, therefore, in the second year the bush compensates for its backlog.
It is worth noting that competent pruning and timely crown formation is a key factor in caring for blackcurrants. For this purpose, in May, the bush is inspected and weak and damaged branches are removed, and in the fall, molding pruning is carried out, but it is recommended to do it no earlier than the third year from the moment the seedling was planted.
It is worth noting that a number of gardeners believe that the best results are obtained if the bush consists of 12 shoots of different ages: 4 annuals, 4 biennials and 4 four-years, however, in conditions of insufficient soil moisture, this number can be reduced to 9 shoots (three of each age groups).
Very valuable berry crops are currants and gooseberries, which annually yield crops and occupy an important place among other berry crops. Currants and gooseberries are a valuable food product. They contain sugars, organic acids, vitamins and other substances useful for the human body. Blackcurrant is very rich in vitamin C (ascorbic acid), in terms of which it significantly exceeds gooseberries, raspberries and strawberries. Blackcurrant berries also contain vitamins B (thiamine), P (citrine) and provitamin A (carotene).
- 100 g of blackcurrant berries contain from 44 to 354 mg of vitamin C, red and white currants - up to 30 mg.
- The content of a large number of various vitamins in berries and other parts of the plant (buds, leaves and flowers) makes blackcurrant a valuable raw material for the vitamin industry.
- Depending on the variety and growth conditions, blackcurrant berries contain up to 13% sugars and up to 4% citric and malic acids. Blackcurrant berries are rich in phosphorus and iron salts, which are essential for the human body.
- Berries of currants and gooseberries are eaten fresh, in the form of jams, jams, juices, marmalade, jelly and are used to prepare various liqueurs and tinctures. Berries keep well frozen.
- High-quality jam is prepared from blackcurrant berries, in which vitamin C is well preserved. A particularly valuable product is freshly preserved blackcurrant.
- Redcurrant is more productive than blackcurrant. White currant gives higher yields than red currant, and its berries are tastier. Berries of red and white currants are consumed both fresh and processed.
- Red currant is inferior to black in fruit quality, but its berries ripen in the cluster almost simultaneously and remain on the bush without crumbling for more than two weeks. The cultivation of red currant is less laborious, but this crop is still extremely insufficiently distributed due to the underestimation of its qualities.
- From the red currant, a very valuable product is obtained - jelly. Its berries contain a lot of pectin, so jelly can be prepared even without cooking with full preservation of vitamin content.
- Gooseberries contain sugars, phosphoric acid, iron oxide and vitamins. According to the content of vitamin C (20-50 l / g%) among fruit and berry crops, gooseberries are inferior to black currants and, to a small extent, strawberries. It also contains vitamins of the B complex and provitamin A.
In terms of iron content, gooseberries are inferior to strawberries, but in this respect exceed raspberries, plums, cherries, and apples. Gooseberry wine is superior in quality to all berry wines.
Currants and gooseberries are of great medicinal value, especially black currants. A hot decoction of young blackcurrant leaves is drunk as a tea for general ailments, colds, diseases of the bladder and kidney stones (as a diuretic), as well as for rheumatism, gout and joint disease.
Juices and syrups obtained from blackcurrant berries are used to treat diseases of the throat (hoarseness, whooping cough), stomach (catarrhal state, ulcer) and intestines.
Black currant berries, fresh, dry or canned raw (mashed with sugar), as well as currant buds, have the same medicinal properties as the leaves.
Juices and fruit drinks from red and white currants improve appetite in patients, help reduce
temperature change, have a beneficial effect on the work of the stomach, intestines, urinary tract and cause increased excretion of salts in the urine.
In addition, currants and gooseberries are good honey plants - their flowers contain a lot of flower nectar, which bees readily collect.
In the gardens of our country, currants and gooseberries have been cultivated for a long time and have a significant yield.
The significance of these crops is especially great for the Northern and Northwestern zones. Currant can bear fruit in the most severe climatic conditions, as it tolerates frost well, especially under cover of snow.
Wild black and red currants are found far north, even beyond the Arctic Circle. Cultivated varieties of black currant are available in the south of the Murmansk region and are successfully bred in the Vologda, Arkhangelsk and other northern regions.
Currant reproduces easily, bears fruit earlier than fruit crops, and produces a good harvest every year. Currant begins to bear fruit, as already mentioned, in the 2-3rd year after planting, and full fruiting occurs in the 5-6th year.
Blackcurrant yields an average of 6 tons per 1 ha, in the best years its yield reaches 15 tons per 1 ha and more. The yield of red and white currants is slightly higher: from 8 to 30 tons per 1 ha.
Gooseberries are also fast-growing highly productive crops. 2-3 years after planting in a permanent place, the gooseberry gives a good harvest, which, with the age of the plants, reaches 12-25 kg per bush (or 20-40 tons per 1 ha).
Currants and gooseberries are perennial berry bushes of the saxifrage family. According to morphological and biological features, they are very close to each other. Currant grows in the form of a strong bush up to 1.5-2 m high. Depending on the variety, the bushes have a sprawling or compressed (straight) shape.
Schematic diagram of the structure of a blackcurrant bush 1-perennial skeletal branches; 2 - annual basal branches; 3 - annual bud branchesCurrant shoots are straight, of different strength of development. , The leaves are three-or five-lobed, arranged alternately, their base is straight or with a slight notch. The leaves of blackcurrant (unlike red and white) have glands that secrete an essential oil of a specific smell, so they are often used as a spice when pickling cucumbers. Fruit buds in currants are laid in the summer in the axils of the leaves. In the spring of next year, the buds give a flower brush, from which the fruit develops.
Currant flowers are bell-shaped: in red and white - usually self-pollinating, in black - they need cross-pollination, since not all varieties are self-fertile. Fruits (berries) are round or somewhat elongated (in some varieties), collected in more or less long brushes.
The most valuable are currant varieties with long dense tassels and large berries.
Berries of black currant - black of different shades, red - red of various tones, white - whitish-yellow.
The main mass of currant roots is in the soil at a depth of 10-40 cm and extends 50-60 cm away from the bush. Separate thick roots go deep into the soil by 2 m and deeper, which makes the currant more resistant to temporary drought.
Currant buds open in early spring and are therefore sometimes damaged by frost.
The flowering period of currants lasts about two weeks, depending on weather conditions.
The ripening time of currant berries of different varieties varies within 30-40 days, which makes it possible to stretch the period of consumption of fresh berries.
Blackcurrant is more moisture-loving than redcurrant. Therefore, under natural conditions, it grows in humid places (on the banks of rivers, along ravines), easily tolerates a slight excess moisture in the soil. It reacts negatively to soil acidity and positively to liming, does not tolerate swampy and too damp areas.
Redcurrant is a more heat-loving plant, it does not tolerate shading and excess moisture in the soil, therefore it grows well only in warm, sheltered areas.
Gooseberries grow in the form of bushes up to 2 m high, its branches bear fruit well up to 7-8 years. The root system is fibrous. The bulk of the roots lie at a depth of 10-40 cm and spread 50-60 cm away from the bush. Young shoots of restoration grow from the base of the bush from buds located on the stem. On these shoots in the following years, lateral branches are formed: shoots of the second and third order, bearing the main crop. The shoots have spines at the nodes, and in some varieties, spines at the internodes. Leaves 3-5-lobed, glabrous or pubescent, with teeth. Fruit buds are mixed. The flowers are bisexual, bell-shaped, with five petals, five sepals and five stamens. Berries are round or oblong, yellow, green, purple or black in color, pubescent or without pubescence, with a large number of seeds.
Gooseberry vegetation begins earlier than other berry crops. The duration of flowering is 5-12 days, depending on the variety and weather conditions (temperature and precipitation) during this period. The gooseberry is a self-pollinating plant, however, with cross-pollination, the yield of berries is significantly increased.
During the flowering period, gooseberry plantations are well visited by various insects: bees, wasps, bumblebees, flies; By carrying pollen, they contribute to the cross-pollination of plants. Ripening of berries occurs 1.5-2 months after flowering. If you plant several varieties on the site with different fruit ripening periods, you can get fresh berries within 40-50 days. The ripening of berries on the bush occurs almost simultaneously, only in the strongly shaded part of the bush it is somewhat delayed.
SELECTION OF VARIETIES AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BEE IN POLLINATION OF CURRANT AND GOSEBERRY
It has been proven by science and practice that the yield of black currant increases significantly if not one, but several varieties are planted on the site. Some varieties of black currant especially need to be cross-pollinated with other varieties for good fruiting.
For the main, high-yielding blackcurrant varieties, the pollinating varieties indicated in the table are recommended.
Pollinating varieties of the main varieties of black currant
Pollinated variety | The best pollinators |
Leah fertileNeapolitanGoliathDoveAltai dessertKarelianExhibitionVictoryStakhanovka AltaielegantNon-shrinking |
Goliath. Boskop Giant, DoveBoskop giant, GoliathNeapolitanAltai dessert shop, Stakhanovka AltaiDoveExhibition, Dove. elegantDove, ElegantLeah fertile, Stakhanovka Altai, Memory of Michurin, UnshakingDove, Leah fertile, Altai dessert. elegantExhibition, Dove, Leah fertile, Stakhanovka AltaiLuxton, Fertile Leah. Memory of Michurin, Pobeda, Stakhanovka Altai |
The role of the wind in the pollination of currants and gooseberries is insignificant.
Insects play an important role in the transfer of pollen (pollination). In an open area, the flight of insects in windy weather is difficult, so the berries are tied poorly. In a protected area, pollination occurs much better. For example, in the blackcurrant of the Boskopsky giant variety, 80% of the available flowers are fruited in protected areas, and only 10% in open (unprotected) ones,
Unpollinated flowers on the bushes crumble.
According to Yu. V. Sazykin, honey bees are the main pollinators of flowers of berry bushes. Repeatedly visiting the flowers, the bees inflict on the stigma of their pistils a large amount of mixed pollen. Thanks to this, pollination occurs much more fully and the setting and quality of fruits are significantly increased.
Pollination by bees of even single-grade currant bushes increases the useful fruit set by 45 times.
Gooseberries also need pollination to increase productivity. Gooseberry flowers are adapted for pollination by insects. A number of gooseberry varieties have a flower structure that makes it difficult for their pollen to enter.
About 90% of gooseberry flowers are pollinated by bees. Thanks to their activity, the useful gooseberry ovary increases 4-5 times, the quality of berries and their size increase.
The best set of blackcurrant fruits occurs when the flowers are visited by bees five times, and in gooseberries - at six times.
During the flowering of currants, bees make an average of 8.7 departures, and gooseberries - 7.2 departures per day.
Currants, gooseberries and other berry crops during flowering are very valuable honey plants, from which bees take bribes in May, when there are still few other plants blooming, and bees are in dire need of pollen and nectar.
The flowers of berry crops live for several days and secrete a large amount of nectar over the period of life. In the flower of blackcurrant, nectar is released within 4 days, red and white currants - 3 days, gooseberries - 3-4 days.
The number of flowers in blackcurrant reaches 28 million per 1 ha, in large-fruited gooseberries - 17 million and small-fruited - 36 million per 1 ha.
Depending on the variety, in favorable years, blackcurrant flowers produce 47-150 kg of sugar per 1 ha.
Varieties differ in the largest amount of sugar: Leah fertile, Laxton, Boskopsky giant, etc.
Flowers of red currant produce 48-105 kg of sugar, and white - 24-25 kg per 1 ha, with more sugar yield varieties Victoria, Varshevich's currant, English white and Dutch white.
Most varieties of red currants, unlike black currants, are self-fertile, so they bear fruit even under unfavorable conditions for cross-pollination.
Gooseberry flowers, depending on the variety, produce 65-97 kg of sugar per 1 ha. The greatest amount of it is given by varieties Venus, English yellow and Date green.
In order to better and more fully ensure the pollination of gooseberry and currant plantations, it is necessary to have four bee colonies per hectare of blackcurrant plantings, and from two to four gooseberry colonies.
Pollination of currant and gooseberry plantations by bees is an obligatory link in the system of agrotechnical measures to obtain high and stable yields of berries.
REPRODUCTION OF CURRANT AND GOSEBERRY
Currants and gooseberries are propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering, hilling and dividing the bushes. Seeds are used for propagation only for the purpose of breeding new varieties.
Usually planting material is obtained vegetatively. To do this, it is necessary to have uterine bushes of high-yielding, winter-hardy and disease-resistant varieties.
In recent years, a viral disease of blackcurrant, known as terry, has become increasingly widespread. Methods for the treatment of plants with terry disease are still unknown. The main ways by which you can avoid the massive damage to currants by this disease are: laying plantations with only healthy planting material, careful control of the vector of terry - bud mites by spraying with lime-sulfur decoction (ISO), timely identification and removal of diseased plants from mother plantations . Plants, even with the initial stages of the disease, are unsuitable for planting and for use on cuttings.
It is necessary to select uterine bushes for harvesting cuttings according to vegetative characteristics during the summer. Bushes no older than 10 years are used as mother plants.
Organization of special uterine sites. To obtain pure-grade, high-quality and healthy planting material, along with the selection of queen cells from existing industrial plantings, special currant and gooseberry plantations are laid according to the instructions developed by the I. V. Michurin Research Institute of Horticulture.
For mother plantations, the best sites are chosen, well protected, near water bodies, while taking into account the biological requirements of this crop. The bookmark is produced only with pure high-quality material. To obtain healthy seedlings of currants and gooseberries, it is recommended to use the green cutting method.
When laying new health-improving mother plantations, they should be placed at a distance of 1 - 1.5 km from industrial plantings.
On the uterine plots, it is necessary to carry out a thorough approbation annually to check the variety, clean the plantations from all accidental impurities and deviations from the main variety, and remove diseased and damaged plants by pests.
For good growth and development of mother bushes, it is necessary to ensure proper care for them: apply fertilizers in a timely manner, keep the soil loose and free of weeds, regularly water the plants in dry weather, fight pests and diseases, carry out stronger pruning in order to get more good developed annual cuttings.
To enhance the growth of bushes, fertilizers should be applied annually. When cultivating the soil in autumn, 5-10 kg of rotted manure or compost, 75-100 g of superphosphate and 40-50 g of potassium salt are added under each bush, and 40-50 g of ammonium nitrate in spring. When using bushes for propagation by horizontal layering, an additional 25-30 kg of humus or peat mixed with the top layer of earth is added under each bush.
Reproduction of currant woody cuttings
Propagation of currants by woody cuttings is the most common method. To do this, the cuttings are cut in the fall after the leaves fall, in winter or early spring (in March-April) - before the buds begin to swell. For harvesting cuttings, one-year-old, the strongest, lignified shoots from fruit-bearing branches are taken. They are cut into cuttings - pieces 15-20 cm long and as thick as a pencil (at least 5-1 mm), making the lower cut under the kidney. Cuttings cut in autumn to frost are planted in autumn, and harvested in late autumn, winter or spring, they are kept dug in the snow or in cellars in slightly damp sand until planting and planted in spring.
For planting cuttings, the best site is chosen (preferably from under tilled crops), moderately moist, with fertile, well-fertilized soil, without weeds (it is especially important that there is no wheatgrass).
The soil must be carefully cultivated to a depth of 20-25 cm and filled with organic fertilizers (manure or compost) at the rate of 40-50 tons per 1 ha. Water should not stagnate on the site in the autumn and spring periods. Woody blackcurrant cuttings are planted in the fall after they are cut (in early October) or very early in the spring, when the ground dries up and work can be done on the site.
The best seedlings of red and white currants are obtained when planting cuttings at the end of August
- beginning of September.
The cuttings are planted along a cord or a marker on level ground in a single line method with distances between rows of 70 cm and in rows of 15-20 cm. Currant cuttings can be planted more densely in household plots.
Cuttings are planted obliquely (at an angle of 45 °), so that 1-2 upper buds remain above the soil surface, and then watered. Watering is especially necessary during spring planting, in dry weather it is repeated. To preserve moisture, the soil after watering must be mulched - covered with manure, humus or peat.
Cuttings planted in autumn may bulge out of the ground during frosts. In this case, in the spring they should be straightened and sprinkled with earth. During the summer, the soil in this area is loosened 3-4 times and weeded at the same time; Liquid fertilizers are applied 2-3 times. By autumn, the cuttings give a good increase - about 50 cm or more. Such bushes with a good root system and 2-3 shoots are planted in a permanent place.
Reproduction by green cuttings
Propagation by green cuttings makes it possible to accelerate the production of gooseberry and currant seedlings, since already one-year-old plants have an excellent fibrous root system and a well-branched aerial part.
When propagated by green cuttings, the transfer of glassware and bud mites to young plantations is excluded.
For cutting cuttings choose powerful healthy bushes. From the uterine 5-6-year-old bush, cuttings can be cut 2-3 times during the summer, cutting them off from the tops of all the branches of the bush: the first time - around the beginning of July (at the beginning of the semi-lignification of the cutting), the second - only after new growth and better from the side branches, the third - in early September from all shoots (these cuttings are left for the winter in greenhouses).
Cold greenhouses for green cuttings are prepared in advance (in June), they are disinfected, adjusted and the frames are well glazed. Glass frames are lubricated with a solution of milk of lime. Large, sifted, well-washed sand with a layer of 7-10 cm is poured onto a dug up clean layer of earth in greenhouses before planting the cuttings.
A green stalk is cut 10-12 cm long (depending on growth) and dipped in water or wet moss. After cutting, the cuttings are prepared for planting: the lower leaves are removed, leaving 2-3 upper ones, which are also partially shortened, then the cut of the cutting is renewed. For better and faster rooting, a light longitudinal incision is made above each kidney, and 3-4 such incisions are made in the lower part of the cutting. The cuttings prepared in this way are lowered into the water. Before planting, for better rooting, the lower ends of the cuttings are immersed in a solution of heteroauxin (growth stimulator) for 6 or 24 hours, depending on the concentration of the solution (100 or 50 mg of heteroauxin per 1 liter of water). Then the cuttings, washed in clean water, are planted in pre-prepared cold greenhouses.
Cuttings should be planted obliquely, almost close to each other, at a distance of 3-4 cm row from row. Up to 950 cuttings can be placed under the greenhouse frame. Between the frame and the cuttings there should be a free space 15-20 cm high. After planting, the cuttings are carefully and plentifully watered from a watering can with a very fine strainer. It is very important that the water does not flow in a continuous stream, but splashes. After watering, the greenhouse is closed with frames (the glass of the frames must be whitewashed to protect the cuttings from sunburn).
The main care for the cuttings is regular watering (at first it is important that the air in the greenhouses is warm and humid) and thorough ventilation of the greenhouses when the temperature in them rises above 25 °.
Against rodents, which often harm cuttings, it is recommended to use poisoned baits.
Against rodents that often bring
For 15-20 days, cuttings in greenhouses will take root well. After that, the greenhouses should be slightly opened during the day, and then, when the cuttings have undergone some hardening, left open for the night.
7-10 days after the rooting of the cuttings, the frame must be removed.
Three-week-old cuttings of gooseberries and currants, with proper care, form a good fibrous root system. The survival rate of cuttings in some varieties reaches 70-100%.
Rooted green cuttings are planted for growing in a separate area (in the nursery) in the same way as rooted cuttings with a horizontal propagation method. As soon as the bushes take root, they are liquidly fertilized with nitrogen mineral fertilizers (30 g of ammonium nitrate per bucket of water) or slurry diluted with water 6-8 times.
During the summer, loosening of the soil and weeding are carried out, and in dry weather, the soil in the nursery is watered abundantly.
The following autumn, currant and gooseberry bushes are dug up. Bushes suitable for planting should have well-developed roots and strong shoots.
Reproduction from vodka
The I. V. Michurin Research Institute of Horticulture has developed an effective method for propagating gooseberries and currants by horizontal layering.
It consists in the following. On the uterine bush in the spring (before bud break), 10-12 well-developed healthy branches are selected at the age of 1 to 5 years, located so that they can be rejected and bent to the ground. For fruiting, 2-3 strong branches are left on the bush.
In the branches selected for propagation, annual growths are cut to 1/3 of their length. This contributes to better germination of lateral buds and the formation of strong shoots with well-developed roots.
After trimming the top, each branch is bent to the ground, placed in pre-dug grooves 6-8 cm deep and pinned tightly. The grooves are not covered with earth, but left open until vertically growing shoots appear. For faster rooting of shoots, the soil must be moist. When young shoots reach a length of 8-10 cm, they are spudded to a height of 5-6 cm with loose earth with humus. After two weeks, re-hilling is carried out to a height of 8-10 cm. Throughout the summer, the soil on the mother plot should be loose and clean from weeds. As needed, layering is watered abundantly. To retain moisture, the soil after watering is mulched with humus or peat.
At the end of September, when the growth of the shoots ends, the bent branches are cut off at the base with a pruner (garden shears), dug up and cut according to the number of rooted layers.
After digging, the plants are sorted. The roots are shortened to 5-7 cm, and the shoots are cut to 1/4 of the length. Sorted plants for growing are planted for one year in a separate area.
The site for planting is chosen flat, with well-developed and fertilized soil, better from under vegetable crops and closer to the water. Layers are planted in autumn in grooves 6-8 cm deep, obliquely to the soil surface, under a cord in one or two lines. With a single-line planting, the row spacing should be 70 cm, and the distance between plants in a row is 20-25 cm, with two-line planting, the row spacing is 60-70 cm, the distance between lines is 40 cm, and between plants in a row is 20-25 cm.
When planting, the roots are covered with a layer of earth 5-6 cm thick, then the soil is well watered and mulched with a layer of humus 3-4 cm thick. In dry weather, watering is repeated. In early spring (before bud break), the shoots are pruned, leaving 1-2 buds above the ground. Cut shoots are used for planting them with cuttings, which in turn will increase the amount of planting material.
With normal development, gooseberry and currant layers form good seedlings by autumn, suitable for planting in a permanent place.
Reproduction by vertical layering is used less frequently, since this method can only be used on mother plantations, mainly red currants and gooseberries.
In order to obtain layering, mother bushes are cut short in the third year after planting in early spring, leaving stumps 15-20 cm long. Good care and abundant fertilizer provide a large number of young shoots. The first hilling should be carried out when the shoots reach a height of 10-15 cm (from the base). The center of the bush is recommended to be covered tightly with earth to prevent the branches from approaching. After 20-25 days, the shoots are again sprinkled with earth; this is best done after rain. In dry weather, before the second powder, the bushes must be watered. Layers are separated from the mother plant in autumn or early spring the following year.
When transplanting, the shoots are cut short, leaving 2-3 buds above the roots. When propagated by vertical layering, fewer seedlings are obtained than with the horizontal layering method.
Read also: Maintenance and tillage in a fruit-bearing garden
Reproduction by dividing the bush. This method is less perfect, since the resulting new plants do not always have the same growth and fruiting vigor as when propagated by other methods.
Reproduction by dividing the bush
Reproduction by dividing the bush is mainly used when transplanting valuable varieties from an old site to a new location.
To do this, they dig up the bushes, cut out all the old branches, leaving the young, vigorous ones, shake off the soil from the roots and cut the bush with an ax into 2-4 parts, depending on its size.
When transplanting, the plants should have good, young, strongly developed roots, the old roots are removed, and the rest are trimmed, the branches are cut off, leaving stumps 15-20 cm long.
PLANTATION LAYING
Site selection and preplant soil preparation.
Currants and gooseberries are perennial plants and grow in one place up to 20-25 years. A good choice of a place for planting berry bushes contributes to good growth and fruiting of plants, and vice versa, in an unsuccessfully chosen area, the bushes get sick and even die.
For berries, you need to choose areas with fairly fertile soil, clean of weeds, especially rhizomatous (wheatgrass), even, with small slopes, well protected from winds, with groundwater occurrence no closer than 1 -1.5 m from the soil surface.
Places are low, with excessive moisture without a radical improvement for planting currants are unsuitable, since the bushes on them are covered with lichens, wither, age quickly and cease to bear fruit. Open bumps should also be avoided. It is best to plant currants after perennial legumes (clover), row crops.
Blackcurrant grows well and bears fruit in low, fairly moist, but not wet areas, with loamy and sandy soils, poorly in open, high and dry areas (berries crumble). It is more frost-resistant than other berry crops and therefore can grow on the northern and northeastern slopes.
Red and white currants are planted in drier and well-lit areas with light soils. The best for them will be the southern and southwestern slopes.
Gooseberries are more demanding on the landing site than currants. Some varieties of gooseberries suffer from winter frosts. Therefore, for gooseberries, it is best to allocate areas from under legumes or tilled crops with small southern, southwestern or southeastern slopes, well lit, protected from cold winds, with groundwater occurrence no closer than 1 -1.5 m from the surface. soils with sufficiently moist loamy or sandy loamy soil, rich in humus, free from weeds (especially rhizomes), well-cultivated and abundantly seasoned with organic and mineral fertilizers.
Plots for gooseberries should be allocated as close as possible to water bodies. This is of great importance when watering in dry times.
In damp places, with close subsoil water, gooseberries grow poorly, as they do not tolerate excessive moisture. It is covered with lichens, suffers greatly from fungal diseases and often dies.
Soils acidified, strongly podzolized, with impermeable subsoil and with more closely spaced groundwater are also unsuitable for gooseberry cultivation. It should be avoided when choosing a place and open mounds, since in high places in dry years the gooseberry suffers from a lack of moisture, sheds its leaves prematurely and produces small berries.
Before you start planting currants and gooseberries, you need to prepare the site. If the soil is very waterlogged, the site should be drained. For this purpose, open or closed ditches are dug,
It is also necessary to apply organic fertilizers, especially on sandy or sandy soils. To improve heavy clay and loamy soils, it is desirable to add 5-6 tons of ground limestone per 1 ha to the site. Humus, compost, peat and manure have a good effect.
If the plants are planned to be planted in the spring, then in the fall, immediately after harvesting the previous crop, the site must be plowed to the full depth of the arable layer. On soils with a small topsoil, a subsoiler should be used, which deeply loosens the soil without turning the subsoil to the surface. In the spring, on heavy soils, plowing or deep loosening with cultivators is carried out, followed by harrowing.
When planting in autumn after tilled or vegetable plants, plowing followed by harrowing should be carried out no later than 15-20 days before planting.
Fertilizer and local cultivation of the soil
The introduction of organic and mineral fertilizers into the soil is of great importance for the development of currant and gooseberry plants and obtaining high and stable yields.
Manure and other organic fertilizers (humus, peat or other composts) are applied for plowing at 40-50 per 1 ha.
Mineral nitrogen fertilizers are applied in the spring, and phosphorus and potash fertilizers in the fall. With the continuous application of mineral fertilizers, the following norms are recommended (per 1 ha): ammonium sulphate - 2 centners, superphosphate - 3-4 if, potassium salt (30 percent) - 1.2-1.5 kg.
Mineral fertilizers can not be applied to the entire area, but only under a bush, while for each hectare you will need: ammonium sulfate-I c, superphosphate-1.3 c and potassium salt (30 percent) - 0.7 c.
With the joint application of organic and mineral fertilizers, the rate of both can be halved.
Acidic soils during autumn plowing should be limed per 1 ha: sandy - 2-3 from, light loam - 3-4 from lime, heavy loam - 4-5 from lime.
Good results are obtained when fertilizing planting holes for currants and gooseberries. Fertilizers are applied to each hole 40x50 cm in size: manure - 8-10 kg, a mixture of peat with manure and peat with other organic fertilizers - 2 buckets, 20% superphosphate
0.25 kg, a mixture of superphosphate with phosphate rock - 0.4 kg, wood ash - 0.3 kg, potassium sulfate - 40 g, potassium chloride - 20-30 g, ground limestone - 0.10-0.15 kg, dolomite - 0.10-0.15 kg.
The mixtures are in the following proportions: peat with manure (3-10 parts of peat + I-2 parts of manure); superphosphate with phosphate rock (1 part superphosphate + 2 parts phosphate rock); manure with superphosphate or phosphate rock - for 10 kg of manure (1 bucket) 200-300 g of superphosphate or 400-500 g of phosphate rock.
Organization of the territory
When laying large industrial plantations, it is necessary to organize the territory allotted for laying berries, and the question of the size and shape of garden quarters is of great importance. This largely determines the efficiency of the use of machines, the organization of transport, the correct placement of intra-plantations.
For laying plantings of currants and gooseberries, the site is divided into quarters with an area of 2-3 hectares. This size of blocks provides good accumulation of snow and more even distribution of it on the site. This is very important, as it helps prevent the freezing of berry plants. The quarters of berry growers are divided into cells by auxiliary roads 3–4 m wide, running across the quarters and rows, which is necessary for the supply of fertilizers, harvesting, etc. The distance between auxiliary intercellular roads is 100–150 m. quarter. This ensures more efficient use of tractor and horse tools and the destruction of weeds on intercellular roads.
Protective plantations
Berry crops grow and bear fruit better in protected areas.
In the conditions of Leningrad and adjacent regions, protective plantations are of great importance for the normal development and fruiting of berry plants. Therefore, in order to preserve berry fields and increase productivity, it is necessary to lay garden protection and windbreak strips, which will further protect berry plants from the harmful effects of winds (especially northern and eastern ones).
Thanks to the protective strips, the evaporation of soil moisture in the gardens is reduced, snow is better retained and the snow cover is more evenly distributed.
In protected areas, favorable conditions are created for pollination of plants by bees. Berry plantations not protected from the wind often freeze in severe snowless winters.
It is necessary to create protection primarily from the north and east.
Protective strips and windbreak lines in currant and gooseberry plots are arranged in the same way as in an orchard (see "Laying a young orchard and caring for it").
Planting material quality
The quality of planting material is of decisive importance when planting berries.
A plant grown from good seedlings begins to bear fruit in the 2-3rd year after planting.
Planting material for currants and gooseberries must be pure-grade, so you need to purchase it in nurseries and farms that have a variety certificate.
Two-year-old seedlings with a well-developed root system are suitable for planting. Skeletal roots should be 20-25 cm long. The aerial part should have 3-4 healthy shoots at least 40 cm high.
When transporting planting material, the roots of seedlings must be kept from drying out, for this they should be covered with wet sacking or matting, and upon delivery to the place, immediately open and water abundantly.
If it is found that the seedlings are very dry, they are lowered into the water for 2-3 days (no more).
Planting currants and gooseberries
Currants and gooseberries can be planted in a separate area and in the aisles of a young orchard (in household plots).
Planting is carried out early in the spring, before the buds of seedlings open, and in the fall - until mid-October. Before planting, the site is broken with a cord and stakes, then planting pits are dug 40-50 cm wide and 30-40 cm deep.
Planting pits should be large enough for the roots to be freely placed in them.
Before planting, the roots of the seedlings are pruned (damaged roots - to a healthy place), the shoots are shortened to 10-15 cm, leaving 2-3 buds on each shoot (for better branching of the bush), and in order for the seedlings to take root better, they are dipped with roots in a soil mash with clay.
Currants and gooseberries are planted with a row spacing of 2.5-3 m and a distance between plants in a row of 1.25-1.5 m.
The weight of the planting work is organized in such a way that the roots of the seedlings are as little as possible in the open air (not weathered).
When planting, the plants are lowered into pits, the roots are carefully straightened so that they do not bend up, and they are covered with earth, and the soil around the bushes is trampled down with their feet so that there are no voids between the roots.
Bushes are planted 5-7 cm deeper than they grew in the nursery.
It is better to plant obliquely (at an angle of 45 ° to the soil surface), while the part of the shoots covered with earth gives additional roots, which enhances the growth of the bush
After planting, the seedlings are watered (at the rate of 1 bucket per 5 bushes), and the surface of the hole is covered (mulched) with a thin layer of dry earth, humus or peat.
To protect the bushes from freezing in winter, the holes after autumn planting are covered with a layer of manure, humus or peat 3-10 cm thick.
If seedlings are not planted in a permanent place in autumn, but left until spring planting, then they should be buried for the winter.
On the site chosen for digging, they dig a ditch in the direction from west to east with a depth of 50 cm and a width of 60 cm. Plants are laid in one row close to each other with branches to the south along an inclined wall. When the ditch is filled with seedlings, they dig the next one next to the first one and the earth taken from it, fill in the roots of the bushes in the first ditch, etc. So they dig in all the planting material.
CARE OF CURRANTS AND GOSEBERRIES
To obtain high yields of currants and gooseberries, careful planting care is necessary: good and timely tillage in rows and between rows, the application of organic and mineral fertilizers, pest and disease control.
tillage
With good tillage, the soil in rows and between rows is kept loose and free of weeds. The main inter-row tillage should be carried out mainly in autumn, avoiding the formation of split furrows and shafts.
In the rows and near the bushes, the soil must be dug up to a depth of 10-12 cm, while avoiding damage to the roots, and at the same time, organic fertilizers should be planted in the tree trunks.
Berry cultivation should be started as early as possible in spring, carried out 4-5 times during the summer and always immediately after harvesting. In the rows near the bushes, manual loosening is carried out to a depth of 6-8 cm. After that, the soil is mulched with manure, peat or compost.
In dry weather, the bushes must be watered regularly.
Hilling bushes for the spring-summer period is not recommended, as they dry out more and are affected by diseases. Hilling is carried out only in the fall to combat wintering pests, and in early spring, the plants are unburdened.
Between the rows of plants in the first 2-3 years after planting berries, you can plant vegetables and root crops at a distance of no closer than 75 cm.< от кустов.
To combat couch grass and other weeds in the rows and aisles of fruit-bearing currant and gooseberry plantations, the herbicide simazine is used (800-2000 g of the drug per 100 liters of water). On sandy soils, the rate is reduced to 500-600 g per 100 liters. For 1 hectare of berry fields, 1000 liters of solution are required.
Fertilization and top dressing
Every year, currants and gooseberries give a relatively large increase in shoots, which means they take a lot of nutrients from the soil and greatly deplete it. In addition, some of these substances are irretrievably carried away from the site every year along with cut shoots and harvested crops. To obtain high yields of berries, the soil must be buried fertilized. The amount of fertilizer applied depends on the natural fertility of the soil and the degree of its preliminary dressing. On unfertilized soils per 1 hectare, 50-60% of manure is applied annually, on average fertility - 40-50% in a year and on well-filled soils - 40-50% in 2 years.
In the first 2-3 years, organic fertilizers are applied to the near-stem circles near the plants, and in the next (when the branches of the bushes in a row close) - along the entire length of the row.
After planting (if not applied before planting), 8-10 kg of manure is applied under each bush (20-30 tons per 1 ha), and after the bushes grow and their crowns close, the rate is increased to 40-50 tons per 1 ha. Manure (or compost) is laid out in the spring between the bushes and then, when digging, is slightly mixed with the ground. Fresh manure cannot be used for this purpose.
In addition to manure, mineral fertilizers must also be applied: superphosphate and potassium salt. Nitrogen fertilizers are used only if there is a need for this, that is, if the soil is really poor in nitrogen. With a lack of nitrogen, the leaves become pale in color, and the shoots develop poorly.
The best nitrogen fertilizer is saltpeter or ammonium sulphate; they are introduced in early spring at 2-2.5 centners per 1 ha (table).
Fertilizer rates
Lime has a very good effect, especially on clay soils. It should be applied in autumn up to 3 g per 1 ha.
During the summer, currants and gooseberries need to be fed with mineral and organic fertilizers, especially if the bushes do not develop strongly enough.
Slurry, bird droppings, feces, mullein and mineral fertilizers are the best material for liquid dressings. To prepare the solutions, they take old barrels, bury them halfway into the ground, fill them with fertilizers at Ul or 3/5 of the height (they put more mullein, and less bird droppings and feces), add water to the very edge and stir the contents several times a day .
For irrigation, the prepared solution is diluted with water: mullein - 4-5 parts, bird droppings - 10-12 parts, and slurry is diluted with water 6-8 times before application.
For each bush spend one bucket of solution. It is introduced into grooves 9-10 cm deep, cut on both sides of each row of bushes. The first top dressing is best given after flowering, and the second - after harvesting. Top dressing after flowering has a positive effect on the formation of berries, and after harvesting - on preparing for winter and laying flower buds for next year's harvest. Mineral fertilizers can be used for liquid top dressing immediately after dissolution, and in wet weather they are applied dry.
A solution of mineral fertilizers is prepared at the rate of 30-40 g per 10 liters of water and is used immediately after preparation.
Manure, as well as phosphorus and potassium mineral fertilizers, are applied to fruit-bearing plantations in the fall, and nitrogen fertilizers in the spring before loosening the soil.
Organic fertilizers are applied to the rows under each bush, and mineral fertilizers are applied over the entire area occupied by plants.
In the presence of peat, peat-potassium composts, which are valuable fertilizers, can also be prepared from it. It is also necessary to use all types of local fertilizers: wood and peat ash, slurry, household waste, etc.
With a lack of organic fertilizers, it is recommended to use green fertilizers. To do this, lupins, peas or vetch are sown in the aisles and, when plowing or digging, they are planted in gyuchva in a beveled or rolled form.
Irrigation of berry bushes
In the conditions of the Leningrad and adjacent regions, berry bushes develop well and bear fruit in the presence of normal precipitation. In some years, usually in the first half of summer, there is little precipitation, so berry bushes develop poorly and their productivity drops sharply. The lack of moisture has a particularly negative effect on black currants, not only in the current year, but also on the formation of the next year's crop. To combat drought and ensure sustainable crops, it is necessary to organize annual watering of berry fields. Watering should be carried out systematically at least 2-3 times during the growing season: before flowering, during flowering and ripening of berries.
When irrigating berry plantations, sprinklers are used or watering is carried out along shallow furrows (grooves), which are cut on both sides of each row of plantings.
Shaping and pruning bushes
Obtaining high and stable yields of currants and gooseberries depends not only on the variety, tillage and fertilizer, but also on other agricultural practices, which include, in particular, the systematic pruning of the bush. Pruning is one of the most important plant care jobs. The main tasks of pruning are: the formation of a bush, the regulation of fruiting and the improvement of lighting conditions for all parts of the bush.
When planting, the bush is cut off, leaving 2-3 buds on the shoot. By the end of the first year, the bush will have 5-6 or more annual shoots. All weak shoots are cut out near their very base, leaving no stumps. Form a bush gradually - within 4-5 years. Currants have the most fruit buds on two-year-old wood. Old shoots give small berries and in small quantities. Blackcurrant branches bear fruit for 4-6 years.
Old branches at the age of six years should be cut completely at the very base of the bush, leaving in return the same number of the strongest annual shoots. A fully formed and fruiting blackcurrant bush should have 3-4 branches at the age of 1-5 years.
From the root neck of a blackcurrant bush, many young shoots appear annually, of which 6-8 of the strongest and most correctly located are left, and the rest are removed. Then, annual pruning of all stems older than 4-5 years is carried out, well distinguishable from young ones by their almost black color; all drooping branches lying on the ground; shoots growing inside the bush and strongly intersecting; all extra shoots coming from the root neck and tops frozen over during the winter; all dry and diseased stems.
It is necessary to ensure that 15-20 branches of all ages (from 1 to 5 years) remain on the blackcurrant bush, since, compared with branches of other ages, the best fruiting usually occurs on one-, two- and three-year-old branches.
You can cut the bushes both in the fall - after the leaves fall, and in early spring - before the buds open.
To obtain high yields of blackcurrant next year in late June - early July, young shoots are pinched, removing the tops. Pinching promotes the formation of new lateral shoots, which are then covered with fruit buds, and causes the formation of fruit twigs (fruits) on old wood.
Summer pinching bushes with strong young shoots, you can adjust the ripening of blackcurrant berries. With early pinching, they ripen earlier, with later - later.
Red and white currants bear fruit most of all on shortened twigs (fruits) of 2-3 years of age, located in the upper part of the shoot, so they should not be pruned and pinched.
The full formation of fruit-bearing bushes of red and white currants ends at 5-8 years.
All old (over 7-8 years old) non-fruiting branches are cut out in the same way as in blackcurrant, completely at the very base of the bush.
In the finally formed fruit-bearing bush of red and white currants, there should be 2-3 branches at the age of 1-8 years, and in total the bush should have 20-25 branches of different ages.
When pruning currants, it is necessary to systematically thin out the shoots inside the bushes for better and uniform illumination of all branches.
In neglected currant bushes, cessation of fruiting is often observed. In this case, unless the bushes are too old, they are rejuvenated: all old branches are removed, and the remaining young ones are shortened to 10-15 cm. then form a bush.
Currants, with careful care, can bear fruit well in one place for up to 15-20 years. Currant plots must be annually cleared of diseased, weakly fruiting and double-flowered bushes.
Cut and shape gooseberries in almost the same way as blackcurrants.
The largest yield of berries in gooseberries is formed on 2-3-year-old twigs (fruits) at the ends of shoots of strong perennial branches. Branches older than 7-8 years have almost no fruit twigs, so they should be cut out in a timely manner.
Usually, many young shoots appear annually on the root collar of the bush, of which, when pruned, 6-8 of the strongest and most correctly located (around the bush) are left, and the rest are removed. Then an annual cutting is made (completely to the base of the branches, leaving no stumps): all branches older than 7-8 years; all drooping branches lying on the ground; stems going inside the bush and strongly intersecting, for better and more uniform illumination of all branches; all extra shoots coming from the root neck and tops frozen over during the winter; all dry and diseased stems. If such annual pruning is not done, then the bushes become completely barren over time and, in addition, often suffer from powdery mildew. But when pruning, you need to ensure that branches of all ages remain on the bush.
In a fully formed fruit-bearing gooseberry bush, there should be 2-3 branches at the age of 1-2 years, and in total the bush should have 20-25 branches of different ages.
The main fruiting is concentrated in the upper part of the shoots, so pruning and pinching them should not be done, as this reduces the yield.
Pruning of bushes can be done both in autumn - after the leaves fall, and in early spring - before bud break.
With poor care, bushy gooseberry bushes often experience a cessation of fruiting. If the bushes are not too old, then they are rejuvenated: in the first year, ‘A’ or 2A of the oldest branches of the bush are removed, cutting them off at the very surface of the earth (without leaving stumps) in order to cause new growth of shoots; the next year, all the old branches remaining on the bush are cut out. Thus, within 2 years, the bush is rejuvenated.
The soil at this time should be well cultivated and fertilized. Under such conditions, rejuvenated bushes give a new abundant growth, from which a bush is formed.
With a lack of moisture in the soil, gooseberry bushes after rejuvenation must be watered abundantly, and the soil around them must be mulched.
HARVESTING
In the Leningrad and adjacent regions, currant berries begin to ripen in July: first red and white, and then black. The period of picking berries is long and depends on the selection of varieties. Berries are harvested in the morning (after the dew has dried) in baskets or sieves with a capacity of 3-4 kg, which are packed in packs when transported over long distances.
All sick and pest-affected berries must be placed in a separate container and destroyed. It is impossible to pour berries from one container to another, as this reduces their commercial qualities.
Blackcurrant berries are harvested only in a state of full ripeness, but they do not ripen simultaneously on the entire brush, so they have to be collected one berry in 3-4 doses, with the exception of some new varieties.
Berries of red and white currants for fresh consumption and processing are harvested in whole bunches in a state of consumer ripeness when they reach their characteristic color and taste.
Once harvested, until consumed or shipped, the berries are stored in a refrigerator, on a glacier, or in well-ventilated cellars or sheds.
The collection of gooseberries in the Leningrad region also begins in July. Berries ripen almost simultaneously, so they can be harvested in one go.
Berries should be removed together with the stalk in dry weather, as they are more likely to deteriorate when wet. The weight of bursting and damaged berries must be collected in a separate container. Berries for fresh consumption are removed ripe when they acquire the color and taste inherent in this variety, and for technical processing - unripe. Collect them in baskets or sieves with a capacity of 4-6 kg. To keep the berries for several days, they are placed in a cool, not damp room.
Gooseberries tolerate transportation well. For transportation over long distances, sieves and baskets with gooseberries are packed in packs (several pieces are tied together).
Against the background of a huge number of varieties of garden strawberries, the ampelous variety stands out. This strawberry with uncharacteristic pink, very decorative flowers is easily recognizable by both fruit-bearing mother plants and rosettes extending from them. After reviewing the care of her, having studied the rules of cultivation and looking at the photo, you can safely proceed to planting this unusual berry crop.
Features of ampelous strawberries
If an ordinary strawberry bears fruit once a season, a remontant two, then it can be said about an ampelous strawberry that it is able to bear fruit throughout the year.
Thanks to the work of breeders, ampelous strawberries grow before flower stalks are formed, flower buds are laid on them and, accordingly, an additional crop ripens. Further, the mustache itself continues to form the following. As a result, one bush can be continuously harvested.
In addition, this variety has excellent decorative qualities and can serve as a wonderful decoration for a balcony, veranda, etc.
Advice. For growing in a room, it is better to select varieties of neutral daylight hours that have a very long fruiting period.
In some sources, you can find it under the name "curly", but this is not entirely correct. By nature, strawberries cannot wrap themselves around anything. Some gardeners, for decorative purposes, simply tie a mustache with rosettes to a support. At the same time, it seems that the strawberry itself “climbs” up.
Ampel strawberry continuously yields
If you plant several bushes in a flowerpot or hanging pot, the rosettes will fall very beautifully from the mother plant, creating cascades of leaves, flowers and berries.
When considering the fruiting of ampelous varieties, it can be unequivocally stated that this is a remontant variety. On the bush at the same time you can see buds, flowers and berries. Thanks to this, in appropriate conditions, it is possible to observe flowering and pick berries almost all year round. Popular varieties:
- Homemade delicacy;
- Temptation;
- Tarpan;
- Elan;
- Novel;
- balcony stream;
- Balcony charm.
Almost all of them are hybrids that are adapted to growing in any conditions, resistant to some diseases and give a decent harvest. I would especially like to note the Tuscany variety. Despite its recent appearance, it has already gained worldwide recognition. It differs in rich pink flowers and rather large fragrant berries.
Growing options
If you show imagination and make very little effort, then bushes of ampelous strawberries can become a wonderful decoration for the site.
Ampel strawberries can be grown even in an apartment
- Growing in pots and vases. In this case, any containers can be used for landing. For the normal development of the plant, their depth must be at least 30 cm. A mandatory requirement is holes for water drainage and a drainage layer. Seedlings intended for planting should be sprinkled with earth and kept for two weeks in a dark, cool place. Planting plants in a pot should not be too dense and not very deep.
Advice. A lush strawberry bush grown by hand in a hanging planter can be a wonderful gift for a novice gardener.
- Grid growing. As a lattice, you can use a metal mesh, wicker fence, etc. Bushes are planted in the soil 30 cm apart. Growing mustaches are tied up along the lattice.
Advice. The height of the lattice should be selected no more than 1 m. So the plants will be able to completely cover it with fruit-bearing and flowering bushes at the same time.
- Landing in the form of a pyramid. For such a landing, you will need 3-4 boxes 30 cm high, without a bottom, of different sizes. The largest is placed on the ground in the garden and covered with fertile soil. A second, smaller one is placed on top and is also filled with earth. The smallest of them is placed on top. Soil is also poured into it. It turns out a cascade of boxes in which seedlings are planted. After growing, this structure looks like a green pyramid, covered with flowers and berries.
- Vertical beds. This method is used for growing ampelous strawberries in greenhouses. They are made from wide plastic pipes (diameter about 110 cm). Holes are cut into them after a certain interval, into which, after filling the pipe with nutrient soil, seedlings are planted.
How to plant seedlings
Planting ampelous varieties does not differ much from planting other types of strawberries.
- The bottom of the pot or groove in the bed is lined with drainage material.
- From above it is covered with nutrient soil, consisting of soddy soil, humus, manure and peat.
- Well watered. After the soil settles, the earth is filled up.
- Landing holes are being made.
- One plant is distributed in each well.
- The roots are pressed with wet earth so that the core remains at the top.
Advice. In order for the seedlings to take root faster, it is advisable to dip each rhizome in a clay mash.
How to care
Planted seedlings need frequent moisture. It should be watered 2 times a day a little. After 2 weeks, watering is reduced - it will be enough 1 time in 3 days. The first flower stalks are removed. So the plant will give all its strength to the development of the root system, which will make the plant strong.
Strawberries need regular hydration
Mustaches on each bush should remain no more than 5 pcs. All excess is plucked off. Top dressing is carried out regularly with mineral fertilizers.
Ampelous strawberry transplantation must be carried out every 3-4 years. In the spring, the antennae are plucked from the strongest bushes and transplanted to a new bed or into a new container. In the case of a flower bed, you can completely replace the soil and plants.
For the winter, you can not leave containers with strawberries on the street. All of them need to be brought into a warm room. If this is not possible, the container is dug into the ground and covered with a covering material.
For beds protruding above ground level, special frames are constructed, the surface of which is covered with roofing material, lutrasil, etc., and then sprinkled with something insulating, for example, sawdust, straw or hay.
It often happens that gardeners complain that currants stop bearing fruit. Bushes should bear fruit every year. The peak yield occurs in the 5th year of planting.
If, after planting in the first year, the currant does not produce berries, this is normal, but in the absence of fruits in the second and subsequent years, it is worth thinking about the reasons.
What could be the reasons that the currant does not bear fruit?
Wrong landing site. If the seedling is planted in the shade or in a too hot place, the bush may not produce a crop. When planted in the shade, the bush may stretch in height to give stormy greenery, and there may be few or no berries at all.
The soil where currants are planted should not give an acidic reaction. To get rid of acidity, it is limed. Do it better ahead of time, a year before landing. In addition, too fertile soil can also have a detrimental effect on the crop. In this case, trenches are made at a distance of 35-45 cm from the bush, and they are filled with clay soil with the addition of ash and bone meal. Carry out rejuvenating pruning at such bushes, cutting out extra "fattening" shoots.
Lack of moisture. A plant with weak watering may not produce an ovary. They can dry out
Unsuitable climate. In cold areas, southern varieties may wake up earlier and fall into spring frosts when the ovary dies. It is necessary to choose the right varieties, taking into account climatic features.
Varieties may not form ovaries without cross-pollination. In this case, you need to provide it. The way out can be planting a number of flowers, honey plants.
Incorrect top dressing with the same type of fertilizer often leads to a cessation or reduction in yield.
Bush aging. Age 7-10 years, when - the plant can no longer bear fruit due to the lost resource. Younger plants can still be rejuvenated with pruning, but for a bush older than 10-20 years this may not help.
In addition, there are diseases that lead to a lack of yield in currant bushes.
Serious disease - reversion (terry). This viral disease of currant is transmitted by a bud mite. It leads to infertility. In plants affected by this virus, the flowers are deformed, the petals become thinner, stretched and become, as it were, terry, turning green or purple. The specific aroma of currant is lost. Fruiting practically stops. The disease infects bush after bush, and in a few years it can affect all currant bushes.
The first preventive measure in order not to get the virus into your garden should be to purchase good healthy seedlings. They are taken from reliable suppliers. And cuttings for propagation from healthy bushes.
For the prevention of the disease, plants should be constantly inspected, for the timely detection of a kidney mite - as the main carrier of terry. During flowering, the bushes should be checked especially carefully. If double (curly) flowers are found, it is worth immediately cutting and destroying these shoots. But the reversion disease is very insidious and it is almost impossible to stop it. Most likely, such bushes will have to be destroyed. Such currants not only do not bear fruit, but also infect other bushes.
Therefore, do not allow this virus into your garden.
The kidney mite as a carrier of the terry virus is very dangerous for currants. It develops inside the kidneys, affecting them. Its sign is the enlarged round buds of the plant. If they are found, they should be immediately torn off and destroyed. But when it is completely hit, the bush is uprooted and burned. As a preventive measure, garlic is planted between currant bushes, and the bushes are sprayed with garlic infusion.
Glass butterfly. If the leaves of the currant wither, the ovaries fall, there is a danger of being affected by this pest. This insect gnaws its own moves in the shoots. For treatment, you need to cut the shoots to a healthy trunk. If the plant is severely affected, then you can cut it to the roots. Places of cuts close up with the help of a garden pitch.
Currant does not bear fruit because of the ants. Forest ants can also cause irreparable damage to currant bushes. They feed on the insides of flowers, depriving the plant of its ability to bear fruit. You need to get rid of them by biological or chemical means.
Disease prevention
For the prevention and treatment of currants, Zircon, Epin-extra, Novosil, Khom are used. In the spring, when leaves appear, spray with Zircon and Epin-Extroy. After flowering with "Zircon", after harvesting, with "Khom" or "Zircon". If such measures do not help to return the yield and cure the bush, then it is removed and replaced. And the soil in this place is better to change or plant a new plant in a new place.
Currant leaves curl and dry: what is the reason?
If the currant leaves curl and dry, then it is hardly worth expecting a full-fledged collection of berries from it. What to do? First of all, you need to find the cause of the plight of the bush and why the leaves of the currant curl, then figure out how to process it.
Why currant leaves curl
What needs to be done to find out the cause of the painful condition of the bush? It is necessary to determine the nature of damage to the leaves. The causes of the disease can be varied, but mostly they are pests and fungal infections.
Pests
spider mite
It spreads with the help of the wind and with cuttings. Weaves the lower part of the leaf with a network of the thinnest cobwebs. Damaged areas are light specks that gradually grow into faded areas. The leaves become "marble", darken and dry. Currant suffers. Its winter hardiness and productivity are reduced.
Fallen leaves and topsoil are the wintering grounds for females. In the spring they climb the currants and lay their eggs on the blossoming leaves. Hatched larvae can be viewed through a magnifying glass. They are yellow-green. In the heat in the south, up to ten generations develop. The mass release of the tick occurs in June - July. By autumn, the larvae turn orange-red and leave for the winter.
currant glass jar
Butterfly with narrow transparent wings, on the abdomen of the female there are three transverse yellow stripes. Butterflies fly out ten to fifteen days after the blackcurrant has faded. They lay up to 50 eggs in crevices in the bark. The caterpillars bite into the core of the branches, making moves up to 40 cm. In the next spring and summer, they damage the branches by sliding down. In the fall, they winter again inside the branches and in the youngster of spring - early summer, having made a hole, they go outside. They first pupate and then turn into butterflies.
Branches affected by the glass case wither and dry out at the beginning of the ripening of blackcurrant berries.
Currant leaf midge
Small brownish-yellow mosquito with one pair of wings. Eggs are laid on young leaves of blackcurrant, on the tops of shoots. Young leaves damaged by larvae become deformed, acquire a “torn” appearance, turn black and dry. Shoots stop growing or begin to branch unnaturally. Young bushes and seedlings are especially affected. Up to four generations of gall midge are hatched in one summer. The winter is spent in cocoons in the soil. Summer begins with the blooming of currant flowers. Lays eggs on emerging leaves. The hatched larvae live in groups in unopened leaves, causing them to curl and dry out. The tops of the shoots often die off. The pest causes especially great damage in nurseries.
Currant gall midge
Yellow-orange mosquito with two brown stripes on the back; the wings are covered with dense dark hairs. Lays eggs in cracks in currant bark. The larvae live in colonies under the bark. They feed on the sap of the branches, which is why the bark acquires a brown tint, gradually darkens. Depressed, gradually growing spots and cracks protrude on infected places. The branches break and dry up.
Over the summer, 2-3 generations of gall midges hatch. The annual dying off of branches reduces the ability of plants to restore shoots and yields.
leaf gall aphid
Settles on the leaves of white and red currants. In the spring-summer period, aphids do not have wings; later, winged females fly over long distances. The pest hibernates in the stage of eggs, which are laid in autumn on the bark of shoots near the buds. The larvae hatch in the budding phenophase. Aphid colonies settle on the lower surface of the leaves. Red or yellow "blisters" - galls - form on the upper side of the leaves. The leaves are dying.
When currant growth stops, aphids migrate to herbaceous and weed plants. In September, the pest moves back to currants to lay eggs.
Gooseberry shoot aphid
The larvae hatch from the eggs during bud swelling. They feed on leaves, causing them to curl. Shoots are deformed, grow poorly. The leaves are compressed into a ball. In the phase of the end of flowering, the larvae mature, turning into females. In autumn, they lay eggs on the shoots, which then hibernate.
Diseases
Sferoteka
It affects young leaves, shoots, fruits. It manifests itself as a powdery coating, which gradually becomes brown, felty. The shoots dry up, the leaves are deformed and fall off, the berries lose their commercial qualities. Infection of plants occurs in the first warm days, when the buds open, the leaves bloom, or after the berries are set. The most favorable conditions for the development of the disease are a temperature of 17-28°C and an air humidity of 90-100%. In dry weather, the process is suspended.
Anthracnose
It appears on leaf petioles and young shoots, less often on berries. It is expressed in small brown spots on the leaves. In the course of the disease, the spots coalesce, the leaves turn brown, dry, and fall off prematurely.
On petioles, stalks and green shoots, the spots are small, black, slightly depressed. As a result, growth and winter hardiness of plants decrease, shoots die off.
Signs of it appear on the leaves in June. The infection grows rapidly under favorable conditions and continues until the end of September. Intensive development of the disease occurs in years with strong moisture.
Septoria
The fungus infects leaves and berries. It manifests itself in the formation of brown spots of various shapes from the bottom of the leaves. With the development of the disease, the spots become white with a brown border.
On berries, the disease appears before ripening with brown spots, depressed or cracking. They also generate controversy. The leaves fall prematurely, the growth slows down, the quality of the berries deteriorates.
columnar rust
Chlorotic spots appear on top of the leaves, fungus pustules appear below, orange and powdery. They gradually turn into yellow-brown columns of spores in the form of hairs, like felt. By autumn it turns brown. The leaves fall a month and a half before the natural leaf fall, which affects the winter hardiness of plants and productivity. Spores hibernate on fallen leaves, mycelium - on coniferous trees. The blackcurrant of the European and Scandinavian subspecies is severely damaged. Rust of this species is found in all areas of industrial cultivation of currants.
goblet rust
Black currant becomes infected during the bud break phase. Yellow spots appear on the leaves of young shoots. Later, they swell and crack, cup-shaped depressions filled with orange spores become visible.
Leaves turn brown and dry. Berries fall off. Spores infect sedge, the fungus develops on it in the second half of summer and hibernates. The disease develops most strongly in a rainy spring. Currants should not be cultivated in places favorable for the growth of sedge.
Currant leaves are curled, how to process? Measures to combat diseases and pests of currants.
In autumn or early spring, they are removed at the root and dry damaged shoots are destroyed. In such shoots there may be larvae of the vitreous, borer, stem gall midge, currant bud moth and other pests, pathogens of various diseases (anthracnose, powdery mildew, etc.). They burn fallen leaves, dig up the soil in order to reduce the number of pests and destroy the sources of diseases.
How to treat currants from twisting leaves?
Approximate calendar of protective measures:
In the phase of bud break against the main fungal diseases in plantations, spraying with 1% Bordeaux mixture is carried out.
Before flowering, the bushes are treated against aphids, mites, and other pests with one of the insecticides: Fufanon (10 ml / 10 l of water), or kemifos (10 ml / 10 l of water), or a spark (10 ml / 10 l of water).
Before the appearance of flower brushes against anthracnose and other fungal diseases, another treatment is carried out with a Bordeaux mixture (100 g of copper sulfate + 100 g of lime / 10 l of water).
To contain American powdery mildew (sferoteca), treatments are carried out with Thiovit Jet (20-30g / 10l of water).
After flowering, cut below the soil level and burn the shoots damaged by the glass.
After harvesting, when pests and diseases appear, plantations are sprayed with the same preparations as before flowering.
On commercial plantations of berry crops, chemical treatments are not carried out after flowering. In the event of the appearance of pests after flowering, plants are protected by treating with biological preparations:
Bitoxibacillin - 80-100 g / 10 l of water;
Lepidocide - 20-30g / 10l of water;
Fitoverm - 4 ml / 10 water.
Spraying is carried out against each generation of the pest (caterpillars of 1-3 age) with an interval of about a week.
These activities help to eliminate the various causes of currant leaf curl.