2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Well-groomed currants give a good harvest. Without your participation, the berries will shrink, pests will appear, and even the best varieties will not live up to expectations. Let's consider the most common mistakes and tell you what to do
Currant is a long-liver of the garden, the most popular berry. Many consider it to be an unpretentious bush that does not need care. Due to improper conditions, currants will not reveal their potential, you can lose up to 90% of the crop.
First mistake. Currants do not need to be watered
Lack of moisture leads to a delay in the development of bushes, to a decrease in yield. Black currants are especially sensitive to water shortages. Berries will be tied by 30-50% less. Their quality will be worse: small fruits, thick skin, not juicy pulp.
Excess moisture, excessive watering is harmful: root rot, tendency to fungal diseases, cracking of fruits.
How to properly water currants
Water the bushes three times per season.
1. The first watering at the beginning of active growth and the appearance of ovaries: end of May - first decade of June.
2. The second watering of currants during the ripening period of berries in June-July.
3. The third watering is needed after fruiting, during the formation of flower buds of the next harvest.
Watering dosage depends on the age of the bush, usually 2-5 buckets. You can check the correctness of watering by the condition of the soil - the earth should be moistened by about 40 cm.
Second mistake. No top dressing needed
Without fertilizers, the soil "becomes poorer", a deficit of macro- and microelements is created, and the stability of development / growth is disturbed. Create optimal conditions for a fulfilling life.
How to feed currants
Three times a season you need to feed. For the first time during the appearance of leaves (1 tbsp. L. Ammonium nitrate per sq. M.). The second - after fruiting (1-1, 5 tbsp. L. Superphosphate). The third - after leaf fall (1 tbsp. L potassium chloride).
A year later, in the fall, you need to bring organic matter under the bush. Under an adult bush - a bucket of compost or humus.
The third mistake is the soil is not mulched
Mulch retains moisture, prevents weeds from growing, which draw out food and moisture. In spring and autumn, the trunks of currants should be sprinkled 5-10 cm with sawdust, cut grass, straw.
The fourth mistake is you don't need to crop
A currant bush without clipping bears fruit for 5 years, with partial (3 branches per year) - 15 years, with proper anti-aging - 30 years. Without your participation, the bushes become heavily thickened with young shoots, old unproductive or improperly growing branches. Such plants are often sick and give poor yields.
How to properly trim currants
At the planted blackcurrant bush, shorten all branches, leaving 2-4 high-quality buds. After a year, in the fall, leave only 3-4 strong shoots, the extra ones are cut flush with the ground. This procedure is repeated every fall. Shorten the left branches, this will strengthen the branching.
After 4 years, you will get a formed plant with 15-18 branches of different ages. Further pruning is aimed at removing old ones with replacement for young ones: 3 were cut down - 3 shoots were left.
Red and white currants are less prone to "overgrowth". The working capacity of the branches lasts about 8 years. The bush should have 10-12 branches of different ages. On red currants, the tops of the shoots are not pinched, since the main crop is laid on them. Old branches are removed completely, starting from 5-8 years of age.
Fifth mistake - no protective measures
There are no pest and disease resistant varieties of currants. All fruit bushes need preventive treatment. If you do not process the currants, then you can be left without a crop.
Universal prophylaxis scheme
Carrying out preventive procedures, your bushes will not suffer from rust, gray rot, white spot, powdery mildew. What to do?
1. Before bud break, spray with copper sulfate (10 liters of water + 50-75 g, 1.5 liters of solution is enough for an average bush). Vitriol can be replaced with 1% Bordeaux mixture.
2. During the period of swelling - sanitary pruning, removal of swollen / round buds infected with mites.
3. Budding - treatment against pests: Actellik, Kinmiks, Fufanon NOVA, Kemifos. Against fungi - Bordeaux liquid (3%).
4. After flowering - spraying with Fufanon, Akarin or other preparations against firewood, sawflies and other pests.
5. After fruiting, prevention of infections: spraying with Bordeaux liquid (1%).
6. After leaf fall - harvesting foliage, loosening the soil.
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