2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Moss currant (Latin Ribes procumbens) - berry culture; a representative of the Currant genus of the Gooseberry family. Other names - Lying currant or Mokhovka. It is found in nature in the Far East, Siberia, Korea and China. Typical habitats are rocky areas, swamps, humid forests, stream and river banks.
Characteristics of culture
Moss currant is a low-growing shrub up to 35 cm high, forming continuous thickets during growth. Shoots are creeping, outstretched, covered with golden bark and pinpoint glands, when in contact with the soil surface they easily root. Leaves are dark green, small, glabrous, 3-5-tillobe, rounded, with a cordate or truncated base; when rubbed, they emit a specific odor, the same as that of black currant. In autumn, the foliage becomes yellow-orange in color. Flowers are small, white, saucer-shaped, collected in short, racemose inflorescences of 6-10 pieces.
Fruits are spherical or pear-shaped brown berries, sweet and sour in taste, have a rich aroma, reach 1-1.3 cm in diameter. Moss currant blooms in June, fruits ripen in July-August. Under favorable growing conditions, the flowering of moss currants is abundant, lasts about 17-18 days. The culture enters fruiting in the fifth year after planting. Differs in high winter-hardy properties. Seed germination is average, up to 60%. The rooting rate of cuttings is good, even without pretreatment with growth stimulants.
The subtleties of growing
Unlike other representatives of the genus, moss currants, or recumbent ones, are quite demanding on soil conditions. The soil composition should be as close to natural as possible. Loose, well-moistened soils containing up to 60% peat are welcome. The groundwater level does not really matter. If the soils are on a site with a slightly acidic or neutral pH, at least a 30-centimeter layer of sour peat is added to them. Subsequently, the soils are acidified annually in the spring. Subject to these conditions, currants will delight you with abundant flowering and a good harvest of berries. The location of the moss currant is preferably semi-shaded.
Moss currant is not particularly popular among gardeners these days, most likely, this is due to difficulties in creating certain conditions. In addition, to obtain yields on the site, it is necessary to plant 2-3 forms. Planting currants lying can be carried out both in spring and in autumn. Although the second option is the most successful. For planting, it is not necessary to purchase seedlings, you can separate the rooted shoots from the bushes available in the garden and transplant them to a new place. Before planting, the soil is dug up, the rhizomes of weeds are removed, humus and peat are introduced. Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers is not prohibited, especially with ammonium nitrate. The parameters of the holes depend on the size of the planting material and the degree of development of the root system.
Moss currants are planted so that the root is deepened by a maximum of 10 cm. The distance between the plants should be about 2 m, and the fact that the bushes grow rather quickly and form dense thickets also follows. That is why they must be periodically thinned out for the convenience of caring for them and to exclude lesions by various diseases and attacks of pests that can cause enormous harm to plants and the future harvest of berries. Immediately after planting, young bushes are abundantly watered and shaded. Further care consists in annual feeding, weeding, watering and removing thickening, diseased and damaged shoots.
Application
Berries of moss currant are consumed fresh, often used for the preparation of various sweet canned foods. Berries are unsuitable for transportation because they have a rather thin skin. Lying currant bushes are suitable for decorating rockeries, rock gardens and other types of rocky gardens, as well as borders and paths.
Recommended:
How To Remove Moss From A Flower Bed Or Lawn?
Moss often appears on lawns and flower beds. He delivers many unpleasant minutes to gardeners and summer residents, since it is not so easy to get rid of him. In addition, it is generally accepted that moss not only spoils the appearance of the decorative area, but also spoils the grass and flowers growing there. This is not entirely true. The appearance of moss can be considered an indicator of the beginning of damage to plants on a lawn or flower bed. Moss simply occupies areas vacated by dead plants. And already after he is firmly on
Sphagnum Moss For Flowers, Animals And Gardens
A plant that can cure many problems, including various diseases, is sphagnum moss. A story about its properties and methods of application
Angry Currant Currant Roll
The crooked currant leafworm lives everywhere and is very partial to berry crops. Most often, it damages currants, blackthorns, mountain ash, various fruit crops, wild rose and hawthorn. Spruce, hazel, buckthorn, birch, oak, larch, barberry, as well as ash, poplar and maple do not escape her attention. So that the destructive activity of harmful caterpillars does not lead to the loss of most of the crop, these gluttonous parasites must be actively combated
Moss Key - A Lover Of Clean Reservoirs
Key moss, or fontinalis, is an inhabitant of warm regions located in the northern hemisphere of our vast planet. It is also found on the territory of the Russian Federation. Key moss is great for keeping in cold water aquariums. However, it is grown quite rarely - this is due to its capriciousness to the conditions of detention. And in vain, since the decorative qualities of this plant are very high, because key moss often forms surprisingly picturesque thickets that reach
Floating Ricciocarpus - Marvelous Moss
Swimming Ricciocarpus is easy to see in water bodies in various parts of our vast planet. It grows equally well in the Far East and Western Siberia, as well as in Central Asia and the Caucasus. This unusual floating moss forms incredibly delicate openwork thickets on the water surface. It looks no less impressive in aquariums, combining perfectly with almost any green aquarium pets. However, you may not find a Ricciocarpus floating in home aquariums
