Blackcurrant is a popular garden culture, extremely useful and delicious. Currant is widely used in the household: it is eaten fresh, cooked jam, jams, jelly, canned.
Compotes and juices, various infusions, liqueurs and wines are made of berries. From the article you will learn when and how to plant currants, care from planting to berry picking, proper pruning of bushes, breeding with cuttings, pest control, popular currants.
Content:
Smaroon - description of the plant
Currant planting
How to take care of blackcurrant
-- Currant care in spring, summer, autumn
-- Treatment of pests and diseases
-- Currant watering
-- Currant feeding
When and how to cut currant
-Trimming in the spring.
-Trimming in the fall
Correct currant trimming - video
Currant reproduction
-- The woody cuttings...
-- Green cuttings
Blackcurrant disease and pests
Video of pest care and control without chemistry
Currant varieties
currant descriptions of plants
A perennial shrub from the gooseberry family. Height of bushes up to 2 meters with fluffy pale green shoots, changing color with age to brown.
Root system is lobey, going to the depth of 20-40 cm.
Currant bush consists of branches of different ages, located at different levels, thanks to which the currant bears fruit for 12-15 years.
In spring, at a temperature of +5 degrees, swollen kidneys, flowering appears at +11 +15 degrees, because of this it is affected by spring frosts.
Most currants do not need pollination and are also frost-resistant. Currant leaves are used in conservation (very fragrant), as well as they are used to brew tea.
Berries taste sweet and sour, with a strong aroma, rich in vitamins and trace elements. The high content of vitamin C makes currant berries very useful, a good tool for disease prevention.
Currant planting
When to plant blackcurrant cuttings
Smaroon is multiplied by cuttings, drifting, division of the bush. Young green cuttings take root and begin to grow at any time during the growing season.
How to plant seedlings in autumn
The best way to plant blackcurrant is in the autumn, in early October. Before spring, the seedlings will take root and grow quickly.
Sternwood will be suitable for fertile soil, light loams with slightly alkaline reaction are the best. Planting seedlings in lighted areas is best if the berry is not shaded sweet and the yield is reduced.
Before planting the soil is digged to a depth of 20-22 cm and apply fertilizer: 2-4 kg of organic, 100-150 g of superphosphate, 20-30 g of sulfuric acid potassium per 1 m2 of area.
Pit for planting 50 cm in diameter and up to 40 cm in depth, the distance between the bushes is 1.5 meters. Pour the floor of a bucket of water into the hole, plant a seedling so that the root neck was at a depth of 5 cm, spread the roots. A little bit of dirt on the roots, pour the floor of the bucket of water and fill the hole to the top.
Make sure that the soil is covered with humus or peat from above. Cut seedling shoots at a height of 10-15 cm from the ground, leaving only 4-5 kidneys.
How to care for blackcurrant
Plant care in spring is not difficult and is as follows:
-- Remove the buds affected by the mite;
-- Digging up the bushes and covering the soil with humus or manure around the bushes;
-- Ensure sufficient watering during growth and flowering;
- Remove weeds and loosen soil under plants to a depth of 6 cm, 2-3 times a week. If the soil around the bush is turbid, loosening is not required;
-- After winter, sanitize the currant;
-- In early spring, treat pests and diseases in the bushes;
-- Apply nitrogen fertilizers;
-- To observe and examine flowers during blossoming. If terry blossoms are detected, remove them to avoid spreading to other shrubs.
Care for currants in summer
Watering plays an important role in the care of currants in hot summers. Also keep the bushes clean, and remove weeds in time. Fertilise with organic fertiliser, together with watering. Inspect the bushes at all times and take action when pests or diseases are detected, but do not treat them with chemicals three weeks before the berries ripen. When berries begin to sing, they should be harvested individually and selectively - only ripe as they ripen.
Caring for currants in autumn
After the harvest, be sure to water the currant and loosen the soil. In the second half of September, fertilise with organic and mineral fertiliser, and also cut the currant bushes. In autumn, you will need to start breeding and seeding currants. In winter, preventive treatment against pests and diseases is carried out.
Treatment for pests and diseases
In early spring, before the buds swell, treat 1% of the solution of carbophos, copper sulfate or bordered liquid. The soil also needs to be treated. In autumn, remove all fallen leaves from the currant area, pests will not be diluted in them. The same preparations will also be used for preventive treatment in autumn.
Watering currants
After the snowy winter, the plants do not need plenty of water. Otherwise, if there was little snow, water the plants regularly. Water plants with warm water every 5 days during growth, ovarying and ripening of berries. Water consumption is about 20-30 liters per 1 m2 of area, the soil should soak to a depth of 40 cm. In case of dry autumn, pour plenty of currant for winter.
Feeding currants
The new shrubs planted this year have enough fertilizer for growth and development, but when they are 2 or more years old they need to be fertilized regularly. Apply nitrogen fertilisers in spring. Two-year-old plants: 40-50 g of urea, 4 years and more will be enough 20 g.
In autumn, apply 4-6 kg of organic fertiliser for each bush - manure, compost, chicken droppings. Add 50 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium sulfate to the organic fertilizer.
Experts recommend to carry out in the summer (June-July) foliar fertilizers three times with the following solution: to dilute separately 3 g of boric acid, 35 g of copper sulfate, 5 g of manganese, all mixed with 10 liters of water. After sunset or cloudy day to spray with a composition of bushes.
When and how to cut currant
Cutting currants in spring - carried out to achieve good harvests, remove unnecessary and weak shoots, so the plant does not waste energy on them. Last year's growth on the branches 4-5 years brings the most ovaries. Branches older than 6 years are subject to pruning. Dried and diseased branches are cut off. In spring, before the buds blossom, the shoots of frozen and broken branches are shortened, and the main pruning is done in autumn, after the leaves fall off.
Trim in autumn - the first year's escape is cut at a height of 10-15 cm from the soil level. Two-year-old bushes free from zero shoots, leaving 3-5 strong branches. 3- and 4-year-old shrubs are freed from zero shoots, leaving 3-6 most developed ones. Try to cut out underdeveloped and weak shoots in the middle of the bushes. On last year's branches the tops are trimmed, 2 and 3 year old branches leave 3-4 buds on each branch, the rest is trimmed. Branches older than 6 years are removed completely. The scheme of trimming is given.
https://youtu.be/uKjrdlkT_ME
Currant reproduction
Blackcurrant is multiplied by woody or green cuttings.
Wooden cuttings
This is the most affordable and convenient way to do this - there is a planting material at any time of year. You can plant cuttings for rooting from spring to autumn. The length of the cut cuttings is about 20 cm and 8-10 mm thick (the middle of annual shoots, shoots growing from a root or 3 summer branches will approach), it is desirable to cut from healthy plants.
When cutting cuttings, the upper cut is made over the kidney at a distance of 1 cm with a sharp pruning shear, below the cut under the lower kidney.
Most often the cuttings are planted in spring, but it is better to plant the cuttings in autumn, when the buds enter a period of rest: for blackcurrant it is mid-September - early October.
Cuttings are planted at a distance of 10-15 cm between the plants and 40 between the rows, it gives the opportunity to take care of the currant in summer and is convenient to dig for planting in a permanent place. It is better to cover the soil with 3-5 cm of humus, so you will prevent the soil from drying out. Also a good option would be to use a film in which the holes for the cuttings have been previously made. Watering should be moderate, so do not allow the soil to dry out. In summer, do not forget to feed the beds with a cow and weed.
If the bushes have time to form by autumn, they can be transplanted permanently, if not leave for another season.
Green cuttings
Green cuttings only take root in the greenhouse. The length of the cuttings is 5-10 cm with three green leaves. Cuttings are placed in water to form roots and after 2 weeks transplanted into a light mixture of peat. Spray the cuttings with water for the first 3 weeks for better survival. After 1 month the film can be removed if the leaves remain green and firm, the film is removed completely.
Control of blackcurrant diseases and pests
Currant disease
List of common currant diseases:
-- Septoriosis is a white spot, angular or round spots on leaves, first brown, then light with a dark border;
-- Intracrnosis - small spots with small brownish patches, leaves dry and fall off starting from the lower branches;
-- You can see the ugly lilac flowers, and the leaves on the young shoots are dark, and the currant stops to bear fruit;
-- Grey rot - brown spots on currant leaves;
-- Mealy dew is a white, loose, white dew on berries and leaves that turns into a brown film;
-- A striped mosaic is a yellow pattern on the leaves around the main veins;
-- Column rust appears on the leaves: small yellow spots on the upper side, yellow spores on the lower side, yellow spores in the form of hairs.
Not always treatment can give results - viral diseases are not treated. The best prevention of correct care for currants throughout the season and the response to the slightest manifestations of disease. For prevention, spray the ground and blackcurrant bushes with solutions of burgundy liquid, carbophos or copper sulfate in early spring until the swelling of the kidneys.
Currant pests
Currant pests, species that can be found frequently:
-- A pale-legged sawmiller, his caterpillars eat leaves, leave only veins;
-- A two-year-old leaf lifter damages buds and berries;
-- Firebrays are berries that are damaged earlier than they should be;
-- Shoeless aphids damage leaves by feeding on juice. Leaves twist, dry, shoots stop growing, curved;
-- The kidney mite damages the kidneys by climbing into them for the winter and leaving them from the inside;
-- A spider mite - the leaves are marble, dry, and fall off;
-- Gallic leaves eat currants from the inside, which leads to their death. The floral gallows damage the buds, and then they fall off;
-- A fruit sawmill causes damage to blackcurrant berries and the berries take on a faceted shape.
Each pest species is controlled as it appears on the bushes. The means of treatment can be folk or chemical - that's up to you. But having carried out prevention in the early spring, when all the snow has not yet melted (kidneys are still at rest), pour boiling water on the watering can of currant bushes. In this way you will destroy the pests on the branches and in the ground under the bushes. After the snow has melted, the soil and shrubs will be treated with burgundy liquid or copper sulfate.
Care and pest control without chemistry - video
https://youtu.be/FdJu2uw1PEg
Hardy varieties are suitable for cultivation in the northern regions - Kent Goliath, Lia fertile, Naples.
It can also be divided into early, medium and late varieties by maturity.
The most popular varieties:
-- Belarusian sweet - early, self-berry variety with large berries, resistant to kidney mites and anthracnotism;
-- Premiere is an early variety with large berries of dessert taste. High yield. Resistant to tick;
-- Moscow - early grade, winter-hardy, self-berry with large berries and average yield;
-- Boscopic giant is a medium early variety with large sweet and acid berries;
-- The Primorsky champion is an early variety with powerful bushes, wrinkled leaves, and large round fruits on long tassels. They are winter-resistant and highly productive;
-- Sorceress is an average term of ripening of berries, a short bush with large shiny fruits. High yield, resistant to pests and diseases;
-- Treasure is a medium variety with a low bush and tasty, large berries. A high yielding variety. Mediumly resistant to powdery mildew and kidney mites;
-- Orlovska serenade is a medium-late variety with medium size berries and high yield. Resistant to diseases and pests;
-- Gross is a late variety with an above-average bush height. Large berries of 5 g weight each, high yield. Resistant to fungal diseases and moderately resistant to tick;
-- Kent is a late variety with low-growth, sprawling bushes and large leaves. The berries are large sour to taste, high yield.
This is a small part of the listed blackcurrant varieties from all varieties, you should make a choice based on the weather conditions of your region.
High berry yields for you!