Currant cultivation and care reproduction. Blackcurrant - planting and care at their summer cottage

Of all the varieties of currant, it is black currant that is considered the most useful and fragrant. But in order for the plant to flourish and please with a good harvest, it is important to follow the simple rules of care and know the little tricks when planting it. Below we will talk in detail about where, how and when it is better to plant blackcurrant seedlings, as well as about the features of pruning and fertilizing this berry bush.

What to consider when boarding?

Planting blackcurrant - the process is not as complicated as it might seem at first glance. The main thing is to choose the right time and place for landing, as well as prepare the ground. First, we will discuss the features of the soil, which is optimal for blackcurrants.

Priming

Loamy soils are ideal for currants. It does not grow well on acidic and marshy soils, so additional preparatory work will be required there. To reduce acidity, you must first add slaked lime or wood ash to the ground when digging in spring or autumn.

Lighting

In order for the bush to bear fruit well, and the berries to be ripe and sweet, the plant needs a lot of sun. Therefore, when choosing a place for planting, it is worth giving preference to well-lit areas of the garden.

Distance

Currant tends to grow into large and wide bushes, and this is good, because the larger the bush, the more berries on it. Large bushes tend to have a well-branched root system, which means they need sufficient distance between plants. It is recommended to plant them in rows, with a distance between them of at least 1.8 meters, and between bushes in a row - at least 70 centimeters. Then the plants will have enough space and nutrients.

pre-fertilizer

Fertilizer can be applied both in the fall, when preparing the site, and immediately before planting currants. In the second case, it is better to do this in one to one and a half weeks, so that the minerals have time to soak into the soil and not burn the roots of the plant. In the most urgent case, fertilizer can be applied a couple of days before planting and mixed well with the substrate. Putting fertilizer directly into the holes is risky, as you can seriously damage the roots.

Fertilizers can be either organic (humus, manure, chicken manure) or mineral - complex or containing one of the essential minerals, such as phosphorus, potassium or nitrogen.

Disembarkation time

The most favorable time for landing is late autumn, somewhere two to three weeks before the onset of cold weather. Usually, blackcurrants are planted in autumn in late October - early November.

When planting in the spring, it is important not to miss the right moment - the currant blooms one of the first, so it must be planted as early as possible.

Landing: a step-by-step guide

The first thing we do is to form a hole in the chosen place in the soil dug up and cleared of weeds. To do this, you need to dig a hole, up to half a meter deep and corresponding in width to the size of the root system. If it is decided to fertilize the hole itself, then we do this and wait another week. When planting in the spring, the pit should be prepared from the fall.

Now you can start landing. It is important that the roots of the plant remain moist until and during planting. It is best to put the roots in water 2-3 hours before planting so that they are saturated with water.

It doesn't matter if you plant a thin twig or a small bush, you need to do it at an angle. Place the plant in the hole at about a 60 degree angle so that the three bottom buds end up in the ground. Such a planting will help the bush to become wide and give more shoots.

Sprinkling the roots with earth, you need to slightly compact (but not tamp!) The top layer of soil and water the bush abundantly. The aerial part of the shoot must be cut off, leaving only the three lower buds. Such pruning will prevent premature aging of the bush.

Above, we discussed how blackcurrant seedlings are planted . But there is another way to propagate this plant - cuttings.

To do this, we need cuttings with three or four buds, 18-20 cm long. You need to cut them in spring or autumn.

Then they are planted in the soil prepared and cleared of weeds, with a distance between them of 12-15 centimeters. Only one kidney is left above the ground. Planting blackcurrant cuttings is a common method of plant propagation.

currant care

It is not enough to plant blackcurrant correctly, because without proper care, even the strongest plant can die. That is why not only the correct fit is important, but also care.

Watering

Currant loves moisture very much, so timely watering is the basis for the prosperity of the bush in your area. Watering is especially important during the ripening of the berries - then they will be large and juicy. Otherwise, even with abundant flowering, you can get shriveled, small and sour berries.
True, it is also important to observe the measure here - too abundant watering on loamy soils can lead to rotting of the roots.

Loosening and mulching

Loosening is no less important. By keeping the top layer of soil loose, you help ensure that the roots of the plant receive enough oxygen. It also works well for weed removal.

Mulching (covering) the topsoil will retain as much moisture as possible and prevent weeds from sprouting. As mulch, you can use hay, newspapers, chopped tops of weeds, tomatoes, fallen leaves, and more. Leaves from walnuts and coniferous sawdust should not be used, as they can degrade soil properties. When using newspapers as mulch, you need to remember that during flowering they need to be removed, because during this period insects useful for the plant come to the surface.

Fertilizer

It is necessary to feed blackcurrant not only in spring, but also at important stages of the plant's seasonal life: flowering and berry formation. You can use chicken manure dissolved in water, ash or complex fertilizer in granules as a top dressing. When using the latter, it is better to cover the granules with a layer of soil or mulch.

pruning

It is best to prune bushes in late autumn or early spring. This achieves three important goals - thinning the bush, rejuvenation and removal of diseased shoots.

Thinning will keep the bush not thickened, provide good access to sunlight to all shoots, and hence better ripening of berries. For this, about 20 percent of the shoots are removed from the middle of the bush. The need for thinning can be easily determined visually.

Bush rejuvenation is carried out by removing old branches. Thus, space is freed up for young shoots and the plant bears fruit longer and more efficiently.

By removing diseased shoots, you prevent infection of nearby healthy ones, and thus heal the bush. Most often, diseased shoots are also easy to identify by their appearance. You can spot them even during flowering and fruiting. If there were almost no flowers and berries on the shoot, then most likely it is sick and you can safely remove it.

Blackcurrant is a pearl among fruit bushes. This is one of those cultures that are completely unpretentious to external conditions, but at the same time they are priceless in their properties. In the wild, it grows in Europe, Siberia, the Urals, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. In agriculture, it is cultivated everywhere, because even with the most minimal care, the shrub is able to produce a good harvest.

Blackcurrant is a perennial shrub, the height of which varies from 0.5 to 2 meters. Young shoots have a pale green color, which gradually changes to brown. The leaves are serrated three- and five-lobed with an elongated central part, reminiscent of maple leaves.

In most varieties, the flowers are bisexual, which means that the shrubs are self-pollinated. Flowering and fruiting extends to the entire shoot from bottom to top. The root system is fibrous.

The fruit is a sweet and sour berry, the taste of which depends on the variety. Fruiting begins the next year after planting, berries can be harvested about half a kilogram. The peak of productivity comes in 4-5 years, then the weight of the collected fruits can be up to 7-8 kg.

The name of the culture came to us from Ancient Russia. "Currant" - a strong smell, aroma. Of all the fruit bushes, only blackcurrant noticeably spreads its incense.

Landing features

The currant is quite unpretentious - it is not difficult to plant it, to take care of it too. It is known that in many summer cottages it grows by itself and at the same time gives a very good harvest. But still, it is better to protect the bush from adverse conditions and give it everything that is needed. As always, planting activities begin with the selection of the most successful site.

Appropriate place

First of all, the area for currants should be well lit so that shading is present for no more than half of the daylight hours. If the relief of the site is uneven, then shrubs can be planted on the southern slopes, taking into account the prevailing winds. It is good if there is wind protection, especially for those varieties that tend to drop berries as they ripen.

The culture grows on different types of soil, although it prefers loamy soils. The main thing is that the site is fertile with acidity closer to neutral. There should be no waterlogging, but good moisture is necessary. Blackcurrant can be planted in the garden among young trees. The bush will grow with its neighbors and at the same time receive ideal diffused lighting.

In the wild, blackcurrant can be found in floodplains, in gorges among wild fruit bushes. It grows well in the mountains.

Landing Time

The best time for planting fruit shrubs is autumn, around the end of September, mid-October. The soil is still warm, and there is enough time before frost to take root and prepare for winter.

Spring plantings are also acceptable, but less preferred. It is more difficult to choose the time, since you need to have time to plant a bush after the end of frost, but before the start of the seasonal growing season. In this case, seedlings growing in containers will come to the rescue. Then the rooting process will be faster and without stress for the plant.

Currant vegetation begins at a temperature of 3-6°C. The best temperature for growth is 18-20°C.

Soil preparation

The place where blackcurrant will grow begins to be prepared three to four weeks before planting shrubs. To do this, remove all weeds along with the roots and, if necessary, level the site. Particular attention is paid to the growth of wheatgrass, the currant does not like it very much.

The soil is dug up by 30 cm, having previously scattered 5-8 kg / m 2 of organic fertilizer (ready humus or), 3-4 tbsp. phosphoric and 1.5-2 tbsp. potash fertilizer. Usually they take phosphate or superphosphate, potassium sulfate or ash (40 g / m 2). The main thing is the absence of chlorine.

If the land on the site is depleted, the amount of fertilizer is increased by one and a half times, for fertile, on the contrary, it is reduced by half. Acidic soils (Ph below 5.5) must be limed by adding 400-500 g/m 2 of lime during autumn work. Such soil preparation is necessary for both autumn and spring planting of blackcurrant seedlings.

The process of planting blackcurrant

The culture is planted in a pre-dug hole 40-50 cm deep and about the same diameter. The pit is filled 2/3 with fertile soil, half a bucket of water is poured out and a seedling is placed in it vertically or at an angle of 45 ° - this work is best done with an assistant. It is necessary to ensure that the depth of the seedling is 5-7 cm above its root neck.

At what angle to plant - the gardener decides. But sloping planting promotes intensive root growth and the formation of a large number of annual (null) shoots. The bush becomes more powerful.

When planting, the roots of the plant are carefully straightened and sprinkled with soil, carefully compacting it. Then a furrow is made around the bush, where the remaining water is poured. After that, the plot with sawdust or peat.

The planting technology is also preserved for spring work with the only exception: all branches of the seedling are cut off, leaving 2-3 well-developed buds on each shoot.

What should be seedlings

When choosing planting material, you need to rely on its appearance and general condition:

there are no signs of damage to the seedling by pests and diseases;
the seedling is "fresh", as indicated by the green wet texture under the bark;
the root system is developed, reaches a depth of 30-35 cm;
the bark of the shoots is smooth, without wrinkled areas.

During transportation, the roots must be wrapped with a damp cloth or cellophane. You need to plant immediately, but if this is not possible, then you can temporarily dig the seedling at an angle into the ground and water it. So he can hold out for several weeks.

blackcurrant care

Cropping Features

O cutting is carried out every spring until seasonal sap flow. If this was not done in time, the procedure can be postponed until autumn, when the leaves fall from the bush.

The very first pruning is carried out after planting, when all the shoots are cut. In the future, with a sharp, disinfected secateurs, diseased, damaged branches, as well as kidneys affected by a kidney mite, are removed. If there are too many such buds, cut the entire branch to the base.

In the second year, 4-5 annual shoots are left intact, which will become the basis of the shrub. In mid-July, they are pinched to a couple of buds, which will enhance the growth of the plant.

In the next two years, a larger cutting is carried out, leaving only 4-6 of the strongest branches. All young shoots are removed, and the tops of old ones are shortened. Pinch the tops and at the side shoots on the branches. This contributes to the proper formation of the bush.

In the fifth or sixth year of life, rejuvenating pruning is already necessary. To do this, cut off all the old branches and leave 4-5 of the strongest young ones. The tops of last year's branches are removed.

Watering and loosening

Blackcurrants need regular watering. Then it will grow well and give an excellent harvest. It is possible to bring drip irrigation for convenience. If this is not possible, moisten the ground about once a week, pouring 2-3 buckets of water under the bush to moisten the soil to a depth of 35-40 cm.

It is good if watering is carried out with settled rainwater. This should be done in the morning or in the evening, trying not to get water on the shoots. To do this, make a furrow around the bush. After the earth dries out a little, it will need to be loosened by 5-6 cm and mulched. Remove weeds if necessary. Humidification is required for the shrub throughout the growing season, including in autumn.

top dressing

If the soil was well prepared before planting, then the first two years it is not necessary to feed the currants. The next two years, in the spring, nitrogen fertilizer is applied under each shrub in the form of urea or ammonium nitrate with the calculation of 40-50 g per bush. In the future, this number will be halved.

Dry mineral fertilizers are scattered around the shrub at a distance of 15-20 cm from it, after which the earth is loosened and watered. Liquid fertilizers are applied to the grooves made around the shrub.

In autumn, ready-made, humus or bird droppings act as a good top dressing - 5-6 kg per bush. Also add 4-5 tablespoons. superphosphate and 1-2 tbsp. potassium sulfate. This is a standard set of fertilizers that provides the plant with everything it needs. Autumn dressing can be applied once every two years.

Foliar feeding not only saturates the plant, but also increases its resistance to diseases and pests. It is carried out 2 times - during the period of flowering and filling of berries. To do this, take any complex fertilizers, which are previously diluted in water according to the rate indicated on the package. Or use manure diluted with water in a ratio of 1:8.

Diseases and pests

When choosing a variety of blackcurrant seedlings, you need to focus on its resistance to diseases and pests. Among the diseases of culture there are the following:

The main fight against the problem is carried out with the help of fungicides, such as Fitosporin-M, Fundazol and others. As a preventive measure, the culture can be irrigated with a 1% solution 4 times per season. It is also necessary to carry out spring sanitary pruning of currants, and every autumn carefully remove all fallen leaves. One of the preventive measures is the spring watering of the shrub with hot water of 80 ° C before the start of active sap flow.

Known pests include:

Insecticides are used to control pests, such as Karbofos, Fitoverm, Iskra Bio and others.

Propagation of black currant

Currants are propagated only by the best and, most importantly, healthy varieties. They do this in three ways:

By dividing the bush

To do this, in the spring, a bush is highly spudded, and during the summer it is regularly watered. If necessary, the earth is sprinkled. In autumn, after dropping the leaves, the bush will be ready for propagation - it is divided into two or three parts with a sterilized tool so that each has well-developed roots and shoots. Separated bushes are immediately planted in a permanent place. They will begin to bear fruit in a year.

layering

They take the most healthy two-year-old branch growing close to the ground, and its middle part is dug to a depth of 10-12 cm in a pre-dug and fertilized area. Dropped in such a way that the tip of the shoot 30 cm long remains on the surface. The layer is attached to the ground with a bracket. During the summer, it is actively watered and, if necessary, hilled, weeds are removed. By autumn, it will develop a root system, and 2-3 young shoots will appear. Then it can be separated and planted in a new place.

cuttings

For propagation by cuttings, a strong young shoot 7-8 cm thick is cut with a sterile instrument into segments 20 cm long so that the lower cut is oblique and the upper cut is straight. Work is carried out in mid-autumn, when the shrub is ready for winter. The resulting chibouks are left in the water overnight, and the next day they are planted in the prepared soil according to the technology for an adult shrub.

If planting is delayed until spring, then cuttings can be planted in cups with a substrate. In the spring, they will already have a developed root system, ready for growth in open ground.

Varietal variety of blackcurrant

Varieties of culture are divided mainly by the timing of ripening and the quality of the berries. In Russia, there are about two hundred of them, but usually no more than 10-15 species are put up for sale on the regional market. This is due to the fact that not all shrubs are adapted to local conditions, so sellers offer exactly adapted young seedlings.

Most varieties of currants are self-pollinating, but they get along well with each other. Their joint planting significantly increases the yield and quality of the fruit.

Early ripe varieties

They bloom in May and give a ripe harvest in 1.5-2 months. The exact dates depend on the weather conditions of the region, and therefore it would be more correct to say that in early varieties of currants, the period between flowering and ripening is much shorter than in other species.

For areas with a cold climate, early-ripening varieties are ideal - the fruits have time to ripen and gain sweetness.

The most prominent representatives of this group are Exotica, Selechinskaya 2, Dachnitsa, Little Prince, Blueberry Seedling, Dikovinka, Raisin and others.

Mid-season varieties

They give a harvest around mid-late July. For many gardeners, this is the most suitable option for growing in the country.

Harvest time coincides with other crops, which allows for combined home harvesting with currants for the winter.

Mid-season varieties are called Delicacy, Black Pearl, Dobrynya, Perun, Openwork, Titania, Bolero and others.

Late-ripening varieties

The fruits of late varieties ripen in August, and they are the best for freezing and canning.

In addition, planting late varieties allows you to enjoy this tasty and healthy berry longer.

Late-ripening varieties include Bagheera, Lazy, Vigorous, Venus, Katyusha, Vologda, etc.

The best varieties

It is known that the largest currant grows in Siberia, where it was bred - this is the Vigorous variety. The size of its fruits at home is up to 8 g. However, when planted in a warmer area, the variety loses its qualities, giving smaller fruits and acquiring a sour taste.

Also large-fruited varieties are called:

Dobrynya with berries up to 7 g and yield from one bush up to 6 kg;
Selechenskaya 2 with fruits up to 5 g and yield up to 5 kg;
Lazy person, which has fruits of 4-5 g and a yield of up to 2.2 kg.

In terms of taste, the best indicators are for dessert varieties with a score above 4.5 points: Centaur, Perun, Delicacy, Selechenskaya, Venus, Slastena, Raisin.

Having chosen the most successful varieties for your site, you can not only make preparations for the winter, but also put up for sale their berries, which are always in demand. The main thing is not to forget that, despite its unpretentiousness, blackcurrant, like any other crop, needs attention and care.

Blackcurrant (lat. Ribes nigrum)- a species of the monotypic genus Currant of the Gooseberry family, which is a deciduous berry bush. In the wild, blackcurrant today grows throughout Europe, in the Urals, in Siberia to the Yenisei and Baikal, in Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China. It is also widespread in North America. In culture, it is grown worldwide in amateur gardening and on an industrial scale. It appeared in Kievan Rus in the 10th century - they began to grow it in monastery gardens, and only then did blackcurrant begin to conquer Europe.

Landing: early autumn or early spring.
Lighting: bright sunlight.
The soil: non-acidic, well-drained and fertilized.
Watering: on average, once every five days, with a consumption of 20-30 liters of water for each 1 m² of land: the soil should get wet to a depth of 30-35 cm.
Pruning: in spring - sanitary cleaning, during leaf fall - the main pruning.
Top dressing: if fertilizers were applied to the soil before planting currants, top dressing begins in the third year: nitrogen is applied in early spring, three foliar top dressings are carried out in June-July, the soil is dug up in autumn with compost, manure or chicken manure, as well as with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers.
Reproduction: layering, woody and green cuttings, rooting of two-year-old shoots.
Pests: shoot, gall and red-gall aphids, moths, pale-footed, fruit and yellow sawflies, biennial leafworms, spider and kidney mites, moths, glass cases, gall midges.
Diseases: white spotting (septoria), gray rot, goblet and columnar rust, anthracnose, terry, necrosis of shoots and branches, powdery mildew, striped mosaic, nectrium necrosis.

Read more about growing blackcurrant below.

Blackcurrant - description

The fibrous root system of black currant is located at a depth of 20-30 cm. The black currant bush reaches a height of 1 m. Young shoots of the currant are pale and pubescent, adults are brown. Blackcurrant leaves are 3 to 12 cm long and wide, with three to five broadly triangular lobes, the middle of which is often elongated, have jagged edges and golden glands along the veins, which give off a well-known aroma. The upper side of the leaf plate is dark green, dull, the lower side is pubescent along the veins. Drooping racemose inflorescences, consisting of 5-10 pinkish-gray or lavender bell-shaped flowers, often densely pubescent on the outside, bloom in May or June. Blackcurrant fruits are glossy blue-black fragrant berries up to 1 cm in diameter.

Blackcurrant is one of the most popular horticultural crops in the middle lane, which is grown by amateurs as often as raspberries, gooseberries and strawberries, and much more often than blackberries, strawberries and blueberries. This culture has earned such popularity not only due to its taste and bright aroma, but also due to the large amount of vitamins, acids, micro- and macroelements necessary for a person, which contain blackcurrant berries.

We will tell you about how blackcurrant is planted and cared for, how it reproduces, how to cut blackcurrant, how to feed it, we will give a description of blackcurrant varieties that are the most productive and easy to care for, we will describe what pests and diseases of blackcurrant can complicate its cultivation - you will find answers to all your questions in our article.

planting black currant

When to plant blackcurrant

Currant bears fruit for 12-15 years, and gives the richest crops in the sixth or seventh year of growth. Almost all varieties of blackcurrant are self-fertile - they do not need pollinators, but the largest and sweetest blackcurrant is obtained when several varieties of this crop are pollinated in one area.

You can plant blackcurrant during the entire growing season, but it is best to do this in late September or early October - before winter, blackcurrant seedlings will take root well, and in early spring they will start growing together. If you decide to plant currants in the spring, then try to do this before the start of sap flow and swelling of the kidneys.

Soil for currants should be fertile, slightly acidic or neutral - pH 5.0-5.5. Most culture likes loam. Blackcurrants are planted from the south or southwest side, in a well-lit area, protected from the wind. Groundwater should lie no higher than 1.5 m.

Planting blackcurrants in spring

It is necessary to prepare a site for blackcurrant since autumn: the soil is dug up to the depth of a shovel bayonet, adding 7-10 kg of humus, 1 liter of wood ash and 80-100 g of superphosphate for each m².

The planting density of blackcurrant bushes depends on the crop variety. For example, low-spreading or straight-growing varieties are planted at a distance of 100-130 cm from each other, keeping row spacing up to one and a half meters wide. A planting hole is dug about 50x50x50 cm in size, half a bucket of water is poured into it, a seedling is placed in it at an angle of 45 º 4-6 cm deeper than it grew in the mother liquor - this planting method stimulates intensive formation of roots and shoots.

The roots of the seedling are carefully straightened, covered with soil, compacted, after which half a bucket of water is poured under the seedling. In order to avoid rapid evaporation of moisture from the soil, the site is mulched with peat, humus, dry earth or sawdust.

Planting blackcurrants in autumn

Pits for the autumn planting of blackcurrant seedlings are prepared in two to three weeks. They pour the top layer of soil mixed with two tablespoons of double superphosphate, a large handful of ash and 5 kg of rotted compost, filling the pit by two-thirds. The soil in the pit should settle and compact before planting. The planting procedure is carried out according to the same rules as in the spring. After planting, all shoots are cut off from seedlings, leaving no more than 2-3 buds on each.

blackcurrant care

Blackcurrant care in spring

Blackcurrant wakes up very early in the spring, so you need to cut off broken or diseased branches before the buds swell, and also remove the buds damaged by the tick. If there are too many buds in which ticks have settled, cut the entire bush to the base. In the spring, in addition to sanitary, formative pruning of bushes is carried out. If you hilled the bushes for the winter, rake the soil from them.

The soil around the bush is dug up and mulched with a layer of humus or manure 5-10 cm thick, trying to lay it out at a distance of 20 cm from the branches of the bush. As soon as weeds begin to sprout, remove them immediately.

Since blackcurrant is moisture-loving, do not forget to water it, especially if the winter was without snow and the spring without rain. After watering, it is advisable to weed the site, as well as fertilize the blackcurrant with nitrogen fertilizers, followed by loosening the soil with granules to a depth of 6-8 cm. Loosening is carried out on average 2-3 times a week, but if you have mulched the area, you can do it through mulch and much less often.

Since blackcurrants enter the active growth stage very early, their opening buds can damage return frosts, so be prepared to protect the bushes from a cold snap with smoke or plastic wrap.

In May, when the currants begin to bloom, inspect the bushes and cut out the branches affected by doubleness (reversion) - those on which the flowers from the bell-shaped ones have changed into separate-petal ones. If the currant needs supports, install them.

Summer blackcurrant care

In June, blackcurrant bushes are watered, weeded and loosened the area around them, and the currants are fed under the root with organic fertilizers. The culture also responds well to foliar top dressing - spraying on the leaves with solutions of micronutrient fertilizers.

In the event of a butterfly moth, it is necessary to destroy its nests, and if some berries turn brown and deform prematurely, this is a sure sign of the vital activity of sawflies, so be prepared to process blackcurrants from it.

In July and August, red and black currants ripen. The fruits of black currant are harvested selectively, in separate berries, and not like red currants - in whole brushes. The best utensils for picking berries are trays, baskets or boxes in which the fruits do not wrinkle.

Currants after harvesting require abundant watering, and as soon as the soil dries out, it will be necessary to loosen the soil on the site.

Blackcurrant care in autumn

In late September or early October, organic and mineral fertilizers are applied under the currant bushes, after which the site is watered, and then dug up to incorporate fertilizers into the soil.

An important point in the care of blackcurrants in the fall is sanitary pruning of bushes. As a result of the removal of thickening branches, you may have planting material, which is the time to root in the fall. The layering dug in the spring for rooting is separated from the mother bushes and planted in a permanent place.

If the autumn is without rain, carry out water-charging watering. That's all the autumn work with blackcurrant.

Blackcurrant processing

In early spring, the treatment of blackcurrant bushes begins with scalding the bushes from a garden watering can with water heated to 80 ºC. You can replace a hot shower by pollinating the bushes and the land adjacent to them with wood ash.

To fight some insects, as well as to feed currants with nitrogen, the bushes are treated with a seven percent solution of urea, however, this must be done until the buds on the branches begin to bloom.

As soon as the first leaf begins to appear from the kidneys, currants are treated with a one percent solution of Bordeaux mixture or copper sulfate from diseases such as anthracnose, rust and septoria.

If last season you noticed moths on the butterfly site, treat the blackcurrant before flowering with Karbofos, Agravertin, Fitoverm, Spark-bio in accordance with the instructions, and in addition to this measure, cover the area with a film so that the butterflies cannot get out of the ground. As soon as the currant blooms, the film will need to be removed so that beneficial insects can get to the surface.

At the same time (before flowering), currants should be sprayed with Karbotsin, Iskra or Intoy-CM from gall midges, aphids, sawflies and leafworms, but since one treatment will not be enough, it will be necessary to spray the currants with these preparations twice more - immediately after flowering and after harvesting .

After flowering, in the event that you find anthracnose, septoria or powdery mildew on blackcurrant, it is necessary to treat the bushes with Strobi, Vectra or Cumulus preparations, and Topaz, Thiovit Jet or colloidal sulfur will cope with American powdery mildew (provided that the air temperature in the garden will be at least 18 ºC). After harvesting, you need to re-treat the currants from American powdery mildew.

After leaf fall and autumn pruning of bushes, it is necessary to collect and destroy plant residues, after which currants should be prevented from diseases with one percent solutions of Bordeaux mixture or copper sulphate.

Watering black currant

Growing blackcurrant requires keeping the soil in the currant in a loose state, which can be achieved by frequent and plentiful watering, provided that it is not excessive. The lack of moisture slows down the growth of branches and shoots, and during the formation and filling of currant berries, poor or irregular soil moisture can cause them to grind and shed.

Particularly important is the watering of blackcurrants in early June, at the stage of intensive growth of bushes and the formation of ovaries, it is also necessary in late June and early July, during the fruiting period. At this time, the soil must be moistened to the depth of the entire root layer - approximately 35-45 cm. Approximate water consumption is 20-30 liters per m² of land. Water should be poured into specially made furrows along the row spacing or into grooves 10-15 cm deep, dug around each bush at a distance of 30-40 cm from its base.

After watering, the soil is loosened as soon as it dries slightly. If the site is mulched, you will have to water, loosen, and weed the site much less frequently.

Black currant nutrition

In the year of planting, if you fertilized the pit in accordance with our recommendation, the blackcurrant will not need to be fed. From the second year of life in the spring, it will be enough to distribute 40-50 g of urea under each bush or treat the bushes with its seven percent solution before the start of sap flow. Bushes older than 4 years are fed with urea in smaller quantities, spending only 25-40 g of nitrogen fertilizer per bush, and applied in two doses.

In autumn, blackcurrants are fed with organic matter once every two years - compost, manure or bird droppings at the rate of 10-15 kg per bush. And from mineral fertilizers, 10-20 g of potassium sulfate and 50 g of superphosphate are applied to each plant. If you mulched the area with a thick layer of organic fertilizer in the spring, then in the fall you can not add organic matter to the soil, and if you put humus in the soil in the fall, you can skip fertilizing currants with nitrogen next spring.

Blackcurrant pruning

When to prune blackcurrant

We have already written that it is best to carry out sanitary and formative pruning of blackcurrants in the spring, at the end of March. But the problem is that the culture begins to vegetate very early, and pruning must be done before the buds swell. If you managed to meet the deadline in the spring, then in the fall, before the onset of the dormant period, carry out only sanitary pruning.

Blackcurrant pruning in spring

As we already wrote, on newly planted seedlings, all branches are shortened, leaving no more than 2-3 buds on each.

On the bushes of the second year of life, during spring pruning, from 3 to 5 of the most developed zero shoots are left - they will become the first skeletal branches of the currant bush. The rest of the shoots are removed. In the middle of summer, skeletal shoots are shortened by pinching two buds - this manipulation contributes to the intensive formation of fruit branches and the growth of new zero shoots. Thus, the bush is properly formed, and the crop grows.

In the third and fourth years of life, 3 to 6 of the most promising shoots are left from the growing zero shoots, and the rest are cut out. At last year's shoots, the tops are shortened. On each branching of the skeletal branches, 2-4 buds are left. By the end of the fourth year, the blackcurrant bush can be considered formed.

In the fifth and sixth year, old branches appear on the blackcurrant, and the bush needs rejuvenating pruning, in which five-six-year-old branches are cut off at the very surface. For the rest, when pruning, they adhere to the previous scheme:

branches of the second, third and fourth years are shortened along all branches, leaving no more than 4 buds at each end;
last year's shoots shorten the top;
from the zero shoots of the current year, from 3 to 5 of the strongest and most developed are left, the rest are cut out.

Blackcurrant pruning in autumn

If you managed to carry out a full-fledged pruning in the spring, in the fall you will only have to cut out dry, broken, diseased and improperly growing branches and shoots, that is, to carry out thinning and sanitary pruning. If you didn’t succeed in putting the bush in order in the spring, do it in the fall, after all the leaves have fallen from the currant.

Dry branches can be removed from the bush at any time of the year. Pinching the tops is best in mid-July.

Propagation of black currant

How to propagate blackcurrant

Blackcurrant propagates vegetatively - by layering, green and lignified cuttings, as well as dividing the bush. Seed propagation of blackcurrant is also possible, however, the offspring may not completely inherit the characteristics of the variety, and besides, vegetative methods give faster and more reliable results.

Propagation of blackcurrant cuttings

This is the most common way. Currant cuttings are harvested from annual basal shoots or shoots of the first order of branching. The thickness of the cuttings should be at least 7 mm, and the length - 15-20 cm. With a sterile pruner or knife, the cutting is cut 1-1.5 above the kidney. It is better to do this at the end of September or at the beginning of November, when the bush has already passed into a dormant period. In the same autumn, blackcurrant cuttings are planted in the ground, but if planting is postponed until spring, the ends of the cuttings are dipped in liquid paraffin or garden pitch, after which the planting material is tied up, wrapped in damp paper, then in polyethylene and buried in snow or put in a refrigerator until spring. Before planting, the lower end with paraffin is carefully cut obliquely.

In spring, cuttings are planted as early as possible, as soon as the earth warms up to 8-9 ºC. They are placed in the ground at an angle of 45 º, deepened so that only 1-2 buds remain above the surface. After planting, the cuttings are watered, and the site is mulched with humus, peat or sawdust. Arcs up to half a meter high are installed above the bed and polyethylene is thrown over them, which is removed as soon as the first leaves appear. The cuttings that have taken root and released the first leaves begin to be watered regularly, in no case allowing even a short-term drying of the soil.

In the summer, a bed with cuttings is weeded, fertilized with a solution of mullein with ash and superphosphate, and in the fall, provided that the seedlings grow to a height of 30-50 cm and they develop 1-2 shoots, they are transplanted to a permanent place.

You can also propagate blackcurrants by green cuttings, but this is a more complicated method, carried out only if there is a greenhouse or greenhouse with a fogging function.

Propagation of blackcurrant by layering

This is the simplest and most reliable of the vegetative propagation methods, since it allows you to get seedlings with a well-developed root system in one year. In early spring, select a healthy two-year-old branch growing obliquely on the periphery of the bush, bend it to the ground, and lay its middle part in a pre-dug groove 10-12 cm deep so that the top 20-30 cm long remains on the surface.

Fix the cuttings in the groove with wire, fill the furrow with earth and water regularly during the growing season. By autumn, the layering will develop a powerful root system, give 2-3 thick branches, and it can be cut off from the mother bush and transplanted to a permanent place.

Reproduction of blackcurrant by dividing the bush

You need to divide the currant bush in spring or autumn when transplanting. The bush is dug up, carefully releasing the roots from the ground, and divided into several parts with an ax or saw, after sterilizing the tool. Each division should have well-developed shoots and roots. Cut out the old, diseased branches and roots, and shorten the young branches to 20-30 cm, then process the cuts with charcoal and plant parts of the bush in the prepared pits in the way that we described to you earlier.

After planting, seedlings require abundant watering. The cuttings will be harvested only after a year, since the root system injured by division needs time to recover from the shock.

Blackcurrant diseases

Of the diseases, currants can be affected by fungal diseases anthracnose, white spot, goblet or columnar rust, European powdery mildew, gray rot, drying of shoots and non-nectrium drying of shoots.

But viral diseases for which there is no treatment are much more dangerous for blackcurrants. These include black mosaic and terry, or reversion.

blackcurrant pests

Harmful insects that can affect blackcurrants include blackcurrant glassworm, blackcurrant fruit, pale-footed and yellow gooseberry sawflies, biennial leafworm, gooseberry moth, gooseberry shoot and leaf gall aphid, gooseberry moth, spider and currant bud mites and currant gall midges.

As you have probably already noticed, blackcurrant and gooseberry have the same pests from insects, and they have common diseases. That is why we devoted a separate article to the description of these enemies, as well as ways to get rid of them, called "Gooseberry Diseases and Pests."

Varieties of blackcurrant

Today, more than two hundred varieties of black currant have been bred in culture, and it is very difficult to find among them two or three exactly those that you need. We will try to divide the varieties into groups, in accordance with the requests of our readers, so that it is easier for you to make your choice.

Large varieties of blackcurrant

Large-fruited blackcurrant varieties are those whose berries exceed 1.5 g in weight. The most famous varieties of large-fruited currants are:

Vigorous- blackcurrant of this variety has fruits, the weight of which reaches 8 g. The skin of the fruit is dense, the flesh is fleshy, sweet, juicy. The ripening period is medium-late - in the third decade of July. The disadvantage of the variety is that it does not reproduce well, is resistant to powdery mildew, and needs to be rejuvenated often;
Dobrynya- large black currant, the weight of berries of which reaches 7 g. The average ripening period is the second half of July. Dobrynya is distinguished by winter hardiness, early maturity and resistance to powdery mildew;
Selechenskaya-2- productive, winter-hardy and resistant to powdery mildew variety of early ripening with berries weighing up to 6 g, sweet-sour taste.

Sweet varieties of blackcurrant

The sweetest varieties of blackcurrant are:

Nina- consistently productive, winter-hardy, self-fertile and sweet blackcurrant of early ripening, resistant to powdery mildew, with large berries with a diameter of up to 13 mm. Unfortunately, the variety is resistant to terry and bud mites;
Bagheera- resistant to environmental changes, early-growing and winter-hardy variety with large sweet berries almost completely without acid, characterized by good gelling. The disadvantage of the variety is the instability to pests and diseases - anthracnose, powdery mildew and bud mites;
green haze- an early-growing, winter-hardy and high-yielding variety of medium ripening with fragrant sweet berries. The variety is affected by kidney mites.

Sweet varieties are also Izyumnaya, Otlichnitsa, Perun and Dobrynya.

Early varieties of blackcurrant

Early-ripening blackcurrant varieties ripen in early July, and since these bushes are harvested before the heat sets in, they are not afraid of most of the diseases and pests that affect later varieties. Early currant is represented by the following varieties:

dove seedling- an extra early variety with small berries weighing from 1 g to 1.5 g, which crack when overripe;
The little Prince- a self-fertile and early-fruitful variety, yielding from a bush up to 6 kg of juicy, almost black berries of a sweet and sour taste;
curiosity- winter-hardy, self-fertile, productive variety that does not tolerate drought well, but is resistant to powdery mildew. The berries are oval, medium in size, with a dense skin, sweet and sour.

Medium varieties of black currant

Mid-season blackcurrant gives a harvest from mid-July. Of the most famous varieties of medium ripening, we can name the following:

Titania- powdery mildew resistant variety with berries of different sizes, sweet and sour taste, with strong skin and greenish flesh. The berries do not ripen at the same time, so the harvest can be stretched;
Black Pearl- consistently productive, self-fertile and very frost-resistant variety of universal purpose with one-dimensional berries weighing up to 1.5 g. The variety is resistant to powdery mildew;
Bolero- self-fertile, fast-growing, productive and frost-resistant variety, resistant to anthracnose and powdery mildew, with large, fragrant oval or round berries weighing up to 2.5 g, sweet and sour taste.

Late varieties of black currant

Late varieties of blackcurrant include those that ripen in August. It is the berries of late-ripening varieties that are best stored frozen and processed. The most famous varieties:

Vologda- productive, large-fruited, disease-resistant variety with high self-fertility and winter hardiness, but damaged during spring frosts. Berries are sweet and sour, large, with a dry separation, weighing up to 2.2 g;
Daughter- productive self-fertile and drought-resistant variety of universal purpose, resistant to bud mites. Berries with a dry separation, large, sweet and sour taste, weighing up to 2.5 g;
Lazy person- self-fertile, winter-hardy, resistant to terry and anthracnose variety with rounded berries of large size and sweet taste. The disadvantages of the variety can be considered prolonged ripening of fruits and unstable yields.

The varieties Venus, Natasha, Rusalka, Katyusha, Kipiana and others are also popular.

The highest scores for taste - above 4.5 points - are received by blackcurrant varieties that are considered dessert. The best black currants are varieties Selechenskaya, Selechenskaya-2, Venus, Nadiya, Centaur, Perun, Pygmy, Orlovsky Waltz, Slastena, Tisel, Nestor Kozin, Black Boomer, Zhemchuzhina, Legend, Raisin, Lazy, Ben Lomond.

Varieties of blackcurrant for the Moscow region

When asked by readers whether it is possible to grow blackcurrants in areas with cold winters, we can answer with a clear conscience: yes! Among the blackcurrant varieties, there are many winter-hardy ones that perfectly tolerate winter temperatures. Blackcurrant for the Moscow region is represented by the following varieties:

paulinka- mid-season productive winter-hardy variety with thin-skinned small and sour berries. Disadvantage: affected by fungal diseases;
Izmailovskaya- also a mid-season variety, but the berries of the Izmailovsky blackcurrant with a thick aroma, large, sweet and sour taste;
Belarusian sweet- A variety resistant to cold and disease with medium-sized, but very sweet berries. Despite the fact that ripening is extended in time, the berries do not crumble from the bushes.

In addition to those described, varieties Karelskaya, Moskovskaya, Pygmey, Exotica, Selechenskaya-2, Detskoselskaya and others grow well in the Moscow region.

You can grow black currants in cooler areas. For example, currant varieties Nina, Kent, Rhapsody, Memory Michurin, Dashkovskaya, Sibylla grow well in the Urals, and Minusinka, Hercules, Luchia, Riddle and Buraya grow well in Siberia.

Properties of blackcurrant

Useful properties of black currant

Blackcurrant fruits are considered a source of health - so many useful substances for the human body are included in their composition. Blackcurrant berries contain vitamins C, B1, B2, B6, B9, D, A, E, K and P, pectins, essential oil, sugars, carotenoids, phosphoric and organic acids, potassium, iron and phosphorus salts. And the leaves, in addition to phytoncides, vitamin C and essential oil, contain sulfur, lead, silver, copper, manganese and magnesium.

The amount of vitamins and other nutrients in blackcurrant is much higher than in any other berries, so it is a healthy food product that helps strengthen the body, increase immunity and enhance the therapeutic effect in the fight against diseases. Blackcurrant is indicated for Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, malignant tumors, problems with the cardiovascular system and vision. The use of currant berries is beneficial in progressive atherosclerosis, diseases of the kidneys, respiratory tract and liver.

Blackcurrant berries, due to the anthocyanidins they contain, have anti-inflammatory and disinfectant properties that help the body cope with sore throats - currant juice diluted with water, gargle an inflamed throat.

A decoction of blackcurrant berries is useful for anemia, hypertension, bleeding gums, stomach ulcers, duodenal ulcers and gastritis. A strong cough is treated with a mixture of currant berry juice and honey.

By rubbing the pulp of berries into the skin, you can make freckles and age spots not so noticeable, and by rubbing it into the cuticles and nail plates, you will make your nails stronger and more beautiful.

Blackcurrant leaves also have healing properties, which many people add to tea, marinades and pickles with pleasure. The leaves contain more vitamin C than berries, so decoctions, infusions and tea have tonic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, diuretic, cleansing and antirheumatic properties. Leaf preparations are used for gastritis, cardiovascular diseases, gout, and externally for dermatitis and exudative diathesis.

Both decoctions and infusions can be prepared from both fresh raw materials and dried blackcurrant leaves. From young foliage in spring, you can prepare a vitamin drink that strengthens the body: dilute any sour juice with boiled water, pour currant leaves with this mixture for a day, then strain, add, if you want, a little honey and drink half a glass a day.

From the leaves you can make a wonderful and healthy blackcurrant vinegar, a few drops of which will add flavor and aroma to any dish: pour fresh blackcurrant leaves with cold sugar syrup (100 g of sugar per 1 liter of water), close the container with gauze and leave to ferment for 2 months, then strain and bottle into dark glass bottles.

Blackcurrant - contraindications

Due to the high content of phenolic compounds and vitamin K in blackcurrant, it is contraindicated in thrombophlebitis - prolonged use of berries can lead to increased blood clotting. Fresh blackcurrant berries and juice from them are not useful for increased acidity of the stomach, ulcers and hyperacid gastritis. Fresh berries and juice from it are not recommended after a stroke, heart attack and with developing thrombosis.

Pure, undiluted blackcurrant juice can cause allergies in children, but when diluted in small amounts, it increases the level of hemoglobin in the blood. It is undesirable to use blackcurrant juice during pregnancy.

For healthy people, to get the required amount of vitamin C, it is enough to eat only 20 blackcurrants daily.

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Common blackcurrant diseases:

Anthracnose. When the disease occurs on the leaves, small brown spots appear, which grow, then the leaves dry out. The disease can also appear on the stalks, young shoots, petioles.
White spotting. The leaves have small brown spots. Then they turn white, but with a brown border. Black dots appear on the spots. When anthracnose or white leaf spot appears on blackcurrants in April, the bushes are treated with Bordeaux liquid (1% solution) or 3% nitrafen solution. The treatment is repeated after 10 days. Then, in the middle of summer, the bushes are sprayed with Bordeaux liquid (1% solution). They also collect all diseased fallen leaves and burn them, dig up the ground near the trunk circle to a depth of 10 cm, do this in spring or autumn.
Goblet rust. When sick, rusty growths are visible on the leaves. The disease can be transmitted from sedge. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate all sedge. The leaves are collected and burned. Before the buds open, currants are treated with 1% Bordeaux liquid.
Columnar rust. These are small rust spots on the leaves. In the spring, even before the leaves bloom, the bushes are sprayed with 1% Bordeaux liquid. Then the same composition is sprayed after picking the berries. Leaves are recommended to be sprayed with phytosporin.
Striped mosaic. When the disease near the veins of the leaves, a grayish-yellow pattern is visible. The disease is not treated, the infected bush is destroyed.
Powdery mildew. The berries and shoots have a white coating. Then the color changes to brown, the berries crack. To treat the disease, all diseased branches are cut out, currants are sprayed with a solution of 100 g of copper sulfate in a bucket of water. Spraying is repeated after 10 days. Spraying should be stopped 2 weeks before harvest.
Terry. With terry, the shape of the leaves changes, instead of 5 they may have 3 blades. The leaf darkens and becomes denser, the bush blooms later, the inflorescences have a lilac color. To eliminate terry, a diseased bush is destroyed.

Not only people like to eat currants, but also various pests. Therefore, it is necessary to know the "enemy in the face" and be able to fight it:

Currant aphid. To eliminate aphids, spray the branches with a soap solution or wash them. You can replace soap with ash, use 300g per bucket of water. Make a solution of 3 tbsp. tablespoons of carbamide in a bucket of water, add potassium permanganate to make the solution bright pink and treat the bushes. If there are a lot of aphids, then spray with Aktellik, Karbofos, Vofatoks.
Fire bug, glass box and leaf gall midge. When affected by a moth, the berries are entangled in cobwebs, they become reddish and dry out. If the earth is mulched with a layer of 8 cm, then the moth larvae will not be able to get out and die. To eliminate moth caterpillars, spray currants with Actellik, Metaphos. The glass larvae gnaw out the core of the stems, and for the winter they make their way to the roots. Leaf gall midge is detected if shriveled leaves with small bulges are visible at the top of the branches. In early spring and autumn, to eliminate leaf gall midges and glass cases, cut out old and diseased branches at the very surface of the soil and burn them. Before the buds start to open, spray the currants with "Aktara" or "Spark", add liquid soap there.
Spider mite. In early May, red-brown or whitish leaves are visible, which have a cobweb below. To eliminate the pest, burn the leaves affected by the mite, and sprinkle the bushes with insecticides.
Bud currant mite. These are tiny insects, they crawl inside the kidneys and eat them. To control the pest, cut and burn branches that show swollen buds in early spring. After flowering, treat currants with a 1% aqueous suspension of colloidal sulfur.
Shchitovka. They can be detected by the formations on the leaves - shields, which cover the pests. For elimination in early spring and late autumn, wash the branches with a stiff brush dipped in a soap solution. Sprinkle currants with Actellik, Fitoverm.
Blackcurrant berry sawfly. Its larvae make their way inside the fruit. Damaged berries are larger and have a ribbed shape. Collect and burn the affected berries, mulch the ground, and dig up the soil in the fall.

More information can be found in the video:

Currant (lat. Ribes)- a genus of plants of the Gooseberry family, which includes up to two hundred plant species, of which about fifty are common in the Northern Hemisphere. In the 11th century, currants appeared in the monastery gardens of Russia, and only after that they migrated to European countries. Currant is a very popular horticultural crop in our country. In addition to black and red currants, white and golden currants are also cultivated today, but blackcurrant prevails over other species both as the most delicious berry and as the most useful.

In addition to the fact that it can be usefully consumed fresh, jam, jellies, compotes are cooked from it, wines, syrups, liqueurs and liqueurs are prepared. Currant is also in demand in medicine, as a raw material for the pharmacological industry.

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Planting and caring for currants

Landing: it is possible in early spring, but it is better in early autumn.
Lighting: bright light.
The soil: non-acidic, well-drained and fertilized soil.
Watering: regular, about once every five days, spending 20-30 liters of water for each 1 m² of plot: the soil should get wet to a depth of 30-40 cm. White and red currants are less moisture-loving.
Pruning: in the spring they do a sanitary cleaning, and in the fall, during the period of leaf fall, they carry out the main pruning of black currants. White and red currants need spring pruning.
Top dressing: if the soil was fertilized before planting currants, fertilizing begins only from the third year: in early spring, nitrogen is applied to the site, in June-July, three foliar top dressings of bushes are carried out, in autumn, the soil in the root area is dug up with manure, compost or chicken manure and with phosphorus- potassium fertilizer.
Reproduction: arcuate layers, green and lignified cuttings and rooting of two-year-old branches.
Pests: pale-footed, fruit and yellow sawflies, biennial leafworms, moths, shoot, gall and red-gall aphids, moths, spider and bud mites, glass cases, gall midges.
Diseases: anthracnose, septoria, white spotting, terry, gray rot, goblet and columnar rust, necrosis of shoots and branches, powdery mildew, striped mosaic, nectrium necrosis.

Currant bushes - description

Currant is a perennial shrub plant, compact or spreading, one to two meters high with fluffy pale green shoots that turn brown with age. Every year, new shoots grow from dormant buds. The currant rhizome is a powerful system that goes 60 cm deep. Three- or five-lobed currant leaves have a diameter of three to twelve centimeters, a serrated edge, they are dark green on the upper side of the plate, and pubescent along the veins on the lower side. Bell-shaped light purple or pinkish flowers are collected in drooping racemose inflorescences.

The fruit is a fragrant berry. The color and size of the berry depends on the type and variety of currants. Currant blossoms in May-June, and bears fruit in July-August. Fruiting begins in the second year after planting. Along with such popular crops as strawberries and strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, currants are grown not only in private gardens, but also on an industrial scale. The currant is a relative of the commonly grown berry, the gooseberry.

Planting currants

When to plant currants

Currant among garden and berry crops is a long-liver, it begins to bear fruit the next year after planting, and if currant care is carried out at the proper level, then one bush can bear fruit for more than fifteen years. And therefore, our task is to clarify for you such important issues for the longevity of culture as planting and caring for currants. The best time for planting currants is the beginning of autumn, although in special cases it is possible to plant currants in the spring.

Two-year-old currant seedlings with three skeletal roots are chosen for planting. A store seedling must be carefully examined so as not to buy a sick or weak specimen.

Currant prefers to grow in a sunny, wind-protected place in well-drained, non-acidic soil. If you need to reduce the acidity of the soil on the site, then before planting currants, 300-800 g of lime per m² are added to the soil for digging. In addition to lime, 2-4 kg of organic fertilizer must be applied, as well as 100-150 g of granular superphosphate and 20-30 g of potassium sulfate for each m² of land. Digging depth - 20-22 cm.

Planting currants in autumn

Pits for planting currants should be approximately 55x55 and about 45 cm deep. The distance between them is one and a half to two meters. A bucket of humus, 100 g of superphosphate and 45 g of potassium chloride are added to each pit. To avoid burning the root system of the seedling, fertilizers are sprinkled on top with a layer of soil 7-9 cm thick. Dig holes and fertilize them a couple of weeks before planting the seedlings so that the soil has time to settle.

The seedlings are immersed in the pits at an angle of 45º so that the root neck is at a depth of 5 cm. The roots are carefully straightened: this is necessary in order for additional roots and shoots to form from the buds buried in the soil - this is how powerful currant bushes are formed with a large number of strong branches. Lightly sprinkle the roots with earth, compact it, water the seedlings at the rate of half a bucket of water for each bush and fill the hole with soil to the top. Then make a furrow around the bush and pour water into it.

Mulch the soil under the bush with humus so that a crust does not form after watering. Cut the shoots of the seedling at a height of 10-15 cm from the ground so that there are only 4-5 buds on the short remains of the shoots, and you can stick the segments into moist soil, where they will almost certainly take root.

Planting currants in spring

If you need to plant currants in the spring by all means, do it before the sap flow begins, until the buds on the seedlings begin to open. All the inconvenience of spring planting currants is that at the beginning of the growing season the time period is too short when currants can be planted - it starts growing too early, and the earth may not yet warm up to the temperature necessary for rooting the seedling. Well, if you guessed to dig a hole in the fall, and the soil in it had time to settle - this will make your task easier.

currant care

Spring currant care

How to care for currants during the growing season? For convenience, we have divided the period into three segments according to the seasons. Growing currants and caring for them in the spring is not difficult and is as follows:

remove the buds affected by the mite, and if most of the buds are affected, then cut off the shoots on the bush almost to the base;
dig a bush shallowly and mulch the soil around it with manure or humus;
carry out sufficient watering of currants during the period of growth and flowering;
remove weeds from the site and loosen the soil under the bushes to a depth of 6-8 cm at least 2-3 times a week. Mulch helps to avoid frequent loosening;
carry out sanitary pruning of currants after winter;
in early spring, carry out preventive treatment of currants from pests and diseases;
in May, when currants begin to bloom, inspect the flowers and, if terry inflorescences are found, cut them out, and if this phenomenon is massive on some bush, uproot the bush so that the terry does not spread to other plants;
fertilize currants with nitrogen fertilizers.

Summer currant care

Of particular importance in the hot season is watering, which currants really need. Read about how and when to water it in a special section. It is also necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the soil between the bushes and remove weeds in time. In the summer, you need to feed currants with organic fertilizers, combining them with watering.

Closely monitor the health of plants and immediately respond to the slightest changes in their appearance, but do not treat currants with chemicals from diseases or pests later than three weeks before the berries ripen, try to get by with folk remedies. When the berries begin to ripen, collect them selectively, as they ripen: blackcurrant - by berry, red and white - with tassels.

Caring for currants in autumn

Currants after harvesting need watering, followed by loosening the soil. At the end of September, currants are fed with organic and mineral fertilizers and sanitary and formative pruning of bushes is carried out. At the same time, they are engaged in planting currants and its reproduction. If autumn turns out to be dry, carry out abundant winter watering of currants and preventive treatment from pests and pathogens that have settled for wintering in the bark of shoots or in the soil under the bushes.

currant processing

As you know, healthy plants rarely infect diseases or pests, but preventive treatment of plants is necessary. How to spray currants so that they survive the season painlessly and give a plentiful high-quality harvest, especially since in early spring, along with the awakening of the kidneys, pathogenic bacteria, fungi, as well as the larvae of harmful insects that hibernated in the cracks of the currant bark or in the upper soil layer.

Before the buds swell on the bushes, treat the currants with a one percent solution of karbofos, Bordeaux liquid or copper sulphate. You can spray currants with nitrafen, not forgetting to process the soil on the site. When the growing season comes to an end, rake up all the fallen leaves and remove them from the site so that pests do not settle in them for the winter, and carry out autumn prophylaxis by spraying the currant bushes and the soil around them with the already listed preparations.

Watering currants

If the winter was snowy, then the currant bushes will not need frequent watering in the spring, since the soil will be saturated with melt water. If there was no snow, and there is little moisture in the ground, then the currants will have to be watered regularly. During the formation of ovaries and the pouring of berries, especially if it is dry heat, currants require moistening the soil with warm water about once every five days. In order for the soil to get wet to a depth of 30-40 cm, the approximate consumption should be 20-30 liters per m² of land.

It is necessary to pour water under a bush so that drops of moisture do not fall on the fruits and leaves of the currant. It is best to make circular grooves 10-15 cm deep at a distance of 30-40 cm from the crown projection or arrange irrigation areas around the bushes, limiting their circumference with an earthen roller 15 cm high. will provide its roots with moisture until the end of winter.

Red and white currants are not so demanding on soil moisture.

Top dressing currants

Newly planted bushes received enough fertilizer to last for two years, but then there comes a time when they will need to be fed regularly. In early spring, currants need nitrogen fertilizers. Young two-year-old bushes will need 40-50 g of urea, and four-year-old and more mature ones will need two top dressings of 15-20 g each. In autumn, from four to six kilograms of organic fertilizer - chicken manure, manure or compost, according to 50 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium sulfate. This is the required minimum.

What else to feed currants, to strengthen her immunity to diseases and pests and lay the foundation for a good harvest? Experts recommend in June-July to carry out three foliar dressings of currants: 3 g of boric acid, 5 g of potassium permanganate and 35 g of copper sulfate are diluted separately and mixed with 10 liters of water. Bushes are sprayed with this composition after sunset or on a cloudy windless day.

currant pruning

Pruning currants in spring

Currant pruning is needed so that the plant can bear fruit with full dedication, without wasting strength and nutrition on unnecessary and weak shoots. Most of the berries are tied on last year's growth of four to five-year-old branches. Therefore, a currant branch that is more than six years old is a burden for the plant to be removed. It is also necessary to rid the bush of branches that have dried and are affected by pests or diseases. If you remove unnecessary shoots in time, your currant, if it is black, can bear fruit for up to twenty years, and if it is red, then fifteen years.

When and how to cut currants? The main pruning is carried out in the fall, after the leaves fall, and in the spring, before the buds open, the shoots that have frozen over the winter are shortened to healthy tissue, broken and dead branches are cut out. In summer, you can pinch the ends of young shoots to stimulate their tillering and give the bush the correct shape.

Pruning currants in autumn

For currants of the first year of growth, if you remember, during planting, all shoots are cut at a height of 10-15 cm from ground level. Bushes of the second year of life are freed from zero shoots, leaving only 3-5 of the strongest of them, which will become skeletal branches in the future. On the currant bushes of the third and fourth years, zero shoots are cut out, leaving 3-6 of the most developed. Do not let the bushes thicken, cut out underdeveloped and weak shoots from the middle of the bush. On last year's shoots, the tops are cut.

The branches of the second and third years are pruned, leaving two to four buds on each branch. By this age, with proper and timely pruning, the bush is finally formed. At the next stage, branches older than six years appear, which should be cut at the root. All other branches are cut according to the described scheme.

Pruning red and white currants

Red and white currants are pruned in spring. The pruning principle and scheme are the same as for blackcurrant, but the tops of the growths are not pinched, and the shoots of the second and third years are not shortened. Just remove branches older than seven years (for these types of currants, these are considered old), cut out excess new shoots, broken or diseased branches. If the old branch is still bearing fruit, cut it back to the nearest strong fork. This will prolong its life and fruiting.

Reproduction of currant

How to propagate currants

Most often, currants are propagated vegetatively - arcuate layering, lignified or green cuttings, rooting two-year-old branches from a bush. Red currant reproduces well by layering, worse - by cuttings. Seed propagation of currants is possible only for specialists, and for an amateur gardener this is a long and unreliable way, so we will not describe how to propagate currants with seeds.

Reproduction of currant cuttings

Currant cuttings are carried out by two types of cuttings - green and lignified. Propagation by woody cuttings- the most affordable way, since you can get planting material at any time of the year. It is possible to plant currant cuttings for rooting both in autumn and in spring. It is better to harvest cuttings at the beginning of winter, before severe frosts, which can destroy currant buds.

It is better to cut cuttings 18-20 cm long and 8-10 mm thick from the middle of annual shoots growing from the root or from three-year-old branches. To keep them until planting, you need to seal the lower and upper sections with molten garden pitch or paraffin - so they do not lose moisture during storage. The cuttings are wrapped in slightly damp paper, then in polyethylene and buried in snow or put in the refrigerator. In early spring, the cuttings are planted on training beds at an angle of 45º at a distance of 15 cm from each other with a row spacing of 20 cm wide. The lower end of the cutting, covered with paraffin, is cut obliquely; when planting, the cutting is deepened so that only two buds remain above the surface.

The beds are watered abundantly, mulched with sawdust, humus or fine peat. Arched supports up to half a meter high are installed above the bed and polyethylene is thrown on them, which is removed only when the first leaves appear on the cuttings. Watering is necessary moderate, but even a short-term drying of the soil should not be allowed. In summer, the bed needs to be weeded, watered and fed with mullein. By autumn, cuttings form seedlings from 30 to 50 cm high with one or two shoots. The most developed of them can be transplanted to a permanent place in the same autumn, while the weaker ones grow for another year.

Propagation of currants by green cuttings

Green cuttings can only be rooted in a greenhouse. True, there is another way worthy of attention. Cuttings are taken from well-developed shoots, but the top is not used for rooting. The length of the cutting with two green leaves should be 5-10 cm. The cuttings are placed in water, after two weeks they form roots 10-12 mm long, and the cuttings are transplanted into bags with earth, in which holes have been previously made to drain excess water. Water the cuttings every 2-3 days so that the earth in the bag is the consistency of sour cream. After 7-10 days, watering is reduced so that the soil acquires its usual density.

They keep the cuttings at home until May, by which time they should grow to 50-60 cm in height. Before planting, the bags are cut, and the cuttings are dug obliquely into the soil 15 cm deeper than they grew in the bag.

Propagation of currants by layering

The simplest and most reliable is the propagation of currants by layering. This method allows you to get strong seedlings with a powerful root system in just one year. As a layer, a healthy two-year-old currant branch is used, growing obliquely on the periphery of the bush so that it can be easily bent to the ground.

Dig a furrow 10-12 cm deep under it, bend down the branch and lay it along the furrow so that the top of the branch 20-30 cm long protrudes from the furrow. Fix the middle part of the layer in the furrow with a metal staple or wire hook. Fill the furrow with soil and water regularly throughout the summer. By autumn, it will turn out to be a full-fledged seedling with a well-developed root system and several branches, which can be dug up and transplanted to a permanent place.

Currant diseases

Currant varieties

Currant varieties differ not only in the color of the berries, but also in the time of their ripening. On this basis, they are divided into early, medium-early, medium, medium-late and late.

Early varieties include:

Pearl- black variety with very large (up to 6 g) sweet berries;
Venus- blackcurrant with berries weighing up to 5.5 g, sweet and sour, tall bush;
Black BMW- black sweet berries weighing up to 7 g, the bush is vigorous, compact;
Jonker Van Tets- very large red berries of sweet and sour taste;
Ural white- white currant, large, sweet, sprawling bush.

Medium-early varieties:

Bashkir giant- black, very large berries of sweet and sour taste, high resistance to diseases and pests;
Belarusian sweet- very large sweet berries of black currant;
Umka- white currant with large sweet berries, bush vigorous, upright.

Medium varieties:

Sanyuta- black berries weighing up to 5.5 g, sweet and sour, bush vigorous, compact;
Osipovskaya sweet- a variety of red currants with large sweet berries, a slightly sprawling bush, vigorous;
Imperial yellow- yellow currant, which is actually a high-yielding variety of white currant with small sweet and sour berries on medium-sized, medium-spreading bushes;
Versailles white- a variety of white currant with large and medium fruits of sweet and sour taste.

Mid-late varieties:

Anniversary Digging- blackcurrant with sweet and sour berries, bush vigorous, compact;
Roland- red currant of sweet and sour taste, winter-hardy variety, resistant to fungi.

Late varieties:

Lazy person- blackcurrant with very large sweet berries, bush vigorous, compact;
Valentinovka- very large sour berries for red currants, ideal for making jelly.

Currently, such an exotic look as golden currant is gaining more and more popularity among gardeners. It arouses interest for its decorative qualities - its flowers of different shades of yellow have a strong pleasant aroma, and the leaves acquire bright, variegated colors in autumn. The color of the berries is also varied: brown, orange, pink, red, blue-black, yellow - it depends on the variety. However, the taste of golden currant berries is much inferior to the taste of black, red and white.

Currant hybrids

Today, only two currant hybrids are widely known. Yoshta- a hybrid of protruding gooseberry, common gooseberry and black currant, bred in 1970. Breeders worked on it for about forty years. Yoshta grows on powerful spreading bushes about one and a half meters high and of the same diameter. The bush is thornless, berries weighing up to 5 g with a dense skin, black with a purple tint, collected in a brush of 3-5 pieces, have a pleasant nutmeg flavor. The hybrid is resistant to frost and some diseases and pests, lives 20-30 years, is common in Western Europe.

Croma- Swedish hybrid of currant and gooseberry with large, very smooth black berries up to 2 cm in diameter, as well as yoshta berriescollected in a brush of 3-5 pieces. Chrome does not have the aroma of currants, the taste of berries resembles gooseberries and currants at the same time. In Swedish conditions, berries ripen by mid-July.

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