How to achieve a large harvest of blackcurrant. Secrets of growing blackcurrant: from planting to care

Currant is very useful berry, most often it is used to prepare various compotes and juices, it is also part of various jams and marmalades.

To grow such a plant on suburban area pretty simple. Also, red currant is a rather unpretentious plant.

In order for red or black currants to develop well and bring abundant and annual harvests, it is necessary to choose the right place for planting so that the shrub is comfortable:

currants are not recommended to be planted in those places where old bushes of this crop or gooseberries grew before;
level of occurrence ground water must be no higher than 1.5 meters, otherwise root system may rot or die altogether;
it is also not recommended to plant currants in low-lying places where it accumulates rainwater or melted snow;

If it is impossible to plant a shrub in a dry place, drainage can be done using expanded clay. This tool perfectly retains excess moisture.

the health and productivity of shrubs directly depends on the amount sunlight. In the absence of this indicator, the plant begins to hurt and ceases to resist pests, the berries become smaller or disappear altogether;
gusty winds have the same effect on currants, so the place should not only not be shaded, but also protected from north and east winds. For growing bushes do not need special agricultural technology. Everything can be done by hand.

Currant grows well on almost any soil, the exceptions are:

sandy soil;
rocky ground;
swampy areas.

Also, this culture prefers neutral soil, therefore, in the presence of acidic soil, it must first be limed. For this one square meter land contribute 400 grams of crushed limestone or 300 grams of slaked lime.

Terms for landing at their summer cottage

Currants can be planted both in spring (late March - early April) and autumn (mid-September - early October). But experienced gardeners recommend doing autumn planting, because it has a lot of advantages:

Seedlings have time to take root before the onset of cold weather and tolerate winter frosts well. And during the spring carrying out of this procedure, the shrub actively develops the root system, but also spends energy on growing foliage and goes to winter in a weakened form, because of which it may not endure frosty weather and simply die;
Also, plants planted in autumn grow faster and, accordingly, begin to bear fruit faster.

For the southern and central regions, autumn planting is more suitable, and in the North or the Urals, red and black currants are planted in the spring so that the root system can get stronger, but at the same time all the buds must be removed in a timely manner so that there is no foliage on the seedling.

Planting and growing currants

Soil preparation

The initial stage of planting currants is the timely preparation of the soil:

When conducting autumn planting the pit is prepared approximately 3-4 weeks before the procedure itself, and when spring planting the hole must be dug in September. Preliminary preparation needed to make the soil more fertile;
Considering biological structure the root system of red currant, the depth and width of the pit is usually 40-50 centimeters;
When digging a hole, the bottom layer is folded separately from the top. After that, the fertile (upper) earth is mixed with:

2 buckets of compost, humus or rotted compost;
100 grams of superphosphate;
90 grams of potassium sulfate.

In this form landing pit leave until the seedling is planted.

It is best to buy seedlings a few days before planting and follow all transportation rules. To do this, the roots of the plant are first moistened, then wrapped in burlap and the resulting structure is strengthened with a plastic bag.

Landing methods

Single landing

With this planting, currants bring the greatest amount of yield and live much longer than with other methods. Experienced gardeners recommend planting plants at a distance of at least two meters from other trees and shrubs.

Ordinary landing

This method is suitable for those gardeners who want to collect maximum amount berries from minimal territories. Usually row planting is used in the commercial cultivation of red currants. The only disadvantage is the rapid wear of plants and, accordingly, their rapid death.

Using this method, one should take into account the characteristics of each variety and plant bushes with a lush crown at a distance of 120-150 centimeters, and plants with a more compact arrangement of shoots at a distance of 70-110 centimeters.

Landing on a trellis

To achieve the desired effect, shrubs are planted at a distance of 50-100 centimeters from each other. After 2-3 years, currant branches are fixed on established trellises. In this case, you can get a continuous fruiting plane.

Instead of special trellises, you can use a fence enclosing the site.

Landing Rules

The technology for planting blackcurrant is as follows:

It is best to place the seedling in the hole at an angle of 45 degrees, but also possible vertical fit, which is much simpler and more familiar;
The root neck should be 5-6 centimeters deep into the ground;
when digging a hole, you should periodically shake the seedling to avoid the formation of air pockets between the roots of the plant;
At the next stage, the earth must be carefully tamped.
In order for a plant to take root well in a new place, it is not enough just to plant it correctly.. It is necessary to ensure proper care for the young bush:
Immediately after planting, a small groove is dug around the currant, into which you need to gradually pour a bucket of water. Such a procedure will not only moisten the soil, but also improve the contact of the roots with the soil;
After the water dries, the groove is filled with humus, peat, or simply dry earth;

For such a procedure, in no case should mineral fertilizers be used and fresh manure, because they can cause burns on the root system and the plant will die in the first year.

Also, the ground around the shrub can be mulched to a height of 5-10 centimeters;
To speed up the formation of the crown of the shrub and avoid the appearance of weak growths, immediately after planting, all branches of the plant are shortened to 2-4 buds.

Proper implementation of the planting procedure is the main key to success in growing a healthy shrub and getting a rich harvest.

Care

In order for the bush to give as much harvest as possible, it is necessary to properly care for it and not neglect even the most insignificant at first glance procedures.

loosening

The earth around the shrub must be periodically loosened so that the root system receives required amount moisture and oxygen. In the root zone, loosening is carried out to a depth of 5-6 centimeters, gradually increasing the depth to 15 centimeters as it moves away from the base of the plant.

Watering

Currant is able to tolerate short-term drought, but in order to obtain abundant crops, it is necessary to maintain 80 percent soil moisture, to check this indicator, you can dig the ground at a depth of 30 centimeters, when compressed into a lump, it must retain its shape.

During watering, you need to saturate the ground with moisture by 40-50 centimeters, for this a young shrub will need 2 buckets of water, and an adult 4-5. There are several ways to water:

you can dig a groove around the plant and gently pour water into it;
at large landings dig a trench and install a hose with water in it.

top dressing

In order for a plentiful and big harvest must be submitted in a timely manner various top dressings that feed the soil. In the first 2 years after planting, it is not necessary to fertilize the land. enough for the plant nutrients made at landing.

Prevention of diseases and pests

To avoid the appearance of diseases and pests, it is necessary to treat the shrub with special preparations and carry out sanitary and thinning pruning.
During the spring period:

Currants are watered once a day. early May, but if the winter turned out to be little snowy, and the spring is dry, then this procedure is postponed to April;
Immediately after the snow melts, it is necessary to carefully loosen the ground;
In spring, the tree is treated for diseases and pests with the help of special preparations or Brodsky liquid;
During this period, it is imperative to carry out thinning pruning, removing all frozen, damaged or excessively thickening branches.

At the beginning of leaf blooming, currants are fertilized with 50 grams of urea and 500 grams of wood ash. Top dressing is scattered under a bush, and then carefully buried. It is worth remembering that moisture is needed to dissolve fertilizers, so if the earth is dry and there has not been precipitation for a long time, then the procedure should be carried out after heavy watering.

During flowering, red currants are fertilized with complex mineral fertilizer and bird droppings.

Currant does not tolerate chlorine, so you need to be very careful about the selection of fertilizer and use sulfate instead of potassium chloride.

Also in the spring, the shrub needs to be fed with organic fertilizers (humus, compost, manure, etc.). On the fertile soils this procedure is carried out once every 3 years, but on poor lands it will have to be repeated annually.
Summer:

AT summer period the shrub needs to be watered as the soil dries up, in normal weather and the absence of drought, the procedure is carried out 1 time in 2 weeks;
Experienced gardeners recommend slightly loosening the ground after each watering;
Also in the summer, you need to monitor the cleanliness of the root zone and remove all weeds.
During the formation and filling of fruits, currants can be sprayed with growth stimulants, but the safest and most effective method application of liquid fertilizers after flowering is considered. Such fertilizers include liquid top dressing with infusion of mullein, bird droppings or slurry.
Many gardeners use infusions prepared on the basis of various herbs, fruit peels, etc. as summer top dressing. Such funds can be used constantly and applied with each watering.

Autumn:

In autumn, the amount of watering is reduced to zero, it will be necessary to introduce an abundant amount of moisture when preparing the shrub for winter;
Also in the fall, it is recommended to loosen the ground so that the roots receive as much oxygen as possible in winter period;
It is very important to carry out sanitary pruning in the fall, during which all dry, diseased and damaged branches will be removed. This is necessary in order to get rid of diseases and pests;
After harvesting, under the shrub make:

50 grams of superphosphate;
20 grams of potassium sulfate;
Organic fertilizers (on fertile soils 1 time in 2 years).

Preparing for winter in the country

Blackcurrant, although it is a fairly winter-hardy crop, still needs additional protection in winter. To do this, you can use one of the following methods:

All branches of the bush must be carefully bent to the ground and the number of bricks that will serve as a load should be placed on top. When carrying out such a procedure, it is very important not to harm the branches of the plant. Snow is a natural defense against harsh temperatures, so using this method is only possible during a snowy winter.

You can also wrap each branch of the shrub in a special agrofibre, while it is desirable to add a heater in the form mineral wool. Such a tool is great for severe frosts or at a time when there is no snow cover.

Red and black currants are a wonderful berry, juice or compote from which can easily quench your thirst on a hot day, and jam prepared using these fruits has a pleasant and unusual sourness. Currant brings abundant harvests, and growing it in the country will allow you to collect a huge amount of ingredients for processing from one bush.

And at the end of a short video on how to grow currants:

Currant can be called without exaggeration one of the most popular garden and berry crops. Black, red or white varieties are sure to be found in every summer cottage. In addition to excellent taste and high content useful substances in berries, currants are highly valued for their longevity and undemanding care. Some gardeners consider the culture so unpretentious that they stop paying attention to it and leave everything "at the mercy of nature."

In such situations, one should not be surprised at the decrease in yield from year to year, the decrease in the size of berries and the deterioration of their consumer qualities. Without care, even the most elite and resistant varieties degenerate before reaching their full potential. Currant does not require special agrotechnical efforts, but in order to obtain stable yields, you need to follow several rules, which we will discuss in the article. So:

Rule 1. Pruning

The most time-consuming and responsible moment - correct pruning. Currant bushes grow and thicken quite quickly, so they need to be shaped by annually removing old, basal, diseased and broken branches.

Pruning of damaged and basal shoots is carried out in early spring in order to reduce the density of the shrub and direct its forces to the return of the crop. Cleaning plants from dry and diseased branches should be carried out regularly (when they appear), and old shoots should be removed after fruiting, in late July - early August or in autumn, when the sap flow in them slows down and all the leaves fall off.

The main principle of pruning: leave only strong and healthy shoots on the bushes different ages and provide them with good illumination and ventilation, removing all unnecessary.

When forming bushes of black and red / white currants, there are certain differences associated with the difference in the characteristics of their growth.

Blackcurrant pruning

In blackcurrant, shoot formation and branching occur more intensively, therefore it has to be cut more often and more radically. Immediately after planting, experts advise cutting the tops of all branches so that only 2-4 well-developed buds remain on them.

In autumn, on young bushes (up to 4-5 years old), 3-4 of the strongest and strongest shoots that have grown during the season are left, and the same number from previous years, which gave an increase of at least 20 cm. They should be shortened to improve subsequent branching, and the rest cut the branches under the root (up to a height of no more than 2 cm).

To prevent the risk of diseases, sections must be treated with garden pitch.

With annual formation in 4-5 years, a developed powerful bush should be obtained, consisting of 15-18 branches of different ages. Subsequently, it is necessary to carry out sanitary pruning in a timely manner, and in the fall to remove aged shoots (more than 5-6 years old), replacing them with an appropriate number of first years.

Pruning red and white currants

These varieties are distinguished by less active formation of shoots and, accordingly, a longer period of their productivity, reaching 7-8 years. Pruning of young plants is carried out only sanitary - in order to improve and clean the bushes from damaged, diseased or too densely growing branches that obscure and interfere with each other.

On adult shrubs 6-8 years old, when the number of branches of different ages becomes more than 10-12 pieces, it is necessary to cut out aging shoots at the root, on which there is a decrease in fruiting. The rejuvenation of the bushes stimulates the young shoots, gives the plant the strength to form an abundant crop of large berries.

On bushes growing without pruning, the yield and size of berries decrease every year, in addition, they are much more susceptible to various diseases culture.

Rule 2. Top dressing

Currants can develop well and bear fruit in one place for many years. But we must not forget that the soil is depleted over time and the plants are deficient in nutrients, which directly affects the yield.

The issues of additional nutrition are especially important for currants during flowering and the formation of ovaries (nitrogen fertilizers), as well as after fruiting (phosphorus-potassium fertilizers), so that the bushes can prepare well for wintering. For this, complex mineral and / or organic fertilizers. Here are a few simple recipes from experienced gardeners to which currant responds well:

potato peelings in the form of a decoction or raw, dug into the ground along the perimeter of the bushes;
wood ash, which is applied under the bushes and does an excellent job with hyperacidity soil;
fermented infusions of herbs and grain residues.

If there are signs of bacterial or fungal diseases on the bushes, then it is better to fertilize with mineral fertilizers.

Organics " long-acting"- rotted manure or chicken manure, compost, humus is recommended to be applied in the fall every 2-3 years, 4-6 kg for each bush. All useful elements of the plant will begin to assimilate in the spring, during the period of active vegetation and the resulting supply of nutrients will last them for a long time.

Rule 3. Watering

The fact that a shrub can do without watering is a big misconception, especially with regard to black currants. The lack of moisture in the soil inhibits the growth of shoots, reduces the number of ovaries and the filling of berries, which directly affects the potential yield.

Currants must be watered at least 3 times during the season:

in late May - early June, that is, during the period of active growth, flowering and ovary formation;
in late June - early July, when the process of filling and ripening of berries is underway;
at the end of summer - the beginning of autumn, in order to provide the plants with the necessary supply of moisture for a successful wintering and to support the laying of flower buds - the basis of the next season's harvest.

Excessive watering of currants is also not good. It provokes the development of fungal diseases and rotting of the roots, and during the fruiting period it leads to cracking and spoilage of the berries.

To reduce the evaporation of moisture from the soil and curb the growth of weeds, trunk circles under the bushes are recommended to be covered with straw, sawdust, mowed grass, peat or other organic mulch with a layer of at least 10-15 cm thick. Before mulching, the ground must be cleared of weeds, carefully loosened so as not to damage the shallow roots of the plant, and watered abundantly.

Rule 4. Treatment for diseases and pests

Absolutely resistant varieties does not exist, therefore, prevention, and even more so the treatment of plants, must be carried out regularly and in a timely manner.

At the stage of the appearance of flower buds, it is desirable to treat the bushes with insecticides in order to protect the future crop from pests (aphids, spider mite, gall midges, etc.). There are many drugs today, when using them, it is important to follow the dosages and precautions indicated by the manufacturers. Spraying with a 1-3% solution of Bordeaux liquid is advised to be carried out on early stages vegetation of plants, as well as when minor lesions appear on them. This tool helps to prevent the occurrence of fungal diseases or to avoid the spread of infection. Heavily damaged leaves and shoots of currants should be cut and burned immediately.

How to get rid of ants on currants

Currants often suffer from aphids. As a rule, aphids do not come to plants on their own. She is to blame for her appearance. garden ants. The fact is that ants are very fond of the sweet "milk" that aphids secrete. Therefore, they act like shepherds: they “settle” the aphids in the bushes and literally “graze” it, protecting it from enemies (for example, ladybugs). Often spraying currants from aphids with insecticides is unsafe, and ineffective: if there are ants in the garden, they will monitor the “livestock” and populate the bushes with new aphid colonies to replace the dead.

There are ants in every area, and no one has yet been able to completely exterminate them. But they can be scared away from currants. Good for this garlic infusion: peel the head of garlic, chop the cloves (can be squeezed through a press) and pour 1 liter warm water. After 2-3 hours, the infusion is filtered, and then the bushes and the soil under them are sprayed. You can also lay the remaining thick around the currant trunks. Ants leave such bushes, and aphids die on them. It is clear that the processing should be carried out long before the ripening of the berries, because the smell is quite persistent.

Take care of your currant, and it will delight you with excellent harvests for many years!

Cut out old branches

Most currant berries ripen in the center of the shoots. In this zone, the main number of fruiting branches is located, but they do not bear fruit for long, only 2-3 years. And after 6-7 years, the crop completely disappears. That is why the bush must be rejuvenated annually.

When pruning, 2-3 new shoots are left. All older than 5 years are cut flush with the ground. With such a formation, there will always be up to 10–15 branches of different ages in a currant bush.
To read the article further, go to the next page by clicking the page number below.

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 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 the diseased fallen leaves and burn them, dig up the ground around trunk circle to a depth of 10 cm, do it 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. There is a plaque on the berries and shoots white color. 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 blue vitriol to 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 purple colour. 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 in the fall, 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:

How to increase the yield black currant

In the journal "Garden and Garden" (No. 5, 2006), in the article by I. Uryupin "How I increased the size of blackcurrant berries", it was stated that it is impossible to get 10 kg of berries from one bush, because in this case the height of the plant should reach 2.5 m. In fact, the yield of blackcurrant can be more than 10 kg per bush, it depends on the spatial freedom of the bush and, to a very large extent, on the care of the plant.

Yes, indeed, the height of the bushes greatly affects the yield of currants. In my area, almost all the bushes of red currant (varieties Asya, Jonker van Tets, Early Sweet) and black (Belarusian Sweet, Vologda, Green Haze, Nara, Sevchanka, Selechenskaya, Exotica) are much higher than average human height. Only the Summer Resident does not want to grow above 1.3 m in any way. The Nara variety gave me 13-14 kg of berries from a bush for several years in a row. Belarusian sweet has the same high stable yield, but Exotic gives unstable yields: only once (in 2004) was it possible to collect 2 buckets (12 liters each) of berries from one bush.

And now about caring for currants. I place the bushes as shown in the figure. When planting seedlings, I deepen the root collar by 5-10 cm, and after leveling the ground, I cut off all the shoots so that each has 2 buds above the soil surface (I stick the cut cuttings next to the ground for rooting and also leave 2 buds above the surface- I do this in general with all shrubby plants in which branches easily take root: gooseberries, honeysuckle, Chinese magnolia vine). I make sure to water even if it rains. When planting in each planting hole, I pour out 3-4 buckets of humus, then for the first 2-3 years I feed the young with a solution of nitroammophoska (1 Matchbox per 10 liters of water for 1 plant). This contributes to the rapid growth of shoots, so in 5-year-old bushes the branches are already beginning to close.

Every summer I take measures to protect plants from aphids. I usually use dandelion infusion: I keep 400 g of finely chopped leaves and rhizomes in a bucket of water for 2 hours at 40 ° C, then I spray. In very rare cases, when the plant is severely oppressed by some pest, I use fufanon (karbofos). At the same time, I do not spray the bushes as a whole, but only dip the branches into a basin with a protective solution.

I grow bushes according to the so-called accelerated renewal. In all books on gardening, it is advised to leave 5 branches of different ages when forming a blackcurrant bush. I leave 10-12 shoots with a difference of 1 year. But at the age of 7-8 years, I uproot the bushes, and by this time the bushes of a later planting are already beginning to bear fruit, because I root the cuttings every year. So I have a constant renewal of currant bushes, while all fruit-bearing bushes are at the top of their productivity.

It makes no sense to keep bushes for longer than 8 years, because even when cutting old shoots, plants begin to suffer greatly from powdery mildew, kidney mites, glass cases, scale insects. With my method of accelerated renewal of currants over the past 10 years, I have not found a single kidney affected by a bud mite (although I had to immediately abandon varieties that are resistant to a mite, for example, Green Haze and Medveditsa, on which the mite appears in in large numbers already at the age of 3 bushes).

Another important "secret" of blackcurrant: it is very sensitive to a lack of nitrogen. The effect of nitrogen on fruit-bearing bushes is especially noticeable. With a shortage of it at the end of flowering, small yellow leaves begin to appear on the branches, which soon fall off, and then large leaves begin to turn pale. Even if under such conditions it is possible to get the current crop, the laying of the future crop is undermined. In 1975, in the newspaper Kirovskaya Pravda, I read advice to feed currant plants with urea during this period (dissolve 3 matchboxes in a bucket of water and pour 1 bush from above with this volume from a watering can). Since then, I use this "hint" every year. In addition, in the summer, as an additional fertilizing with nitrogen, I use the remainder of the nitroammophoska solution, which I prepare for tomatoes in a barrel (at the rate of 1 matchbox per 10 liters of water).

This is how powerful fruitful currant bushes grow in me!

R. Chechetkin , amateur gardener, Kazan

(Garden and vegetable garden No. 5, 2008)

seedlings the best varieties blackcurrant in the section "Nurseries. Saplings"