Currant is a very useful berry, most often it is used to prepare various compotes and juices, it is also included in various jams and preserves.
It is quite simple to grow such a plant in a summer cottage. Also, red currant is a rather unpretentious plant.
How to grow red and black currants?
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 places where old bushes of this culture or gooseberries grew before;
- the groundwater level should be no higher than 1.5 meters, otherwise the root system may rot or even die;
- it is also not recommended to plant currants in low-lying places where rainwater or melted snow accumulates;
If it is impossible to plant a shrub in a dry place, you can drain it with expanded clay. Such a tool perfectly restrains excess moisture.
- the health and productivity of a shrub directly depends on the amount of sunlight. In the absence of these indicators, the plant begins to hurt and ceases to resist pests, the berries become smaller or disappear altogether;
- gusty winds have the same effect on the currants, so the place should not only be not shaded, but also protected from the north and east winds. To grow bushes, you do not need special agricultural technology. Everything can be done by hand.
Currants grow well in 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 be lime beforehand. To do this, 400 grams of crushed limestone or 300 grams of slaked lime is added to one square meter of land.
Timing for landing at their summer cottage
Currants can be planted both in spring (late March - early April) and in autumn (mid September - early October). But experienced gardeners recommend doing exactly the autumn planting, because it has a lot of advantages:
- Saplings have time to take root before the onset of cold weather and tolerate winter frosts well. And when this procedure is carried out in the spring, the shrub is actively developing the root system, but it also spends energy on building foliage and leaves to winter in a weakened form, because of which it may not endure the frosty weather and simply die;
- Also, plants planted in autumn move 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 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 the seedling does not have foliage.
Planting and growing currants
Soil preparation
The initial stage of planting currants is the timely preparation of the soil:
- When carrying out an autumn planting, the pit is prepared about 3-4 weeks before the procedure itself., and for spring planting, a hole must be dug in September. Preliminary preparation is needed in order for the soil to become more fertile;
- Given the biological structure of the root system of red currants, the depth and width of the pit is usually 40-50 centimeters;
- While digging a hole, the bottom layer is folded separately from the top. Then 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, the planting hole is left 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.
Planting methods
Single landing
With this planting, currants bring the greatest amount of harvest and live much longer than with other methods. Experienced gardeners recommend planting plants at least two meters away from other trees and shrubs.
Ordinary landing
This method is suitable for those gardeners who want to collect the maximum number of berries from the smallest areas. Usually the row planting is used in the commercial cultivation of red currants. The only drawback 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 shrubs 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, the currant branches are fixed on the installed trellises. In this case, you can get a solid fruiting plane.
Instead of special trellises, you can use a fence that encloses the site.
Landing rules
The technology for planting black currants is as follows:
- It is best to place the seedling in the hole at an angle of 45 degrees, but a vertical landing is also possible, which is much easier and more familiar;
- The root collar should be 5-6 centimeters buried in 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.
- For a plant to take root well in a new place, it is not enough just to plant it correctly... It is necessary to provide proper care for the young bush:
- Immediately after planting, a small groove is dug around the currants, into which a bucket of water must be gradually poured. Such a procedure will not only moisten the soil, but also improve the contact of the roots with the soil;
- After the water dries up, the groove is filled with humus, peat or just dry earth;
For such a procedure, in no case should you use mineral fertilizers 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 bush can be mulched to a height of 5-10 centimeters;
- To speed up the formation of the crown of the bush and to avoid the appearance of weak growths immediately after planting, all branches of the plant are shortened to 2-4 buds.
A competent planting procedure is the main key to success in growing healthy shrubs and obtaining a rich harvest.
Care
In order for the shrub to give as much yield as possible, you need to properly care for it and not neglect even the seemingly insignificant procedures.
Loosening
The ground around the shrub must be periodically loosened so that the root system receives the required amount of 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 leaves the base of the plant.
Watering
Currants are capable of tolerating a short-term drought, but to obtain bountiful harvests, you need to maintain 80 percent soil moisture, to check this indicator, you can dig up 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 soil 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;
- for large landings, a trench is pulled out and a hose filled with water is installed in it.
After watering, it is recommended to mulch the soil.
Top dressing
In order for a bountiful and large harvest to start on the bush, it is necessary to timely make various top dressings that feed the soil. In the first 2 years after planting, there is no need to fertilize the soil, the plant will have enough nutrients introduced during planting.
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.
In the spring:
- Currants are watered once in early May, but if the winter turned out to be with little snow, and the spring was dry, then this procedure is postponed to April;
- Immediately after the snow melts, it is necessary to carefully loosen the ground;
- In the 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 unnecessarily 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 the bush, and then carefully buried. It is worth remembering that moisture is needed to dissolve fertilizers, so if the ground is dry and there has not been any precipitation for a long time, then the procedure should be carried out after abundant watering.
During flowering, red currants are fertilized with a complex mineral fertilizer and poultry droppings.
Currants do not tolerate chlorine, therefore, you need to be very careful about the selection of fertilizer and use sulfate instead of potassium chloride.
Also, in the spring, the shrub must be fed with organic fertilizers (humus, compost, manure, etc.). On fertile soils, this procedure is carried out 1 time in 3 years, but on poor lands it will have to be repeated annually.
In summer:
- In the summer, 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 loosening the soil slightly 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 is the application of liquid fertilizers after flowering. Such fertilizers include liquid fertilizing with infusion of mullein, bird droppings or slurry.
- Many gardeners use infusions prepared on the basis of various herbs, fruit peels, etc. as summer feeding. These products can be used continuously and added with every watering.
Autumn:
- In autumn, the number of watering is reduced to zero, it will be necessary to apply an abundant amount of moisture when preparing the shrub for winter;
- It is also recommended to loosen the ground in the fall so that the roots receive as much oxygen as possible in the winter;
- 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 bush, make:
- 50 grams of superphosphate;
- 20 grams of potassium sulfate;
- Organic fertilizers (on fertile soils once every 2 years).
Preparing for winter in the country
Although black currant is a fairly winter-hardy crop, it still needs additional protection in the winter. To do this, you can use one of the following methods:
All the branches of the bush must be carefully bent to the ground and the number of bricks must be placed on top, which will serve as a load. 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 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 advisable to add insulation in the form of mineral wool. This 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 the jam made with these fruits has a pleasant and unusual sourness. Currants bring abundant harvests, and growing them in the country will allow you to collect a huge amount of ingredients from one bush for processing.
And at the end, a short video on how to grow currants: