Of all the types of currants, black is considered the most useful. It is she who is four times higher than lemon in terms of vitamin C content, and is also rich in iron, calcium, manganese, potassium and zinc. Not only fruits, but also the leaves of the plant, from which aromatic tea is obtained, have healing properties.
The health benefits of black currant are so great that it is even capable of removing radiation from the body, which has been proven by research by scientists after the Chernobyl accident. And for those for whom taste is more important, it is better to pay attention to varieties with large and sweet berries, one of which is the black currant Pigmy variety.
In this article, we will analyze the description of this variety, the characteristics of the berries, and learn how to deal with pests.
Description of the variety of currant Pigmy
The Pygmy variety was bred by the breeder V.S. Ilyin. during his work at the South Ural Research Institute of Fruit and Vegetable Crops. For this, the varieties Seedling Pigeon and Bradthorpe were crossed. Since 1999, the variety has been included in the State Register and allowed for cultivation in the Volgo-Vyatka, Ural, Far Eastern regions, as well as in the regions of Eastern and Western Siberia.
The plant itself is a medium-sized, slightly spreading shrub. Shoots of medium thickness, straight, green in color. Buds are solitary, brown, oval in shape. The leaves are large, five-lobed, wrinkled, with teeth at the edges. The flowers are small, pale pink in color.
Pygmy is considered a medium-ripening variety, fruits begin to be harvested from late June or early July.
The berries are large, rounded and bright black. The length of the brushes is average, they contain from 5 to 10 berries.
The advantages of this variety:
- High productivity. Up to 6 kg of berries are harvested from one bush. When grown on an industrial scale, yields can reach 22.8 tons per hectare.
- Very large and sweet fruits. The weight of one berry reaches 8g. The variety is considered dessert, and has a score of 5 points for the sweetness of the fruit.
- Long term fruiting. The berries ripen unevenly, so the harvest takes from 3 weeks to 1.5 months.
- Self-fertile variety with a consistent annual yield.
- Winter hardiness. Suitable for growing in regions with frosty winters, it can withstand temperatures down to 35 degrees.
- Resistant to such common diseases in currants as powdery mildew and anthracnose.
Among the shortcomings, only the susceptibility of the variety to septoria and kidney mite attacks can be distinguished.
The Pygmy variety is quite unpretentious in care; you do not need to put a lot of effort into growing it. But, like all fruit crops, the beginning of fruiting and the yield of a plant directly depends on the correct planting of the seedling.
Sapling selection and planting rules
When buying a blackcurrant seedling, pay attention to the following details:
- Age. Suitable for planting one-year and two-year seedlings.
- Root system. The roots should not be dry or damaged.
- Branching. The better the bush is branched, the faster it will take root.
If you are planting annual seedlings, and they seem too weak to you, plant two bushes at once in one hole, tilting them in different directions. This method of planting will allow you to form a powerful bush in the future.
You can plant currants in spring and autumn. Spring planting is best started as early as possible after the thaw, in late March or early April, depending on the climate. The main thing is to have time to do this before budding begins, otherwise the plant will be difficult to take root. But still, autumn planting is more preferable, from late September to early October. If you manage to plant currants two weeks before the onset of cold weather, it will have time to take root and get strong enough for the winter.
The place for planting shrubs should be well lit and protected from strong winds. Currant roots can easily withstand temporary waterlogging from melting snow or rainstorms, but it will not grow on swampy soil and with a high location of groundwater. And if the soil is acidic, then it needs to be limed.
Planting a currant seedling includes the following activities:
- 2 weeks before the expected planting date, dig holes for currants up to 40 cm deep and up to 60 cm wide. Instead of several holes, you can make one long trench. Since the Pygmy currant variety is compact, the plants can be placed at a distance of 1-1.5 m from each other.
- When, after a couple of weeks, the earth settles, fill the hole 2/3 full of fertile soil mixed with fertilizers. You can use humus (8 kg), superforfate (200 g) and potassium sulfate (40 g).
- Place the seedling in the hole at an angle of 45 degrees, while the root collar goes 5-8 cm into the ground. Thanks to the inclined planting, conditions will be created for the growth of roots and shoots from the buds in a buried section of the stem.
- Spread out the roots and cover them with earth. In the process of filling the soil, shake the seedling so that no voids form between the roots.
- After planting is complete, water the bush with 10 liters of water and mulch the soil underneath with peat or humus. After 3 days, repeat both watering and mulching.
- For the rapid growth of the bush, its shoots can be cut by a third.
The finally completed autumn planting can be considered only in a month, when you prepare the currants for winter. To do this, it is necessary to spud the bush with soil by 10 cm and mulch the near-stem section well. In the spring, the currants are uncooked, freeing from excess mulch and earth. Only then can the success of planting be assessed.
The Pygmy variety does not require a lot of maintenance, but this does not mean that you can forget about the plant before harvesting. He still needs the most basic care measures.
Black currant care rules
Shrub care consists of the following steps:
- Fertilization... The plant consumes most of the nutrients in the spring and early summer. Fertilizers should be applied to the soil in the fall and for digging in the spring, on an area of 1.5-2 m around the trunk. Soils of average fertility require such doses of fertilizers per 1 square meter:
- For plants up to 3 years old - organic matter (5-6 kg), urea (15 g), sulfuric potassium (12 g), superphosphate (50 g);
- For plants from 4 years old: organic matter (5-6 kg), urea (22 g), sulfuric acid potassium (15 g), superphosphate (50 g).
- Soil care. It means keeping it in a loose and weed-free state. In order not to harm the roots, you can loosen the soil 8 cm near the bushes and 12 cm in the aisle. To reduce the number of treatments allows mulching the soil with peat, humus or manure. The soil under the mulch retains moisture and friability for longer.
- Watering. It is necessary, especially if the dry period fell during the formation of the ovary. In the case of dry autumn, before the onset of frost, it is also necessary to water the shrubs (up to 5 liters per 1 sq.m.), because overdried soil can provoke freezing of the bushes in winter.
An important point necessary for preserving the harvest is the treatment of plants from pests and diseases.
Diseases and pests of black currant
The Pygmy variety is resistant to most currant diseases. The only disease from which it must be protected is septoria, another name for white spot. This is a fungal disease, the symptoms of which will be the appearance of spots up to 3 mm in diameter on currant leaves.
At first they are completely brown in color, then turn white in the center, and remain brown only at the edges. The fruits of the plant can also be covered with small spots. With a severe defeat, all foliage can completely fall off on the currant.
To combat the disease, the bushes and the ground under them must be abundantly sprayed with a solution of copper sulfate or nitrafen. It is important to do this before budding begins in the spring. Good in such cases, Bordeaux liquid helps, which is diluted in an amount of 100 g per 10 liters of water. It is necessary to process the currants immediately when the first symptoms appear, and the second time 10 days after harvest.
Remove fallen leaves from under the currant bushes, it is in them that mushroom spores winter. For prevention, you can still dig up the ground in the trunk circle in late autumn and early spring.
Of the insect pests, the Pygmy variety is the most susceptible to kidney mites. It is a small insect 0.15-0.3 mm in length, hibernating in currant buds. In the spring, upon awakening, the females lay larvae in the buds, which, as they grow, spread to the entire plant. Damaged buds cannot develop, and the shoot, if it grows out of them, will be mutated. In addition to reducing the number of shoots and reducing yields, the pest is also dangerous due to its ability to carry viral diseases.
Pest control measures:
- Boiling water. The safest and most effective way. All the larvae die from boiling water, and the plant itself is not harmed. Just don't pour 100-degree boiling water onto the bush, the water should cool down a bit while you bring it to the garden and pour it into the watering can. Tie the branches together to make the plant more compact for efficiency. You can use the method only before the kidneys awaken, otherwise they may be harmed.
- Manual removal of affected kidneys. The method is painstaking, but safe. The buds with mites will be swollen and rounder. It is better to carry out such sorting in the fall, because in the spring it is easy to confuse an infected kidney with a bud with a nascent shoot.
- Colloidal sulfur. It is dissolved in water in an amount of 10 g per 1 liter of water. The bushes are processed at the beginning of the flowering period and immediately after its completion. This method is suitable for critical situations when it comes to saving the life of the plant. Such processing can ruin the harvest, but next year it will recover.
- Pruning. The most radical way. If it is not possible to cope with other methods with the insect, then it remains only to cut the bush under the root in the fall and patiently wait until the plant grows back.
In order not to have to use such extreme measures, the currants need constant care. Plants that are regularly fed, pruned, and preventively treated will have a high immunity to diseases and pests.
The benefits and palatability of black currant pygmy are worth putting in a little effort in caring for it. With a properly carried out planting, the plant will stably bear fruit for at least 10 years, and with regular care of growing conditions and protection from pests, the fruiting period can be extended even up to 20-25 years.