It is difficult to find a gardener in Russia who would not grow currants on his plot. Our country accounts for 60% of all grown currants in the world. And all because it is not only the most useful berry culture, but also a wonderful decorative element of any garden.
A lush green bush, strewn with clusters of bright juicy berries, many associate with summer, warmth and summer cottage rest. There are over 150 species of this plant, but one of the sweetest is the red currant variety with the telling name Sugar.
Description and characteristics of the Sugar currant variety
Let's start with a description of the variety. Sugar currant is a hybrid type bred by domestic breeders. It is a shrub with upright branches. The leaves consist of five lobes, the edges of which are covered with denticles. Buds are brown, rounded, elongated.
The flowers are small, yellow-green. The length of the fruit cluster can reach 9 cm, with up to 20 berries on it. The fruits themselves are bright red, medium in size. Sugar currant is a dessert variety, its sweet, exuding a pleasant aroma, berries are used not only for winter preparations, but are also eaten fresh with pleasure.
Advantages of Sugar Currant:
- High productivity. With proper care, up to 7 kg of berries can be harvested from one bush.
- Dessert properties of fruits.
- Winter hardiness. The variety easily survives harsh winters, including those with sudden changes in temperature.
- Decorativeness. Red currants, planted along the garden paths, look beautiful.
- An early ripe variety, bears fruit from late June to autumn.
- Unpretentious care.
- Yields yield for 25 years.
- The fruits are widely used, they are used for making jams, compotes, wine and tinctures. Due to the high content of ascorbic acid, frozen or dried at low temperatures, currant berries will be an excellent immunity support throughout the winter.
- Resistant to pests. Of the diseases, only anthracnose is susceptible.
- The fruits are well transportable. Keep fresh for a long time, especially if collected in bunches.
Among the disadvantages of the variety are:
- Not the largest fruit size.
- Low level of self-pollination (30%). If you plan to grow only this variety, then you should not expect large yields. To increase yields, cross-pollination is necessary, for which you need to plant other varieties of currants on the site.
Due to its unpretentiousness and resistance to cold weather, this variety, unlike the black one, is grown not only in the central and southern parts of the country, but also in Siberia and the Urals. At the same time, in temperate latitudes, it is better to land in September, and in southern ones it is possible in October. For spring planting, it is best to do it early, the optimal time will be the beginning or end of March, depending on the climate in your region.
Planting currants in the fall is more preferable, because the seedling manages to root well even before the onset of frost. In addition, a plant that has grown stronger during the winter will be able to enter the growing season in the spring in full force.
In order for the currant sapling to take root faster, and soon begin to bear fruit, you need to follow all the rules for planting it.
Rules for planting seedlings and caring for them
First of all, choose the right place for future planting. Currants love the sun, so don't plant them in shade. In low light conditions, the plant will develop poorly, its fruiting will shift to the upper part of the crown, and the berries will shrink.
Best of all, red currants will grow on sandy loam and light loamy soil, while areas with heavy clay and acidic soil will be unsuitable for it. Disastrous and close location of groundwater. In this case, it is better to plant the bushes on small earthen mounds.
For the full development of the plant, use the correct planting scheme. The Sugar currant variety has a compact bush shape, so the seedlings can be placed at a distance of 1.2-1.4 m from each other.
When planting currants, the following rules must be observed:
- Dig a shallow hole for the seedling (35-40 cm). Moreover, for planting several bushes, you can dig one continuous trench.
- If time permits, let the hole sit for a week to allow the earth to settle.
- Place fertilizers at the bottom of the hole. To do this, mix fertile soil with compost or rotted manure. If your soil is acidic, then add an additional oxidizer, which is chalk, cement, or even ground egg shells.
- Water the hole with water and place a seedling in it, observing an angle of 45 degrees... Spread the roots and cover them with earth so that the root collar goes 5 cm deep. This method of planting will create better conditions for the growth of additional roots and the formation of young shoots from buried buds. As a result, a powerful spreading bush will form. If the planting is done straight, then the bush will end up with a single stem.
- Grind down the earth and form a hole.
- Water the bush liberally, pouring 3 buckets of water over it. To accelerate the growth of new roots, add Kornevin to the water.
- Cut off all shoots one third immediately after planting. Such pruning is guaranteed to give good growth in the first year of plant life.
As mentioned earlier, Sugar currant is very unpretentious, and can grow with almost complete lack of care. But, if you want to get record harvests of berries, then you should pay attention to the following procedures:
- Top dressing. For the first few years, the young plant can be fed with a solution of nitroammofoska. Dissolve a matchbox of the product in 10 liters of water for one bush. This method allows you to accelerate the growth of shoots and quickly form a powerful bush. It will also be good to apply nitrogen fertilizers to the ground in the spring - urea or ammonium nitrate. Dosage - 10g per 1 sq.m.
- Pruning. An adult plant consists of 15-20 large branches. To come to this, every spring, leave only 2-3 powerful shoots, and remove all the little things. It is important that the preserved shoots grow in different directions.
- Caring for the trunk circle. With the onset of spring, the ground under the currants should be well loosened with a rake and covered with humus or compost.
- Watering. Sugar currants are very moisture-loving, and for regular watering they will thank you with a good harvest. It is important to ensure abundant watering during the formation and growth of fruits, otherwise they may crumble. Water is poured at the root without moisturizing the plant itself. During the dry period, currants are watered every 10 days, 5 buckets of water each.
- Weed control.
- Treatment against pests and diseases.
Let us consider the measures to combat pests and diseases of currants in more detail.
Diseases and pests of red currants and measures to combat them
Red currants are less susceptible to diseases and pest attacks than black currants. And, in particular, the Sugar currant variety has good resistance to most diseases and insects. The only thing worth protecting yourself from in advance is anthracnose.
Anthracnose Is a fungal-type disease common in regions with a humid climate. Fungal spores are spread by rain, wind and insects. Plants that are mechanically damaged and weakened by lack of care quickly become infected.
Signs of the presence of a disease in currants is the appearance of brown spots first on the leaves, and then on the branches and stems.
The depressed spots cause disruption in the normal movement of nutrients within the plant. As a result, with high humidity, the branches will rot and break, and in dry weather they will crack. If the development of the disease is not stopped in time, the aerial part of the plant will die completely.
Measures to combat this disease are the timely removal of diseased parts of the bush and spraying with fungicides. Spraying is enough to carry out 2-3 times with a break of 15-20 days. For this, the preparations Oxyhom, Yamato, Kuproksat, Fundazol, Acrobat MC, Copper oxychloride are suitable. As a prevention of the occurrence of anthracnose, it is used:
- Treatment of seedlings before planting with a 1% solution of copper sulfate. To do this, they are immersed in the solution for a couple of minutes and then thoroughly washed with water.
- Treatment of adult plants is carried out before bud break. For these purposes, a solution of copper sulfate, or Nitrofen is also suitable.
- Feeding currants with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, because one of the reasons for the occurrence of anthracnose is a deficiency of potassium and phosphorus in the soil.
Pests of red currants are insects such as spider mites, currant kidney moth, currant glass. However, the Sugar currant variety is highly resistant to insect pests. It is extremely rare to find them on a plant. If you still want to 100% secure the crop, then you can take the following simple preventive actions:
- From the emergence of a spider mite, plants are sprayed a couple of times a season with an infusion of wormwood or tobacco.
- From the currant bud moth, the bushes are sprayed with a mustard solution.
- The appearance of currant glass will help to avoid loosening the soil under the bush in early spring, while the larvae of the pest are still sleeping in it. For reliability, you can also sprinkle the ground with wood ash or ground pepper on top.
Like other hybrids, the Sugar currant variety does not require much effort when growing. Such an unpretentious type of plant is recommended for breeding for novice gardeners, as well as for those people who cannot afford to spend a lot of time at their summer cottage. In addition, Sugarcurrant is one of the most delicious and productive varieties that will provide you with a healthy berry for more than a decade.