Red currant

Red currant is a small deciduous shrub whose berry taste is probably known to everyone. It grows in the forest zone throughout Eurasia, on forest edges, on the banks of rivers, currants are found in the wild. But on personal plots, this culture grows well-groomed, often coexists with other berry bushes and gives a good harvest, if, of course, the owners are watching the currants.

This plant can reach a height of 2 m, but more often you can find currants 1-1.5 m tall. Its shoots are gray or yellowish, and the wood is almost green, with a light core. The leaf arrangement of the culture is alternate, the leaves have 3 or 5 lobes, there are notches at the edges, as well as a shiny smooth top. The lower part of the leaf plate is usually much lighter than the upper one. Veins can be pubescent. Inflorescences of red currants are inconspicuous, small, yellowish-greenish, but can also be red-brown. They are collected in brushes. Currant blooms in May. The fruits are juicy, bright red, rather sour in taste. Average diameter 10 mm.

The roots of the plant are deep, they penetrate well into the soil, choosing from there everything useful for themselves. If you plant several different varieties of red currants on the site, this will contribute to cross-pollination. Red currant belongs to the Gooseberry family. Berries ripen later than black currant... But this is good, returnable summer frosts are not so terrible for the plant. The yield can also be higher than that of the same black currant. This also happens because red tolerates drought more easily. From a bush, you can collect up to 9 kg of berries per season.

If you properly care for the shrub, it will bear fruit for 25-30 years. But care should be comprehensive, because, for example, fruiting depends heavily on the composition of the soil. The plant quickly selects nutrients from it, and if the soil is not fertilized in time, the next fruiting will be far from optimal. There is not much to say about the fact that the berry is useful: it contains all the vitamins of group B, as well as C, E, A, H, PP, as well as fatty acids and minerals... This product rich in antioxidants, that is, it fights the aging process. Currant is even called a plant that reduces the risk of developing malignant tumors.

Several dozen varieties of berry crops allow even a picky gardener to find some acceptable option. And everything is selected upon request.

• For example, those whose goal is to grow large fruits should take a closer look at varieties such as Fertodi, Viskne, Rondom. They are both high-yielding, and promise large berries, and are not afraid of diseases.
• If the goal is to find that very red currant that will also be sweet, then it is worthwhile to dwell on the varieties Svetlana, Houghton Castle, Early Sweet.
• When the main goal of growing looks like the fastest possible harvest, you can choose varieties "Firstborn", "Serpentine", "Victoria".
• Mid-season varieties includeGazelle, Buzhanskaya, and to delicious late - "Marmalade", "Dutch red".

Red currant seedlings can be easily bought in any market, but there are always risks: the seller, in most cases, has to take his word for it. If you want to control the process yourself from and to, it's time to start breeding yourself.

Quite a reliable way that beginners will also obey. It is believed that already lignified cuttings from annual shoots that have grown from the root take root faster and easier. But cuttings grown on two- and three-year-old branches also root well. The main thing is that the thickness of the handle is at least 8 mm, and the length reaches 20 cm... It is customary to harvest planting material in the fall, then the cuttings are placed in a box with moistened sand until root rudiments are formed there. And the cuttings will have to be kept in this box for 3 months (or a little less), withstanding the temperature of + 3 ° C. Then they are removed under the snow or in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerating chamber, and there they will already remain until the moment of planting.

Landing in open ground falls in this case in early spring, it will be inclined, the interval between samples is 20 cm... Plastic bottles are put on top, glass jars can also be used. Only 2 buds should remain above the ground from the cutting, everything else should be in the ground. Then compact the soil, water it, mulch with humus or fine peat. In September, the rooted cuttings will go to their permanent place. Of course, it is also possible to propagate red currants with green cuttings. But they will form the root system for so long that the ground part will suffer from such volumes.

Probably, this method will be the simplest possible. You need to take a young bush (3-5 years old, no older), loosen the soil under it, feed it, make grooves 10 centimeters deep in the ground and put shoots for 1-2 years in them. In several places they are fixed with metal hooks, and then covered with earth so that the top is on the surface. When the shoots grow 10 cm, they are spud every couple of weeks with loose, well-moistened soil. Layers are thoroughly watered all summer, not forgetting about organic matter as mulch around the plant.

And in the fall, when the rooted layers will have to be separated from the mother plant (after all, they have already given off shoots), they are divided in length into separate samples, each with its own root system. And now they are already being transplanted to a permanent place. A couple of years - and some of them will begin to bear fruit.

This method is good, if it is time for the plant to move to a new place, a transplant awaits it. First of all, old, sick, deformed branches are removed from the bush, and then the bush is dug up, divided into parts. Each part should have its own perfectly formed root system, stems. The cuts are allowed to overgrow with crushed coal. And these parts are sent to the holes, which will be deeper than the bedding parameters of the uterine bush, at least by 5 cm.

After planting, the shoots can be shortened by 20 cm (or slightly less), water well and moisten the soil until the new bush takes root in its place. Important! The splitting procedure should be carried out with a sharply sharpened and completely sterile instrument.

Seedlings of this plant can also be obtained by yourself. It is necessary to select high-quality uterine bushes: they must be healthy, high-yielding, without the slightest signs of pest damage. And now these bushes should be "dissected" - either by cuttings, or by layering, or by dividing the bush.

But, in general, the method of propagation by seedlings is often understood to mean exactly the purchase of young plants in the market or in a specialized store. They will only have to be dropped off at the right place and at the right time.

Usually, experts advise planting a shrub in the fall, but in the spring this can also be done quite successfully.

The best time for the procedure is probably mid-autumn. The plant must have time to take root in a new place. And then at the beginning of July you can count on the first harvest (if, of course, the weather permits). But if in the fall it is no longer possible to plant currants, you do not need to despair - in the spring, too, everything can be done correctly, but the requirements for planting will be a little more stringent.

For example, you will have to plant a bush while the buds have not yet blossomed on it. The earth is not yet completely dry, and this is partly a problem: the plant is sent to the ground even with leaves and buds, believing that this option is more reliable. But the risks that the bush will not take root are rather big.

The plant is considered thermophilic, and if black currant develops well on moist soils, such a number will not work with red. Need a flat area, south or southwest slope, ideally... Currants love the sun, good lighting, in the shade they will definitely not give the expected harvest. In an open area, planting red currants is also not worth it: the plant will simply freeze from cold winds. But if the site is protected, the snow will linger there well, which means that in winter the bush will be reliably protected under the snow cap. In addition, in a well-ventilated place in spring and summer, moisture from the ground will evaporate faster, and bees in quieter, windless areas work better.

The optimal place for red currants is in the garden, not far from fruit trees (ordinary trees are also suitable), next to buildings and a fence. And since this plant is far from the most moisture-loving, you need to choose a place in which the groundwater does not lie closer than 1 m (or better than 1.5 m) from the earth's surface.

It is prepared, as expected, in advance. Dig a hole, the optimal size is 50x50 cm. The arable, highly fertile layer of 20 centimeters is deposited separately. The soil is mixed with a bucket of compost, superphosphate is added there, as well as potassium sulfate. But if the gardener wants to focus on organic matter, wood ash will be the best source of phosphorus and potassium; this is the best tool to maintain metabolism in plant tissues.

The seedling is sent to a bucket of water and kept there for a couple of hours. Then you can start landing.

The algorithm looks like this.

• The planting material is sent to the hole. If a group planting is carried out immediately, an interval of 2 m is needed between the grooves.
• All this should be sprinkled with a substrate so that the root collar is 5-6 centimeters below the soil level.
• The soil in the near-trunk circle must be compacted to avoid air gaps near the roots.
• Further, a groove is made along the perimeter of the trunk circle, water is poured into it to moisten the plant.
• The ground must be mulched by 20 cm.
• Pruning is carried out, 4 buds of growth remain on the shoot (maximum number).

This shrub can be called undemanding, it is, indeed, relatively easy to care for it.

If the summer is hot, there is a drought, you need to moisten the ground under the bush regularly. No matter how indifferent he is to moisture, the heat will weaken him. To prevent the currants from drying out, watering must be of high quality, without gaps. When pouring berries, forgetting about watering is a huge mistake. And if there is a layer of mulch under the bush, moisture evaporation can be reduced.

It is very dangerous to stay idle, seeing how a crust forms in the near-trunk circle, which does not allow air to penetrate into the soil. Therefore, it must be loosened, but not very deeply, otherwise the root system can be injured. Of course, it is powerful in red currants, but still superficial. And if you do not want to loosen often, again, mulching is very helpful. Sawdust or peat are suitable as mulch, and dried grass will do. But it is very important that there are no weed roots among this.

Timely application of mineral and organic fertilizers is a must-have care item. And the composition of the top dressing depends on the growing season of the red currant. In the spring, it is customary to fertilize the plant with nitrogen-containing components, that is, urea or mullein infusion.

It is needed to increase the productivity of the bush, but not only for this reason. In the first year, pruning will be formative. An adult, healthy shrub usually consists of 15-20 branches, and 3-4 shoots should be preserved every year. Weak ones will have to be removed, damaged ones too, as well as growing inward. But when the plant is formed, the haircuts will be more sanitary.

And spring pruning is associated with the removal of shoots that are spoiled by pests. Autumn pruning and after winter are always carried out with a clean, sterile instrument; garden var or its analogue is used for sanitizing fresh cuts.

Red currant is not the most susceptible crop to diseases and pests, which, of course, is very good for a gardener.... But still, her immunity to diseases is not absolute, which means that you need to be informationally armed and ready for quick help if something happens.

Let's take a look at what can harm red currants.

• Goblet rust... Red spots appear on the leaves, and fungal spores appear inside. Berries that are affected by rust, as well as leaves, must be plucked and burned. The bushes are to be treated with fungicides.
• Anthracnose... Another fungal disease that red currant suffers from. Brown dots appear on the foliage, and bumps above them. The leaves will deform, and then they fall off. A solution of copper sulfate helps well with this misfortune, they are sprayed with both a bush and a soil. And so the plant will have to be treated until the buds bloom on it. But it is even better to prevent the disease, and this can be done by spraying the bush with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid. And after flowering, it should be done every 2 weeks.
• Septoriasis... Also brown spots with dark center spores. The affected leaves must be removed, the bushes must be treated with preparations with copper in the composition. However, fungicides can also be used. Better yet, before flowering, preventively spray the bushes several times with the same copper sulfate.
• Powdery mildew... If a light bloom appears on the currant, darkening only over time, this is most likely it. Leaves and berries will fall off, the bush will slow down in development. Fungicides are suitable for treatment.
• Narrow-bodied goldfish and kidney moth... These pests attack red currants more often than others. The attack can be prevented by removing the underdeveloped shoots in the spring. Pests are destroyed immediately, the bushes are treated with "Aktellik" 25 days after the beginning of flowering. "Karbofos" or "Nitrofen" works well against kidney moths, precisely during kidney swelling.