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It is difficult to imagine any garden area without a bush of currant. The red currant is a common shrub in the European part of Russia, in popularity with which one can argue perhaps that the black currant, raspberry or gooseberry. The unique ability of the red currant to winter at -45 ° C allowed it to conquer the expanses of Western and Eastern Siberia, as well as regions of the Far East. Although the red currant is planted a little less often than the black currant, however, it is its fruits They contain pectin substances and coumarins, which prevent heart attacks and remove from the body heavy metals. Fruits of red currants are an excellent product for the preparation of fruit drinks, compotes, jelly and wine. Of course, ideally, the red currant berries, and any other berries, it is better to eat fresh, as they say, with bush, but it is also perfectly suitable for her method of freezing, in which berries retain the whole spectrum of vitamin substances.
Read about the golden currant - the features of planting and care!
Planting of red currants
When is it better to plant a red currant?The currant is planted in both spring and autumn. But, in connection with the fact that the process of growing a currant in the spring begins very early, it is better to plant it in autumn.
Red currant bushes should be planted on slightly elevated, well-illuminated areas. This plant prefers loose loamy and sandy loam soils. To nutrients in the soil, it does not make high demands, but with their considerable shortage, it can discard part of the fruit that has become tied. When planning to start planting red currant in autumn, you need to consider that they usually do this in September.
How to plant a red currant in autumn?Start landing should be with the preparation of planting holes. Three weeks before planting the bush, dig a hole 40 cm deep and 60 cm wide. Pour 2 buckets of humus to the bottom, add a complex mineral fertilizer, cover with fertile soil and water. This is done to ensure that the soil is compacted.
After the above mentioned time, just before planting, the roots of the bush are shortened, and the plant is buried 7-8 cm above the root neck and buried. This planting promotes the growth of additional radical buds, which are designed to form a lush bush.
It is important here to plant the bush in the upper, not fertilized soil layer. Otherwise, the plant will immediately begin to build up the green mass, and the process of fruiting will slow down. Planted bushes watered, trimmed stems, shortening them at a height of 25 cm from the ground with 3-4 buds. The soil around the bush is mulched with hay, straw, peat or dry leaves to preserve moisture.
After planting, when the soil slightly freezes, the bushes of red currant are humidified by humus, which protects the roots from stagnation of moisture and will serve as an additional shelter from frosts.
The main points to follow when planting red currants:
- to land in early autumn;
- dig a hole 40x60 cm;
- fall asleep 2 buckets of humus;
- add mineral fertilizers;
- shorten the roots, leaving 30 cm;
- correctly deepen the bush and bury;
- abundantly watered;
- trim the stems, leaving 25 cm of length;
- blanching;
- okuchit.
Care for red currants
By providing the bush with the right and competent care, you can achieve good harvests, which will please their owners for 25 years.
Planting the red currant, further care for it consists in weeding, mulching, watering and loosening the soil.
Red currant is drought-resistant, therefore regular copious watering is not necessary for it. To maintain moisture in the soil, it is rare, but abundantly water the bush and mulch the near-barrel circle.
Fertilizers introduced during the planting of the bush will provide the plant with fertilizing for two years, but eventually, when the soil is depleted, additional nutrients will need to be added. Fertilizers are introduced in the fall, in the form of manure or chicken manure, diluted in water in the ratio: 0 and: 0, which with rain and meltwater penetrate deep into the soil. Mineral fertilizers are introduced in the spring - 80 g of ammonium nitrate per bush.
What is the use of cutting red currants?
Of great importance for the red currant is pruning, which is aimed at the correct formation of the bush, Increasing resistance to diseases and ensuring regular high yields, not allowing fruits to be small.
In the red currant bushes, the shoot-forming ability is not clearly expressed, and the fruiting of its bouquet branches remains up to 10 years. Proceeding from this, bushes do not need radical pruning. For the formation of currants, it is more important to preserve sufficient thickening, and shoots of zero order should be regularly removed, leaving just a few branches for rejuvenation of the bush.
If it was decided to grow the red currant in the stem, then all zero shoots are removed, and growing sprout is used to pinch to stimulate the branching and the formation of more annuli (fruit branches). Regular pruning is carried out only if it is necessary to remove damaged, thickening and growing branches.
It should be firmly remembered that neglect of the trimming procedure can cause a significant reduction of yield and appearance of diseases and pests on the currant that spread rapidly in the stained stems.
Bushes should be constantly examined and cut the diseased and wrecked branches. For the prevention of diseases, it is recommended to treat the bush with 1% Bordeaux mixture a couple of weeks after flowering and after the removal of the fruit. Also for the control of pests, it is good to use lime milk with a solution of copper sulfate 4%. Such a mixture of bushes are processed in spring until the moment of bud budding.
Following the simple tips for planting and caring for the red currant, you can grow a decent harvest of vitamin-rich fruits and make them happy with themselves and their loved ones.
