Pruning and top dressing when pruning gooseberries in autumn

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In order to get a good harvest, every plant, including gooseberry, should be given due attention. Caring for plants should be throughout the year.

In this article we will talk about care for gooseberry in the fall. How to cut, feed, watering, and shelter for the winter.

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Importance of care for gooseberry in autumn

Some inexperienced gardeners believe that the most important thing is to harvest the harvest in time and you can be calm until the spring. This is a misconception. Autumn care should continue when most plants are grown. The same applies to gooseberry. Gooseberries are considered unpretentious plants, but, nevertheless, depending on how the bushes will be prepared for the passage of winter, the magnitude of the subsequent harvest depends.

Autumn care is very important.

It is during this period that a complex of works is carried out, which helps bushes to survive in the cold season, and prepare gooseberries for the next season. Autumn care protects gooseberry from disease, ensure the correct formation of branches and contributes to the accumulation of nutrients in the soil.

In autumn, gooseberry needs pre-winter care

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Stages of autumn care for gooseberry

The long practice of growing gooseberries shows that in order to obtain a good harvest before the winter begins, it is necessary to perform the following works:

• treatment of the root zone;
• disease prevention;
• pruning;
• top dressing of gooseberry;
• watering;
• shelter for the winter.

Treatment of the root zone

First of all, you should start with garbage collection. In the radical zone, by the fall, foliage, crushed and rotten berries accumulate. All this garbage must be removed with subsequent combustion.

Then we need to remove all the weeds around the rhizome, as well as the usual lobster.In order not to damage the roots of gooseberries, weeds should not be pulled out, but gently scooped out.Usually under the bushes sprouts grass. This weed is very draining soil, so it should be cleaned immediately.

In autumn it is necessary to begin with the harvesting of the basal rubbish

Disease Prevention

By the autumn, on some bushes of gooseberries can appear foci of various diseases.

To prevent them from developing in the fall, it is necessary to carry out preventive work to destroy the painful foci. Begin these works immediately after harvest, when the bushes do not have berries.First you need to clarify the extent of the lesion.

If they have reached such a scale that the plant can no longer be saved, then they should be sacrificed. It must be excavated and burned until ash is formed. Sorry about the loss should not be, because in this way other diseases are protected from illnesses. If the pockets are small, then you can get rid of them by cutting.

In any case, to prevent disease, bushes and soil under them should be fertilized with Bordeaux liquid or copper sulfate.You can also use the solution of Inta-vir. Good results show the foundation and topaz preparation.

Like in spring, gooseberries also need fertilizers in the fall

Pruning of bushes

Pruning is necessary to ensure that the bush is well lit. When pruning, the plant is freed from diseased, broken and lying branches on the ground.

Crop gooseberries should be annually.However, full pruning is recommended to begin when the bush has reached the age of six.

Cut the underdeveloped branches located in the basal part is necessary for the next year.With such pruning, it is recommended to leave no more than 3-4 strong shoots.

A full-fledged trimming procedure should be started from the middle of autumn. To do this, you need to stock up a good sharp pruner and dense gloves. In order not to transfer the foci of disease from one bush to another, you should periodically wipe the pruner with alcohol.

Before pruning, the plant should be inspected carefully.Determine its density and make sure of the presence or absence of disease.

First cut out all the branches that prevent the bush from developing, usually when they are surveyed they catch your eye. Then cut all the broken branches and those that lie on the ground or are too low from it. If you leave them, then the berries will come into contact with the ground and get bogged down.

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Autumn pruning of gooseberries

The next stage of cutting involves decimation.Over the summer on the bush there are shoots that thicken the plant. Such shoots usually grow in the center. A thick bush is weakly blown by the wind, and, therefore, becomes unprotected from the formation of fungal diseases. And the harvest is tied to external branches, and this leads to a decrease in yields. Branches located inside the plant should be cut out, and the places of the cuts should be sealed with garden wax or special garden paint.

When pruning it is recommended to rejuvenate the planting a little.To do this, cut stems older than 5 years.

Thus, on the bush should be left only young, well-developed stems. If the age of gooseberry is 6-7 years, then it leaves 5-6 stems. They should be placed evenly throughout the crown.It is checked that such shoots for the next year will yield a high yield.

Fertilizer of gooseberries

Top dressing should be carried out throughout the plant care season. The first time you need to feed in the spring. For the first feeding, a solution of nitrophosphate with urea is used.

The next top dressing should be before flowering. It consists of wood ash, which is sprinkled around the gooseberry and potassium sulfate, which feed the roots. At the same time, gooseberries must be fed with organic fertilizers, such as "Berry" or "Feeder".

Fertilizer berry for top dressing of gooseberries

The third for the spring and summer of feeding is produced in the period when the first fruits begin to be tied.Nitrofosca and liquid fertilizer "Ideal" are used for this treatment.

Autumnal feeding is of particular importance. From that, so the correct feeding will be carried out, the total number of berries, their size and taste qualities depends.

Autumn top dressing should be started in August. The fact is that gooseberries in order to assimilate useful substances need about 3 weeks. If such a top dressing is left for a later time, the earth begins to cool down and the root system begins to go into a state of rest. In this state, it is not able to absorb and absorb useful substances and feeding will not be effective.

For autumn feeding the following fertilizers are used:

• phosphate.They contribute to the strengthening of the root system, as well as to supply the process of sap movement with carbohydrates;
• Potash.These fertilizers remove excess water from the stems during the winter and increase their frost resistance;
• organic.Their introduction raises productivity. Especially popular are fertilizers such as manure, litter and compost;
• wood ash.It is intended for saturation of gooseberry with mineral elements.

Wood ashes are necessary for gooseberries both during planting and as they grow

Watering

Autumn watering is only necessary when the autumn is marked by dry and warm weather. If there are heavy rains in the fall, then such irrigation is not effective, and it should not be carried out.

The procedure for watering is very simple. For this, a small groove is dug around the bush and water is fed into it.The amount of water can be not less than 30 liters for each bush.After the water has absorbed into the ground, the groove is covered with a layer of earth.

Watering for each bush should be carried out at the rate of 30 liters.

Good shelter for the winter

To save the bush in the winter, it must be protected from frost. This is usually done in late autumn. With the beginning of the first frosts, it is necessary to bend the branches to the ground and fix them in the lower position with the help of pegs.

To protect the root system, it must be defused. For mulching, peat, leaves or needles can be applied.

One of the options for sheltering the bush

Practice has shown that plants are best preserved under a layer of snow. For this purpose, in regions where snowy winters are issued, the gooseberry bushes should be covered with a layer of snow. This is done immediately after the first snow falls. In very severe frosts, to prevent the branches from freezing, dried grass is thrown on them or they are covered with shields made of cardboard or plywood.The grass has been prepared since the fall and its stock should be kept until spring.

Thus, if you follow correctly all the recommendations for caring for gooseberries, including autumn work, then you can get good harvests every year. In addition, the autumn processing of gooseberry bushes ensures their preservation for many years. For currants and raspberries, care is similar.

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