Currants come in many varieties and varieties. The colors distinguish: black, white and red. Care and fertilizer for different varieties is no different. In addition to the usual pruning of bushes after harvesting, also throughout the year currants need to be fed with fertilizers. This procedure is carried out four times during the whole season.
The first feeding of currant
Even before the currant has released leaves and is about to begin to bloom, the very first top dressing for the whole year is performed. As soon as new young green shoots begin to form on the bushes, you need to immediately start fertilizing. The first feeding of currants in spring is carried out using nitrogen fertilizers - this is a mixture of 15 g of urea, 35 g of calcium nitrate, as well as 10 - 15 g of ammonia. Such a calculation is given for making under one bush. This is a great way to apply fertilizer if it wasn’t fertilized at all in the fall.
If nitrogen fertilizers were introduced in the fall , then organic fertilizers will be a great option for the first feeding. To do this, dilute the manure in a bucket of water by adding 2 teaspoons of urea. This mixture is applied in an amount of two liters per bush of currant. After completing such dressing, it is watered well.
Second feeding
Two weeks after the first feeding, it is necessary to proceed to the second. By this time, flowering is already ending on the bushes, and the first berries begin to set. During this period, non-aggressive fertilizers are used, such as humus, with the addition of rotted manure and one tablespoon of potassium sulfate.
As a complete top dressing of currant bushes in spring, another method can be used - this is a solution of fertilizer "Berry", which is diluted in proportion: 2 tablespoons per bucket of water. For one plant, the consumption of 3 liters of such fertilizers is required.
Third feeding
Two weeks later, when green berries form on the bushes, they can be sprayed with a solution of urea, diluted in a proportion of 2 teaspoons per 10 liters of water. This will be the top dressing of black currant in spring for the last time.
Fourth feeding
Only after harvesting, in the fall, the bushes are cut and fed for the fourth time this season. For this purpose, use this solution: 3 buckets of water, 3 tablespoons of potassium sulfate and the same amount of superphosphate. After watering the bushes with this mixture, it is recommended to add wood ash and humus under them. After this, usually one or more irrigation is still carried out. At this, the care and top dressing of currants in spring and throughout the year with fertilizers will be considered complete. And it will be repeated only in the next season.
Foliar top dressing
Well-established foliar top dressing of currants in spring with microelements. For this method, it is necessary to prepare a solution of 5 grams of potassium permanganate, 3 grams of boric acid and 40 grams of copper sulfate, diluted in 10 liters of water. Spraying with such a solution not only supplies plants with necessary microelements for healthy growth and fruiting, but also is the prevention of many diseases characteristic of this culture.
Alternative methods
If there is no time or desire to engage in the cultivation of special solutions, and feeding blackcurrant in spring is necessary, then you can use more universal and low-cost methods, such as planting lupins, peas, wikis in the aisle. These crops are federal, and after they grow, but have not yet bloomed, they must be mowed and mixed with the ground surrounding the currant bushes. Thus, during overheating, they will supply all the necessary nutrients, which does not take much time and financial costs.
Another good way is to apply long-playing fertilizers. Topping currants and gooseberries in spring can be carried out with special briquettes. There are so-called long-playing fertilizers on sale for gardeners, which are available in the form of tablets or sticks that need to be stuck near the base of the bush and they will slowly dissolve and feed the plants over a long period.
Filling currants in spring with organic fertilizers in the form of dissolved bird droppings will support and strengthen the plants without harming him or the health of a person who eats berries.
Spring care for currants, raspberries and gooseberries
At the first onset of heat, berry bushes must be sprayed with nitrofen, as well as karbofos. Topping up currants and gooseberries in spring is mandatory when the first leaves appear, as well as two or three times, with an interval of one week, it is necessary to spray them with a solution of soda ash and laundry soap, which are taken in equal amounts, 50 grams per 10 liters of water . This spray helps to avoid powdery mildew.
Feeding raspberries and currants in spring is carried out by irrigation with organic fertilizers, such as diluted mullein or bird droppings.
Since time immemorial, experienced gardeners have advised to water the bushes, until the buds swell, with hot water. This helps to get rid of ticks, which later settle in swollen buds, spreading the infection to healthy bushes, which is very difficult to prevent.
Currant, spring care, top dressing
Spring is an excellent period for the reproduction of currants. Usually two methods are used - pruning cuttings or dividing the bush into several shoots with roots and their further jigging. This is the easiest way, and for its implementation it is necessary to prepare the ground in advance. To do this, you need to dig a plot, remove weeds from it, sprinkle the hole with humus, with the expectation: to put 5-6 kg per hole for planting one bush of currant, it will be enough to add ammonium nitrate there, mix it all with the ground and plant a new plant to this place.
Plant it so that the root is deepened by about 10 centimeters. The distance between adjacent bushes should be one to one and a half meters. Newly planted young seedlings are abundantly watered.
They also use the second method - grafting or branching off branches for rooting; fertilizing the earth surrounding the mother plant is a good way. That will not only support and feed the main bush, but also give a good start for a young plant. It is formed much faster during shoot escapement if the earth is saturated with fertilizers and fertile.
Harvest and delicious varietal currants, spring care, and fertilizing with special fertilizers - these are all necessary components to get a good harvest.