Currant is an unpretentious shrub that bears fruit in small tasty fruits with a delicate aroma and unique taste. Although this plant (able to tolerate lowering air temperatures up to twenty-five degrees with a minus mark) is considered disease resistant and unassuming, it still needs timely and caring care.
How to properly prepare currants for winter, so that the bush does not freeze and continues to bear fruit with delicate appetizing berries? This will be discussed in this article.
Reasons for the preparations
Before we figure out how to prepare currants for winter, let's find out why this is recommended.
Although this plant is a truly frost-resistant crop, it still needs additional help for a safe wintering. This can occur due to the natural aging of the bush or its serious illness, since a weakened plant can no longer tolerate low temperatures as steadily as young and healthy shoots.
Moreover, the soil on which currants grow is depleted over time, which can also adversely affect shrubs. It ceases to receive useful substances in full, which means it becomes more lethargic and less able to tolerate high frosts.
If you carry out the necessary manipulations to prepare currants for winter, then this will favorably affect the whole culture:
- productivity will increase;
- the berries will become larger;
- the fruits will be enriched with useful vitamins;
- fruiting of the bush will increase by a few more years.
So, how to prepare currants for winter in the suburbs to achieve the above result?
General rules
First of all, you should realize that preparing each shrub for wintering is a complex procedure, including pruning of shoots, soil care and plant nutrition. In addition, it will be necessary to carry out special manipulations to bend the branches.
Let's take a closer look.
Autumn pruning
Recommendations on how to prepare currants for winter in the Moscow Region include the removal of dry and diseased branches, as well as old stems, which usually look excessively thick, with a dark brown color. It is also recommended to remove too thin young shoots, which will be difficult to cope with low temperatures and which will become an excessive load on the root of the plant.
Pruning should be done in late autumn, after the leaves fall. To do this, you can use secateurs and clippers. If there is a need to remove thick and old branches, you may need a saw on a tree.
Whatever tool you decide to use, it should be well sharpened and sharp so as not to cause painful damage to the shrub.
It is recommended to leave fruitful shoots, strong and strong, as well as young shoots located near the main trunk.
You can also thin out the bush by removing strong and healthy branches. This must be done so as not to overload the root system of the plant with many unnecessary shoots. In addition, this will increase the necessary access of sunlight to each individual branch.
According to observations, the optimal number of shoots on one shrub should not exceed fourteen to sixteen pieces.
How to prepare currants for winter using such pruning? The shoots should be cut as low as possible, trying not to leave even a couple of centimeters, as this can contribute to the new development of unwanted processes.
Are there any additional recommendations on how to prepare currants for winter in Siberia? Yes, for example, you can shorten the left shoots a little by cutting off their tips or tops. This will improve spring branching and make it more plentiful and favorable for the health and fruiting of the bush.
Soil disinfection
Various advice from gardeners on how to prepare currants for winter in Siberia also applies to the application of various fertilizers to the soil. However, first of all, the ground near the bush should be cleaned of what is the focus of pests and fungal diseases - obsolete mulch and fallen leaves. It is advisable to burn them or place them in a compost pit, away from garden crops.
You can disinfect the soil with the help of various compositions, such as copper sulfate, a three percent solution of copper chloroxide, potassium permanganate, a one percent solution of Bordeaux fluid.
The plant itself is also recommended to be disinfected. To do this, it is necessary to spray the entire bush with a urea solution (popular name - urea). To prepare the composition, it is necessary to dissolve one hundred grams of the active substance in ten liters of water. This tool will help get rid of fungus and all kinds of bacteria.
Digging the earth
Digging the ground is an important event in the matter of how to prepare currants for winter in the Urals. This should be done before the first frost.
In the process of digging, extreme care should be taken so as not to harm the root system of the bush. From the base of the bush, the soil should be dug along the perimeter equal to fifteen centimeters, to a depth of five to six centimeters.
This can be done using garden pitchforks, while at the same time applying organic fertilizers to the topsoil.
Soil recharge
Mineral fertilizers are recommended to be applied before digging. However, this can be done both during and after loosening. The main thing is to catch up to the rainy season.
What are the best minerals to use? According to numerous reviews by gardeners regarding how to prepare red currants for winter, potassium and phosphorus are considered optimal fertilizers. For this, you can use twenty to forty grams of potassium sulfate and fifty to eighty grams of superphosphate.
As a substitute or addition to these fertilizers, it is recommended to use wood ash diluted in water. However, it is important to observe some precautions. Firstly, ash cannot be used simultaneously with fertilizers, which include nitrogen, such as urea, manure, and litter. Secondly, the diluted ash should be applied immediately, it can not be stored in liquid, diluted form.
New mulching
After impregnation of the soil and its digging, the currant shrub should be again mulched with fresh components. It can be sawdust, husk from sunflower, dry leaves of non-fruit plants.
How to prepare currants for winter using mulch? First of all, it should be remembered that this tool is effective only if it is carried out before frost. Then covering the soil will save the bush from severe frosts and protect the moisture in the ground.
As soon as snow falls, they should cover the soil around the shrub and trample it slightly. If precipitation is not observed, and the air temperature is kept at “minus”, then it is recommended to sprinkle the plant with pine needles, foliage or agrofibre.
Branch bending
According to the reviews of experienced gardeners regarding how to prepare currants for winter, you can use another way that is unfamiliar to ordinary inhabitants. This method involves bending the branches of the bush to the ground.
Cropped shoots should be divided into three to four parts (three to five pieces each). Then bend the separated beams to the ground, pressing with a board or brick. The branches should be tilted carefully, in the direction of growth, so as not to break and not damage them.
In no case can you strengthen the bendable shoots with metal objects, as they will facilitate the transmission of frost along the branches of the plant.
If the temperature in the yard has dropped below thirty-five degrees of frost, and also if there is no precipitation in the form of snow, then it is recommended that the bush be buried with earth to a height of ten centimeters.
Finally
In this article, the basic principles and methods of how to prepare currants for winter were discussed. Gooseberries and other similar shrubs can be prepared for wintering using the same recommendations and tips.
First of all, it is necessary to perform high-quality and thorough care for the plant throughout the year, and then it can independently mobilize before severe frosts.
An important factor before wintering currants is its autumn pruning, as well as effective top dressing of the soil with disinfecting compounds and fertilizers. The bush itself can also be disinfected.
After this treatment, the berry shrub should be mulched. If necessary, it can be buried in the ground. An effective effective method is the bending of currant branches to the ground, which also needs to be done correctly and correctly.