We have collected for you complete information about the gooseberry variety “commander”: description, agricultural technology, advantages and disadvantages, a botanical certificate of culture, and expert reviews. No gardener will deprive this amazing bush of attention. Berries are rich in healthy vitamins and minerals. Although inactively used fresh, the gooseberry “commander” produces excellent jam and delicious jam that will not leave indifferent even the most sophisticated lover of goodies.
Botanical certificate of the plant
The berry is of medium height, capable of reaching 1.5 meters. Shoots are not pubescent, with a matte skin color, closer to the base woody. Thickness of shoots up to 100 mm. Gooseberry The branches located on the sunny side have a pinkish color. Both leaves and medium-sized berries. The leaves are slightly larger than the berries in diameter, painted in a saturated green color. The surface of the sheet is shiny, medium density. The berry is actively fruiting. With a plentiful harvest, a slightly spreading, but dense bush form is formed.
Fruit Description
The berries are round, average weight up to 6 grams, the color is maroon with well-defined veins. Ripe fruits are fragrant, have high palatability. Great for the production of jam, jam, juice, suitable for fresh consumption, the purpose is universal.
Reference! “Vladil” is the name for the gooseberry variety “commander”. Description of the species: crossed hybrid bred to improve the basic characteristics of the berry. A distinctive feature is self-pollination. The plant is characterized by an early ripening of berries. The first crop ripens by mid-June. In a favorable climate, the berry fruit bears fruit for a long time. During the fruiting period of the bush, you can get a high yield - up to 6 kg.
Inside the berries are fleshy and juicy, the skin is thin, because the gooseberry fruits are difficult to transport.
Positive and negative qualities
Gooseberry beshipny "commander" has a lot of advantages, among which are:
- high yields;
- the absence of thorns on the stems and shoots, which makes it easy to pick berries without injuring the skin of the hands;
- the berry shows resistance to low temperatures;
- simplicity in leaving;
- fast ripening fruit.
There are not so many minuses as positive qualities, but they, as gardeners note in their reviews, are present. There is a need for constant monitoring of berry maturity and periodic harvesting, since gooseberries bear fruit all summer.
Distinctive features
It refers to the gooseberry variety "commander", the description of which you have already studied, refers to the second group of varieties bred in the process of crossing. So, in the process, it turns out a new, more resistant to climatic conditions berry.
A distinctive feature of the gooseberry selection variety is its berries; in taste they are inferior to the fruits of the varieties belonging to the first variety group. Ripe berries must be picked immediately, as they do not stay on branches for a long time.
Landing Features
Sandy-loamy, loamy, sod-podzolic soil is an ideal place of growth for the Commander gooseberry variety. The characteristics of a place suitable for cultivation are determined by the illumination and windiness of the area intended for planting. It is best not to plant the berry on grassroots areas where groundwater and rainfall accumulate. Under such conditions, the plant may die.
Where to start landing?
Many people ask: "How to plant gooseberries correctly?" This process is painstaking, and agricultural technology itself consists of a number of stages.
The first stage is preparing the soil for planting. When rooting a berry on loamy soils, there is no need to dig up the entire plot of land. In other cases, the entire bed is plowed, and the soil is mixed with sand in a proportion of 10 kg per 1 m 2 , after which it is again interrupted, thoroughly mixing the soil substance. This procedure is done 7 days before the time of shrub planting. If before that other crops grew on the site selected for planting, then it must be fertilized with a mixture of peat and humus.
Well preparation
It is necessary to plant in a prepared hole with a depth of up to 30 cm and a diameter of 50-65 cm, dusting with earth from above. Gooseberry saplings of the Commander variety are placed strictly vertically in the wells. The description of the planting scheme found that young seedlings require additional feeding. To do this, add a shovel of straw manure and a glass of ground limestone to each hole, lightly sprinkle with earth from the garden, and on top with wood ash (about 300 grams).
Remember! So that the seedling takes root faster, soak it a day before planting in a potassium solution. The solution is prepared on the basis of the proportion: 1 tbsp. l powder per 1 liter of water. Then gooseberry "commander" is watered. Planting and care is based on the basic rules of berry farming.
Each well is thoroughly irrigated with water (about 5 liters goes to one hole). They do not tamp the soil, but wait until it settles on its own. After that, in the first decade of October, gooseberry seedlings “commander” are planted. Characteristics of the plant allow it to easily take root and winter.
The intricacies of gooseberry care
You've probably heard that the secret to a rich harvest is actually in caring for the plant. Follow some rules so that your fruitful work is crowned with a rich harvest of gooseberries.
Rule 1
Good oxygen access to the roots of the plant provides a high level of offspring. To do this, loosening the soil: the soil is not deep (up to 15 cm) dig. The procedure is carried out carefully so as not to damage the root system.
Rule 2
Constantly monitor the degree of weed overgrowing. It is recommended that weeds be removed every two weeks after the gooseberry "commander" has been planted. Growing a bush on a clean, non-clogged bed allows it to receive more nutrients from the soil.
Expert advises!
- In case of root damage during loosening, there is a risk of losing the plant. To save it, dig in the damaged area of the root process with moistened plastic clay, and sprinkle with earth on top of the site.
- To ripen the fruits sooner, and the berries were juicy, pinch the upper branches. To do this, place a support in the center of the berry. To her, using the clamps, reinforce the main fruitful branches so that the ovaries receive maximum light. This procedure is done only after the formation of the ovaries, otherwise the flowers will not be able to pollinate.
Watering and fertilizing gooseberries
Butt loves water, but cannot grow in a humid environment. It is necessary to water the berry systematically, generously irrigating the bush, especially in the hot season. Watering is carried out only early in the morning, allocating about 3 liters of water per gooseberry bush “commander”, a description of the variety and a photo of which has been prepared for you. This will help the berry to survive the drought less painfully. After sunset, the bushes are abundantly sprayed with water in order to nourish the leaves weakened by heat.
Feeding Features
In the first year of life, intensive gooseberry fertilizer “commander” is required. Top dressing in the form of potash and nitrogen fertilizers is applied with a calculation of 10 g. 1 m 2 , after which the bush is watered abundantly.
Notice! If you are not too good with phosphate fertilizers, supplements are easy to prepare with your own hands. Do not throw away the remains of foods rich in iodine, phosphorus and potassium (carrots, beets, bananas). Use them to feed gooseberry bushes. The skins are crushed to a state of slurry and drip under each of the berry bushes. For each plant, approximately 1 cup of ground skins is needed.
A more effective way of plant nutrition looks like this:
- For the first time, top dressing is carried out at the time of formation of the first leaves. To do this, prepare 10 liters of standing water, in which 2 tbsp. l nitrofoski 1 l. urea. On one bush leaves 5 liters. prepared solution.
- The second feeding is carried out during the flowering period of gooseberry "commander". Mix "Berry" in the amount of 2 tbsp. l bred in 10 liters. water, adding to it 1 tbsp. l potassium sulfate. The amount of feed is identical to the previous one.
- The third time fertilizing is carried out during the transition of the plant to the vegetative phase. According to 1 tbsp. l potassium humate and nitrophosphates are diluted in 10 l of water. The resulting solution is added to the gooseberry bushes.
Yield increase through pruning
If a plant is planted in the fall, one year before the next fall, the bush gives offspring of up to 10 shoots. Of this number, only 4 of the strongest and most healthy branches are left. This procedure is recommended to be carried out during the first three years of the berry's life, until the final formation of the bush.
After 5-6 years, the adult, shaped bush is cleaned, cutting off damaged, dry or non-bearing branches, leaving up to 10 cm from the root. Such a move will help preserve the strength of the bush and direct them to recovery and more productive fruiting.
After the last harvest, gooseberries are cut. In the spring, the culture begins an active movement of juices, which is characteristic of absolutely all gooseberry varieties. If you cut the branch during this period, the bush may not bloom, which, consequently, will lead to loss of crop this year.
Reference! Specialists strictly prohibit manually breaking branches off. Cut the shoots only using secateurs. By breaking branches, you damage them. In the places of breaks, holes are formed in which small parasites and pests penetrate, as a result of which painful manifestations begin in the shrub.
In the first 12 months after planting a seedling from the formed shoots, the strongest and strongest are chosen. It is cut off, leaving only 30 cm from the ground. Smaller shoots are cut off completely, to the very bottom. Such a procedure is carried out after 14 days from the moment of planting on the garden, but before the buds swell, otherwise the fruiting cycle may be violated and the gooseberry will bloom in autumn.
Cultural Diseases and Pests
How to plant a gooseberry, how to care for it, you already know. It remains to deal with diseases and pests of this variety.
Gooseberry "commander" shows resistance to pests of the group of sawflies, but everything is negatively affected by some diseases characteristic of the berry, namely:
- Mosaic. If damaged on healthy gooseberry leaves, strips of yellowish tint appear in color. It is they who eventually draw vitality from the leaves, drying them out. Such a disease characteristic of shrubs is not amenable to treatment. Therefore, dry bushes that died from the mosaic are uprooted and burned.
- Septoria (columnar rust), when damaged, brown spots resembling burns form on gooseberry leaves. To prevent infection of the bushes, pour the affected plants with a solution of Fitosporin, and spray the berry itself with a solution of Bordeaux liquid.
In addition to diseases, gooseberries are also affected by pests:
- Shoot aphid. Pest prophylaxis is carried out using a solution of laundry soap (10 g of grated soap per 1 liter of water), which shoots are treated with after removing aphid larvae from branches.
- The moth is a butterfly that eats gooseberry leaves and flowers, laying eggs on the remaining leaves. For prophylaxis, the plant is treated with Akletik, Kinmis, Lepidocide, following the instructions for the drug.
- Willow scale is an insect that feeds on fresh juices of young shoots, interfering with the normal life cycle of the plant. Processing is carried out with a specially prepared solution: 10 l of water, 10 g of soda, 10 g of calcium.
Productivity
Fruiting begins from the beginning to mid-July. Timing can be regulated, depending on climatic conditions, temperature, soil and air humidity. Competent agricultural technology allows you to get a selective crop. Gooseberry "commander" productivity shows from 3.5 to 6.5 kg from one bush.
Important! Try to pick gooseberry berries with the stalk, so the berries will retain their freshness longer.
It is not recommended to collect gooseberries immediately after rain, since the moisture received will go not to the formation of new fruits, but to the restoration of the bush. In addition, wet fruits are not stored for long. It is immediately necessary to process gooseberry berries “commander”. Description of the variety, photos and instructions will help you understand how to properly grow this crop.
Reviews
To be aware of all the nuances associated with the features of growing and caring for the berry, you need to pay attention to the reviews. Gardeners willingly grow gooseberry "commander." Reviews indicate that culture likes frequent watering. This is what contributes to the active fruiting of the shrub, gooseberry lovers say.
Gardeners pay special attention to gooseberries. They talk a lot about them, generally leaving positive reviews about the culture.
Children are the main connoisseurs of gooseberry berries "commander". The reviews are explained by the acquired taste and the structure of the berries: inside they are juicy and fleshy, seedless.
Gooseberry “commander” is an agrotechnical culture that is in demand among experienced gardeners, amateurs, beginners. Although it requires special care, labor near the bushes is rewarded with a generous harvest.