For the excellent fresh taste of berries, the high content of vitamins and valuable organic acids in them, gooseberries have long received a second, very respectful name - northern grapes. In amateur gardening, interest in this crop does not wane, and the cultivation of new varieties and hybrids resistant to the traditional powdery mildew disease served as an impetus for the manifestation of an even more active interest in the cultivation of this magnificent species.
Gooseberry: description
Being one of the most productive crops in the Russian garden, gooseberries are characterized by good winter hardiness, low demands on the planting site, soils and subsequent care, capable of growing in one area for up to 40 years. In the first 15-18 years, the peak of productivity falls, in subsequent years, fruit productivity begins to decline. This long-lived shrub is very decorative with proper care, even the presence of thorns does not spoil the overall picture: a strong gooseberry bush is covered with dense shiny three- or five-lobed leaves, through which large single berries peep, garland scattered on branches that fall under the weight of the crop.
The color of the berries can be different - from emerald green and amber yellow to burgundy and blue-black. It depends on the variety. However, the spikes on the branches are no longer the hallmark of gooseberries, as grandiose breeding studies have been carried out and successfully grown bearingless varieties and hybrids. Gooseberries start growing and bloom before all garden crops. Fruiting occurs in one and a half to two months in a friendly, almost simultaneous ripening of berries. Propagate the culture exclusively during the dormant period - in autumn or early spring.
How to plant gooseberries in spring
Experienced gardeners recommend planting gooseberry seedlings in the fall, but in the spring, as soon as the soil thaws, this can be successfully done. Given that the berry wakes up early, you need to have time to finish all planting work before this time.
This is the main condition in the question of how to plant gooseberries in spring. They start with choosing a place and preparing the soil, which is best done in advance, in the fall.
We are looking for a landing site
Like any berry, gooseberries are not indifferent to sunny, well-ventilated areas with fertile, drained, breathable soil without a close approach or standing ground water.
But the structure of the soil culture is undemanding. Gooseberries grow excellently on any soil with a neutral reaction, without transferring only wetlands or acidic lands. Cultivation on various soils has its own peculiarities, so clay will have to be loosened more often, and a large rate of organics should be added to sandstone and sandy.
Seedling preparation
One or two year old seedlings are considered optimal for planting. When buying planting material, you should carefully inspect the root system.
It should consist of several skeletal lignified components no shorter than 15-20 cm long with developed lateral roots. The condition of the aerial parts is no less important - one or two strong viable stems should not be less than 40 cm in length. All rotten or broken parts must be removed. Sapling roots cannot be left in the open air; they quickly dry and lose their viability. For better survival, gooseberry seedlings are placed in a solution of a biostimulator, for example, Epina, Zircon or Kornevin before planting.
Preparing the ground
For spring planting, cultures dig a hole 0.5-0.6 m deep, 0.4-0.5 m in diameter. If the seedling is small, then the size of the hole will be smaller. The topsoil is mixed with 10 kg of humus or compost, 300 g of wood ash and 100 g of superphosphate. If the soil is acidic, add 50 g of dolomite flour. To balance the soil in sandy soils, a clay layer 6-8 cm thick is laid at the bottom of the pit, and heavy clay is drained by adding coarse river sand. Prepared mixture of 2/3 fill the pit and generously watered. Stack the seedling at an angle of 45 °, smoothly spreading the roots and making sure that they do not bend up.
This situation stimulates the rapid buildup of the root system, the formation of basal shoots, and, as a result, the young plant is easier to take root. Gooseberry seedlings are placed with a deepening of the root neck of 3-5 cm. Then the plant is carefully closed, compacted so that no voids form at the roots, and water abundantly. Overhead shoots are shortened to 15-20 cm, leaving 4-5 growth buds on each.
Care for young bushes
It is not enough to learn how to plant gooseberries in the spring, it is necessary and properly to take care of the plantings. Concern for the normal development of planted plants is manifested in regular weeding, cultivation and watering. It is possible to significantly facilitate care by mulching the soil under plants with humus, straw, chopped tree bark or rotted sawdust. A 5-7 cm layer of mulch on the soil surface creates comfortable conditions for root formation, retains moisture, inhibits the growth of weeds and extra root shoots.
The main danger to the plant
Gooseberry pests are not very numerous, but, unfortunately, the culture, especially its large-fruited varieties, is often damaged by powdery mildew. It affects all the aboveground parts, first appearing in a light spider web coating, darkening with time and turning into a dark crust, enveloping shoots, leaves and berries. All parts of the gooseberry that were attacked by the fungus stop growing, dry out, blacken and rot.
There are new, resistant to powdery mildew, gooseberry varieties - "Pyatiletka", "American Mountain", "Mysovsky-37", "Mysovsky-17" and some others. But if you can’t get any of them, you need to be prepared to protect your plantings, since a malicious mushroom can destroy the entire infected bush. How to treat gooseberries and how to act in such cases?
In early spring before bud swelling or late fall (during dormancy), it is recommended to treat the affected bushes with a 4% solution of copper sulfate. In the summer, when the culture is damaged, it is necessary to immediately remove and burn all parts of the plant, up to a young growth and berries that have set in with signs of the disease. It is possible to prevent the spread of the fungus by treating it with an aqueous solution of soda ash in a proportion of 50 g per 10 l of water.
Instead of chemicals, organic solutions can be used to spray the bushes. Here is some of them:
- One third of the 10-liter bucket is filled with rotted hay or manure, poured with 3 liters of water, insisted for three days. Then the infusion is filtered and diluted with water to 10 liters. Spray bushes three times a week.
- 1 liter of whey is dissolved in 9 liters of water and the culture is treated 3-5 times.
Spraying with any of the listed solutions is carried out in calm cloudless weather or in the evening.
So, highlighting the question of how to plant gooseberries in spring, along the way, we talked about how to protect it from a dangerous disease.