Basically, all planting work in gardens and summer cottages falls at the beginning of spring. Gooseberries were no exception. Planting in the spring requires attention and speed. You can plant bushes only after thawing the soil, but strictly before the buds swell. This rule cannot be neglected. It is from this basic criterion that one must proceed if it is planned to cultivate gooseberries. Planting in the spring, at precisely the right time, ensures the survival of the bush.
Gooseberry
Gooseberries belong to the group of perennial shrubs. It can reach a height of one and a half meters. Begins to bear fruit in the second year. The maximum yield occurs in the fourth year, and the fruiting itself lasts more than 15 years.
A powerful root system extends to a depth of up to 60 cm. Flowering begins in mid-late April or early May, depending on which climate zone the bush is planted in. Fruiting begins in July. Berries ripen unevenly. They can have a different color: green, yellow, purple, burgundy. The shape of the fruit can also be different: spherical, cylindrical, ovoid, pear-shaped, round.
Here are a few varieties that are very popular among gardeners in central Russia:
路 Russian. Tall early ripe variety, berries are not large - 4 grams, taste sweet and sour, color - dark red, yield reaches 6 kg from the bush.
Malachite Tall, mid-season, berries weighing up to 6 grams, green, have a sweet taste, yield up to 7 kg.
路 Date fruit. High late ripening grade. The berries are large, the weight of one fruit is up to 20 grams, an unusual purple hue. The taste is sweet and sour, productivity - up to 12 kg.
Seat selection
Planting gooseberries in spring and autumn requires equally careful selection of a place for the bush. Given the long period of fruiting (some varieties can be pleased with the harvest for almost 20 years), the right place guarantees a high yield of fruits and does not require transplanting to another part of the garden for any reason.
It is good to plant gooseberries along the fence or the border of the site so that the buildings are no closer than 2 meters. The same distance is maintained for neighboring trees or shrubs. Do not plant gooseberries in the area where raspberries or currants grew before (they greatly deplete the soil).
The plant loves light, warmth and lack of wind. The soil is preferably loamy, wetlands, sandy or acidic soil are categorically not suitable. Groundwater - at the level of 1.5 meters to the surface of the earth. Excessive moisture can rot the root of the bush.
Gooseberry planting in spring requires preparation of the site itself. It is freed from the rhizomes of old plants and weeds, dug up to a depth of 30 cm and leveled. Be sure to fertilize the soil. Fertilizers can be manure, potash and phosphate top dressing.
Planting gooseberries in the spring can be greatly simplified if preparatory work was carried out in the fall: the land was cleaned and cultivated, holes were dug for planting bushes.
Landing in spring
The day before planting, the roots of the seedlings are soaked in a special antibacterial solution or in a solution with fertilizers. After a thorough inspection, the seedlings themselves are exempted from dry and weak shoots damaged by roots. Planting gooseberries in the spring includes several stages:
路 Preparation of land on the site;
Digging pits 50 cm deep on light soils, up to 70 cm on heavy soils, diameter - 0.5 meters;
路 Planting seedlings;
路 Fertilizing and tamping (it is better to make a mixture: 300 grams of wood ash and 200 grams of superphosphate per bucket of humus);
路 Backfill the pit with earth (tamp well);
路 Plentiful watering of a plant.
Shortening the shoots by five centimeters will provide good branching. It is advisable to leave about five buds on each shoot. Experienced gardeners recommend planting different gooseberries. Landing in the spring should take place on a quiet, calm, cloudy day.
Depending on the gooseberry variety, there are two ways of planting:
路 Vertical planting is suitable for varieties in which a large number of root shoots are formed;
路 At an angle to the ground at 45 0 , which leads to the development of lateral roots and shoots and significantly increases the base of the bush.
The procedure is not at all complicated, any beginner amateur gardener will cope with it.
Care
Some care is required for gooseberries in the spring. Planting provides an initial dose of nutrition, but this is not enough. In the period of the appearance of leaves for fertilizing plants, nitrophosces and urea are used.
The second spring dressing is carried out at the very beginning of flowering of the bush. Organic fertilizers, calcium phosphate are well suited. The third time the bushes are fertilized at the time of setting the first berries.
Gooseberry irrigation also has its subtleties: you cannot water it with cold water using the rain method. In dry weather, the plant is especially demanding for timely and regular watering.
During the spring-summer period, weeding is required to a depth of 10 cm.
Treatment
Gooseberries suffer from attacks of diseases and pests. The first sign of powdery mildew are gray spots on the leaves and shoots. The easiest and most effective way to combat this scourge is a solution of baking soda (five grams per liter of water). A solution of iron sulfate (three grams per liter of water) also helps.
To protect against fire pests, sawflies, sawflies, aphids, they use a special drug - "Karyufos". An ash solution can be used. To cook it, you need to dilute one kilogram of wood ash in three liters of water. Processing is carried out in the spring, if necessary repeat.
Harvesting
The main crop falls in the summer months. Berries can be picked from mid-July to mid-August. A significant advantage of gooseberries is the fact that the berries, even reaching full maturity, do not crumble.
The yield of the bush depends on the age of the plant, variety and weather conditions. Modern breeding varieties are aimed at increasing productivity and resistance to adverse conditions.
With untimely planting in frozen ground or after swelling of the kidneys, you can lose gooseberries. Planting in the spring is very strictly tied to these requirements. In autumn, it is easier to plant a plant. A month and a half before the onset of frost, the planted gooseberry will have time to take root in a new place and even grow young roots.