Currant is a fairly popular berry in our gardens. Every summer resident even has a bush. Such popularity is due to the fact that this berry is incredibly healthy, tasty and aromatic. It is an invariable component of compotes, various jams, it is added to pastries, and also just eat raw. But in our gardens we are accustomed to see black currants, red, less often white. Almost everyone has them. But so far, few gardeners are aware of the existence of golden currants. Let's try to figure out why this particular species was left aside.
Origin history
Golden currant is another representative of the Gooseberry family. She, like one hundred and fifty of her brothers, belongs to deciduous shrubs. It got its start in America and Canada. Now in these territories this shrub can be found in almost every yard. As for Europe, this currant got here only in the eighteenth century. But even after receiving this plant, European gardeners considered it decorative for a while and planted it solely to decorate the site.
And also this species was a frequent inhabitant of the botanical garden. This was due to the presence of beautiful and fragrant flowers, as well as unusual leaves. But over time, breeders from Russia began to engage in the selection of this plant. Thanks to such a great scientist as Michurin, currants became widespread in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It was he who was able to develop the first variety of this plant, which became fundamental for all subsequent ones. In Russia, this berry was planted along forest belts, and such plantings have been preserved to this day.
Description of Golden Currant
This is primarily a deciduous shrub that weakly branches. It consists of fairly flexible shoots that can reach a height of three meters. These indicators significantly exceed the size of the usual red or black currants, which can be found in every garden in Russia.
This species has one central stem, which is the source of most of the other shoots. In general, the bush consists of many stems of different ages. Fruits almost every one of them. Shoots have a slightly red tint, some of them may be slightly pubescent.
A plus is the rather rapid growth of the bush. In one season, he can add up to forty centimeters. This is because this currant has a fairly powerful root system. In general, it is fibrous and the main part is close to the surface. However, the main root can go two meters deep.
Such currants have rather small leaves, only five centimeters in length, especially when compared with the more common species. Her leaves look more like gooseberry leaves. They are painted green. But the main feature of this shrub is its flowers. It was because of their golden color that he got his name. The flowers are quite small, have a tubular shape, collected in inflorescences. One inflorescence can have from five to fifteen flowers. But what is more valued here is not their appearance, beautiful shade, but the aroma that will not leave anyone indifferent. This aroma also makes currants a very valuable honey plant.
The bush blooms quite early, one of the first. Flowers appear even before the leaves, and this happens somewhere in mid-April. But the berries appear only after forty-five days. They can have a different color: from yellow to black. But each of them is not only very tasty, but also incredibly healthy. Good fruiting depends on whether there is another such bush nearby - this is a prerequisite. This shrub always gives a good harvest. If your site has at least one adult bush, then you can collect about seven kilograms of berries from it.
Breeding
There are several ways to propagate golden currants, and each of them is good in its own way. Therefore, if you want your site to have as many shrubs as possible, you can choose the most suitable method for yourself and use it. Next, we will try to parse each of them as detailed as possible.
Cuttings
One of the simplest and most reliable ways is reproduction by lignified cuttings. They can be found on almost every bush and choose the most suitable for yourself.
It all starts with the preparation of future planting material. Cuttings are cut in August from last year's shoots. The length of each handle cannot be less than twenty-five centimeters and more than thirty. Each stalk must have living buds. Prepared cuttings can be planted in autumn or spring. However, for the second method, they must be prepared. The cuttings are sealed with paraffin and wrapped with wet paper, and then wrapped in polyethylene. Received convolutions until spring are stored under the thickness of snow right on the street.
In the spring they are pulled out and cut off the bottom of the handle at an angle of forty-five degrees, and then lowered into the soil at the same angle. You can plant cuttings in containers, or you can directly into the open ground, but on a prepared site. The distance from one seedling to another cannot be less than fifteen centimeters, otherwise they will not be able to develop normally. Almost the entire body of the cuttings goes into the ground and only 2 healthy kidneys remain above the surface of the earth. After planting the beds must be watered, and also lay out a layer of mulch from sawdust. If you planted the cuttings directly in the open ground, then this area must be covered with a film. It will be possible to remove it only when two leaves appear on the seedlings.
Caring for golden currant seedlings is not too difficult. It is enough only to water and air them in time, as well as loosen the soil after each watering and remove weeds, if any. As for fertilizers, a mullein solution will be quite enough. In the fall, your cuttings will already reach a height of fifty centimeters and will even have several new shoots. If among them you will notice especially strong, then they can be safely transplanted to a permanent place.
Propagation by green cuttings
Propagation by green cuttings occurs a little differently. They can take root either in a greenhouse, or in special packages with soil. For rooting, cuttings that were cut not from the top of the shoot, but from its middle, are suitable. Each of them should have at least two green leaves, and the length should be ten centimeters. After the cut, the cuttings are placed in water for two weeks. During this time, roots about one centimeter long should appear on them.
During this time, you can prepare special packages with soil in which you need to make holes for the release of excess fluid. After two weeks, green sprouted cuttings are planted in these bags. Remember that you must moisten the ground well before planting. During the first ten days, the planted cuttings must be watered so abundantly that the soil in the bag resembles sour cream in consistency. On the eleventh day, watering should be substantially reduced.
In such conditions, cuttings are germinated until May. During this period, they can reach a height of sixty centimeters. And in May they can be safely removed from the packages and sent to the garden. Here they need to be deepened a little more than it was before landing in open ground.
Where to plant?
Experienced gardeners claim that golden currants can grow almost anywhere. She will feel quite normal in the sun or in the shade, she won’t be offended at all if you plant a bush on a flat area or on a hill. Quite often, this plant is used as a hedge.
Unpretentiousness is preserved in relation to the soil, but the yield will be richer if you select a site with fertile soil. Try not to choose the area where the currant will be in the lowland. Since in such places too much moisture usually accumulates or groundwater lies, and this golden currant does not like very much. Try to prepare the site in advance, preferably six months before the preliminary landing. On the surface of the soil should be scattered wood ash, and then dig to a depth of forty centimeters.
As for the holes, their depth should be sixty centimeters, and the length and width should be fifty. Planting of golden currant is carried out in prepared holes, which must be filled with humus, superphosphate, wood ash mixed with fertile soil. The root neck of the plant should go five centimeters underground. After planting, it is necessary to immediately produce abundant watering, and then mulch the entire root zone with peat.
If you organize care for golden currants according to all the rules of agricultural technology, then the crop will appear next year.
Watering
Once a week, you need to water the bushes that were planted this year. More mature individuals need abundant watering only during the period when berries are formed on them. Pay special attention to your currants if the summer is hot. If she does not get enough moisture, then the harvest will be sparse, and the berries are not tasty and juicy enough.
Loosening
As a mulch, it is best to use sawdust or peat. They are laid out in the root zone of each bush. And also the cultivation of golden currants involves loosening the soil between the rows. This is especially necessary in the autumn and spring. Over five years, shrubs grow quite rapidly and no longer need loosening and weeding.
Top dressing
If you want to get a good harvest from your bushes of golden currant, then do not be lazy in the spring and autumn to fertilize the soil for them. In the spring, it is best to use nitrogen fertilizers, and also during watering, pour a solution prepared from bird droppings under each bush. In the autumn, it is better to use superphosphate, wood ash and humus.
Pruning
For golden currant pruning is a must-have item, as for any other shrub. It is best to prune in the spring, because after the winter there are many damaged, frostbitten or broken branches that the shrub does not need at all, but pruning can be done in the fall. In the same period, it is recommended to remove all basal growth, which interferes with the development of the main bush. You can leave only the most powerful shoots, which can then serve as planting material. And also anti-aging pruning is performed, but quite rarely, only once every twelve years.
Pests and diseases
Currants of this species almost never get sick. There is a risk of rust, gray rot or septoria only if the gardener could not arrange proper care for the bush. If you find the presence of such diseases, then damaged parts of the plant should be immediately removed and destroyed, and the bush treated with copper sulfate or Bordeaux fluid. The same drugs can also be used as prophylaxis. As for pests, the aphid is considered the most terrible enemy. Insecticides enter the fight against it.