For some, the time of sowing seeds for seedlings is a long-awaited and pleasant chores, for some it is a difficult necessity, while others are wondering whether it would be easier to buy ready seedlings at the market or with friends? Be that as it may, even if you gave up growing vegetable crops, for sure, you will still have to sow something. These are flowers and perennials, conifers and much more. A seedling is still a seedling, no matter what you sow.
A lover of moist air and one of the most compact and rare orchids, pafinia is a real star for most orchid growers. Its flowering rarely lasts longer than a week, but it can be an unforgettable sight. You want to look at the unusual striped patterns on the huge flowers of the modest orchid endlessly. IN indoor culture pafinia is rightly ranked among the difficult-to-grow species. It became fashionable only with the spread of interior terrariums.
Pumpkin ginger marmalade is a warming sweet that can be prepared almost all year round. Pumpkin keeps for a long time - sometimes I manage to save a few vegetables until summer, fresh ginger and lemons are always available these days. Lemon can be replaced with lime or orange to create different flavors - variety in sweets is always nice. The finished marmalade is placed in dry jars; it can be stored at room temperature, but it is always healthier to prepare fresh products.
In 2014, the Japanese company Takii seed introduced petunia with a striking petal color - salmon-orange. By association with bright colors southern sunset sky, the unique hybrid is called African Sunset. Needless to say, this petunia instantly won the hearts of gardeners and was in great demand. But in the last two years, the curiosity has suddenly disappeared from store windows. Where did the orange petunia go?
Our family loves sweet peppers, so we plant them every year. Most of the varieties that I grow have been tested by me for more than one season; I cultivate them constantly. I also try to try something new every year. Pepper is a heat-loving plant and quite whimsical. Varietal and hybrid varieties of tasty and productive sweet peppers, which grow well for me, will be discussed further. I live in central Russia.
Meat cutlets with broccoli in béchamel sauce - great idea for a quick lunch or dinner. Start by preparing the mince and at the same time heat 2 liters of water to a boil to blanch the broccoli. By the time the cutlets are fried, the cabbage will be ready. All that remains is to collect the ingredients in a frying pan, season with sauce and bring to readiness. Broccoli needs to be cooked quickly to preserve its bright green color, which, when cooked for a long time, either fades or the cabbage turns brown.
Home floriculture - not only exciting process, but also a very troublesome hobby. And, as a rule, the more experience a grower has, the healthier his plants look. What should those who have no experience but want to have a home do? houseplants- not elongated, stunted specimens, but beautiful and healthy ones, not causing a feeling of guilt with their fading? For beginners and gardeners who are not burdened long experience, I’ll tell you about the main mistakes that are easy to avoid.
Lush cheesecakes in a frying pan with banana-apple confiture - another recipe for everyone’s favorite dish. To prevent cheesecakes from falling off after cooking, remember a few simple rules. Firstly, only fresh and dry cottage cheese, secondly, no baking powder or soda, thirdly, the thickness of the dough - you can sculpt from it, it is not tight, but pliable. Good dough with a small amount of flour you will only get good cottage cheese, but here again see the “firstly” point.
It is no secret that many drugs from pharmacies have migrated to summer cottages. Their use, at first glance, seems so exotic that some summer residents are perceived with hostility. At the same time, potassium permanganate is a long-known antiseptic that is used in both medicine and veterinary medicine. In plant growing, a solution of potassium permanganate is used both as an antiseptic and as a fertilizer. In this article we will tell you how to properly use potassium permanganate in the garden.
Pork meat salad with mushrooms is a rural dish that can often be found on festive table in the village. This recipe is with champignons, but if possible, use Forest mushrooms, then be sure to cook it this way, it will be even tastier. You don’t need to spend a lot of time preparing this salad - put the meat in a pan for 5 minutes and another 5 minutes for slicing. Everything else happens practically without the participation of the cook - the meat and mushrooms are boiled, cooled, and marinated.
Cucumbers grow well not only in a greenhouse or conservatory, but also in open ground. Typically, cucumbers are sown from mid-April to mid-May. Harvesting in this case is possible from mid-July to the end of summer. Cucumbers cannot tolerate frost. That's why we don't sow them too early. However, there is a way to bring their harvest closer and taste the juicy beauties from your garden at the beginning of summer or even in May. It is only necessary to take into account some of the features of this plant.
Poliscias – great alternative classic variegated shrubs and trees. The elegant round or feathery leaves of this plant create a strikingly festive curly crown, and its elegant silhouettes and rather modest character make it an excellent candidate for the role of the largest plant in the house. More large leaves do not prevent it from successfully replacing Benjamin and Co. ficuses. Moreover, polyscias offers much more variety.
Pumpkin cinnamon casserole is juicy and incredibly tasty, a little like pumpkin pie, but unlike pie, it is more tender and just melts in your mouth! This is the perfect sweet recipe for a family with children. As a rule, kids don’t really like pumpkin, but they never mind eating something sweet. Sweet pumpkin casserole is a delicious and healthy dessert, which, moreover, is very simple and quick to prepare. Try it! You'll like it!
A hedge is not only one of the most important elements landscape design. It also performs various protective functions. If, for example, the garden borders a road, or a highway passes nearby, then hedge simply necessary. “Green walls” will protect the garden from dust, noise, wind and create a special comfort and microclimate. In this article, we will look at the optimal plants for creating a hedge that can reliably protect the area from dust.
Red and white currants are propagated by woody shoots, and in late summer - early autumn by layering and green cuttings “with a heel”, that is, with part of a two-year-old shoot. However, any method requires skill and experience, since the ability to take root of this currant, alas, is much worse than that of black currant, so for its rooting it is necessary to use various root formation stimulants.
The simplest and effective method propagation by horizontal layering. Such layerings can be obtained from most shoots of a young (3-, 5-year-old) bush.
In early spring, the soil under the mother bushes is loosened and fertilized with organic and mineral fertilizers.
Then shallow (up to 10–12 cm) grooves are made, 1- and 2-year-old well-developed shoots are placed in them, pinned tightly with hooks in several places, and the middle part of the shoot is sprinkled with earth, leaving the upper end above the soil surface. When vertical shoots grow to 8–10 cm, they are hilled up with loose and moist soil, then after 2–3 weeks the hilling is repeated (Fig. 11). During the summer, the soil with layerings is watered abundantly and mulched with organic materials.
Rice. 11. Layering after hilling
In autumn, rooted shoots are separated from the mother bush, while well-rooted ones are divided into layerings that can be planted on permanent place. Poorly rooted cuttings are either left near the bush for the second season or transplanted into a garden bed for growing. Plant according to the following scheme: the distance between rows is 50–60 cm, in a row between layerings 20–25 cm. After planting, the soil along the row is compacted, the layering is hilled up to a height of 8–10 cm. In early spring, the layering is cut into 3–4 buds, unearthed, and loosened ; in dry weather, water and mulch. During the summer, the beds with layering are loosened, and watering is combined with organic fertilizing.
Two-year-old seedlings with 3–4 shoots and a developed root system begin to bear fruit 2–3 years after planting in a permanent place.
Red and white currants can be propagated by woody cuttings (Fig. 12). In autumn, annual shoots that grow from the root or grow on two- or three-year-old branches are cut off. Better cuttings take from the middle of the shoot. Their thickness should be 8-10 mm. The cuttings are cut 18–20 cm long, placed in moist soil or sand to form root primordia and kept for 45–60 days at a temperature of 2–3 °C. After this, the cuttings are placed in a box or other container and placed in a snow pile until spring. In early spring, cuttings are planted in nurseries or greenhouses under film or glass covers and undergo the usual care: watering, fertilizing, weeding.
Rice. 12. Planting currant cuttings
Soil preparation
Red and white currants can be planted both in spring and autumn, but better in autumn(for the middle zone - the first half of October). Behind autumn-winter period the soil settles well and compacts around the bushes. Plants begin to grow early in the spring and take root well.
In areas where there is little snow, the root system may freeze, so it is advisable to plant in the spring. In this case, the seedlings are buried for the winter. To protect the buds from blooming, in the spring the buried seedlings are shaded or pruned short. Plant plants early, as soon as the soil allows.
The area intended for currants is dug up, adding fertilizers: organic - 3-4 kg, granulated superphosphate - 100-150 g, potassium sulfate - 20-30 g.
Before planting, damaged or dried parts of the roots and branches are removed from the seedling, then the roots are dipped in clay mash to prevent them from drying out.
Planting density depends on the variety, soil fertility, pruning and bush formation. Varieties with a spreading crown shape and vigorous-growing ones should be planted more rarely, and plants with a compact, upright bush shape should be planted more often.
Red and white currant bushes are planted in a row at a distance of 1.5 m.
Landing
Planting of red and white currant seedlings is carried out in early spring - before the May holidays - or in autumn - at the end of September - beginning of October. Most often they are placed along paths or along the boundaries of the site. Moreover, it is spacious - one bush is one and a half to two meters from another. Make sure that the planted bushes are not shaded by surrounding trees as they grow.
Holes are dug 60 x 60 cm in size, or even larger if the soil is infertile. Upper layer fold it separately, select perennial weeds from it and cover the roots of the seedling with it. Better yet, add one or two buckets of manure humus from two or three years ago or compost from rotted weeds to the top layer of soil intended for backfilling and mix this entire mixture evenly with 200 g of superphosphate and a half-liter jar wood ash, which contains enough potassium and other important elements nutrition. 6–8 cm below soil level to quickly form a bush with a wide base. With such planting, additional roots are better formed and more shoots of renewal appear from the buds of the buried part of the stem and root collar. When planting a currant seedling without tilting or deepening, a standard bush may grow, in which the regeneration of shoots will be very weak (Fig. 13).
Rice. 13. Planting currants
a - places where growth is trimmed; b - root collar.
The seedlings are placed in a prepared landing hole, straighten the roots, cover them with earth, gradually compacting the soil. When planting, the seedlings are shaken slightly so that the soil evenly fills all the voids around the roots. When the roots are already covered with soil, but the hole is not yet completely filled, it is good to water (about half a bucket per bush). Then the hole is filled with soil, a hole is made around the plant and watered again at the rate of 1/3–1/2 bucket of water per bush. To preserve moisture, the soil around the seedling is mulched with peat or humus; in extreme cases, the hole is sprinkled with dry soil so that a crust does not form after watering. In dry weather, especially in spring, after three to four days the plants are watered and mulched again.
Planting and caring for white currants (in brief)
- Landing: in September or early October.
- Lighting: bright sunlight.
- The soil: fertile, moisture-absorbing, slightly alkaline or neutral, in an area where groundwater lies below 60 cm.
- Watering: sufficient, especially at the beginning of June, during the formation of ovaries, and from the second half of June to the fourth ten days of July, during the filling of berries. Water consumption when watering per m² is 20-30 l: you need to wet the soil to a depth of 30-40 cm.
- Feeding: in the spring, nitrogen fertilizer (urea) is added to the soil, and in June, organic matter is applied - a solution of mullein or bird droppings, but complex mineral fertilizers in liquid form can also be used. If necessary, in the summer, fertilize the leaves with microfertilizers, and by mid-autumn, 10-15 kg of humus and full mineral fertilizer are applied to each plant.
- Trimming: in the spring, before the buds swell, sanitary and formative pruning is carried out, in the fall - sanitary pruning.
- Reproduction: layerings and cuttings.
- Pests: different kinds aphids, moths, mites and currant glass beetles.
- Diseases: anthracnose, powdery mildew, goblet and columnar rust, septoria, cercospora, mosaic and terry.
Read more about growing white currants below.
White currant - description
White currant- a close relative of such bushes as red currant, gooseberry and black currant. The white currant bush usually grows in height up to one and a half meters, although sometimes it can reach 2.5 m. The structure of white currant is very similar to red: the leaves of white currant are three-lobed, usually serrated along the edge, with a darker upper side of the plate. The flowers are small, with yellowish or greenish petals, collected in brushes - bloom in May. White currant fruits different shades White and yellow flowers with a diameter of 6-10 cm are spherical in shape and form clusters. In terms of taste, white currant berries differ from black currant fruits and lack its strong, recognizable aroma, but they have almost the same taste as red currant fruits. White currants bear fruit in July.
We will tell you how to plant and care for white currants, how white and black currants differ from each other, how to prune white currants, what gooseberry diseases and pests are dangerous for white currants, whether white currants can be grown in the Moscow region, and we will also offer a description of the varieties white currants for southern regions and for the Moscow region.
Planting white currants
When to plant white currants.
When to plant white currants depends on the root system of the seedling: if it is open, then best time for planting the end of September or the beginning of October, and if the white currant seedlings are in a container, then they can be planted both in autumn and in spring. For white currants, choose a well-lit area without a hint of shade in which black currants can grow. Groundwater in this place they should not lie higher than at a level of 60 cm, otherwise you will have to make high beds for currants.
The soil for white currants is preferably fertile, moisture-absorbing, neutral or slightly acidic. Acidic soil must be limed, and sandy soils require mandatory fertilization before planting.
Planting white currants in autumn.
Two weeks before planting, dig up the area, clear it of weeds, and add a bucket of compost or humus and a half-liter jar of wood ash to every m². For planting white currants in fertile soil this amount of fertilizer will be enough.
Holes for white currants are dug with a diameter of half a meter and a depth of 30-40 cm. The distance between the bushes should be at least 1 m. If the site has poor soil, when digging a hole, put the top, fertile layer of soil aside, and their lower layer into the excavated soil add 10 kg of humus, a glass of superphosphate and ash, mix thoroughly and pour this mixture into the bottom of the pit. On top, so as not to burn the roots of the seedling, lay a layer fertile soil 10 cm thick. When planting in fertile soil, there is no need to add fertilizers to the holes - those that were added to the soil during digging are enough.
White currant seedlings are placed in a hole at an angle of 45º, 5-7 cm deeper than they grew in the nursery. If the seedlings have an open root system, straighten the roots when planting, removing diseased, dry or rotten roots. Preliminarily keep the dry or weather-beaten root system for a day or two in a bucket of water. The shoots of seedlings are pruned before planting, leaving no more than five buds on each. Fill the holes with the remaining soil from the top layer, trying not to leave voids, compact the soil, pour half a bucket of water per seedling, and when the water is absorbed, mulch the soil in the area with peat.
Planting white currants in spring.
Spring planting white currant planting is carried out in the same order as autumn, with the only difference being that the area for currants is prepared in the fall.
White currant care
Caring for white currants in spring.
Caring for white currants begins at the end of March: it is necessary to retain melt water in the garden so that the soil retains a supply of moisture. In April, currant seedlings are planted, and the bushes are also sanitary pruned - diseased, frostbitten, old and broken shoots and branches are cut out. Before the buds begin to bloom, preventive treatment is carried out: white currant bushes are sprayed with Bordeaux mixture or copper sulfate.
In spring, white currants need nitrogen fertilizers, which are applied in the form of urea on moist soil. Loosening of the soil between the bushes is carried out to a depth of 6-8 cm, and between rows - 10-12 cm. If you hilled up the bushes for the winter, when loosening, rake the soil away from them. To prevent a crust from forming on the area, loosening is carried out once every 2-3 weeks.
White currants in the spring may suffer from night frosts, and to prevent this from happening, listen carefully to weather forecasts and be prepared to save your garden by smoking or prepare plastic film to cover the currant bushes.
Caring for white currants in summer.
IN summer time It is very important to keep the soil in the area where currants grow in a moist, loose state. Do not forget to remove emerging weeds in a timely manner. In June you need to apply it under currants organic fertilizer, but if you don’t have organic matter, replace it with mineral fertilizers. It is advisable to combine fertilizing with watering.
Carefully monitor the condition of the bushes so as not to miss signs of disease or pest damage. As soon as you notice the presence of insects or symptoms of disease, treat the white currants with an appropriate fungicide or insecticide.
In July and August, white currants begin to ripen. Collect it in whole clusters in a hard container in which the berries do not wrinkle. After harvesting, currants require mandatory watering, and after that, loosening the soil on the site.
Caring for white currants in autumn.
At the end of September or at the beginning of November, organic and mineral fertilizers are applied to the white currant bushes, after which the area is dug up to plant them. At the end of the growing season, the currants are pruned for sanitary purposes, and immediately after pruning they begin to propagate white currants by cuttings, since after cutting there is a lot of planting material left.
At the end of the growing season, the area is cleared of fallen leaves and other plant debris and preventative treatment of the bushes and soil under them is carried out from pathogens and pests.
Processing white currants.
Why and how is preventive treatment of currants carried out? Since the larvae of some pests and the causative agents of many diseases overwinter in the soil under plants or in their bark, and in the spring they begin their destructive activities, it is very important not to give them this opportunity. That is why it is difficult to overestimate the importance preventative treatments. Spring treatment is carried out before the start of sap flow, and autumn treatment after leaf fall. To spray plants and the soil under them, use one percent solutions of Bordeaux mixture, copper sulfate or Nitrafen. You can use a seven percent urea solution for treatment, which simultaneously works as a fungicide, insecticide and nitrogen fertilizer.
Watering white currants.
Successful cultivation of white currants depends on regular and sufficient watering bush. A lack of moisture in the soil can retard the growth and development of white currants, and if you do not water at the stage of formation and filling of berries, the fruits become smaller and fall off the bush prematurely. Therefore, it is so important to maintain soil moisture at the required level in early June, when fruit ovaries form, and from the second half of June to the end of the third ten days of July, when the berries are filled.
It is necessary to moisten the soil in the currant tree to the depth of the root layer - approximately 30-40 cm. The approximate water consumption per irrigation is 20-30 liters per m² of area. For watering, around the bush, at a distance of 30-40 cm from the ends of the branches, make grooves 10-15 cm deep with an earthen roller up to 15 cm high. It is into these grooves that water is poured. As soon as the moistened soil dries, it is loosened, simultaneously removing it from the site weeds. If you mulched the area in the spring, you will have to water, loosen the soil and fight weeds much less often: mulch keeps the soil moist much longer, does not allow a crust to form on the surface of the area, and it is difficult for weeds to break through it.
In the dry autumn, pre-winter moisture-recharging watering of the shrubs is carried out.
Feeding white currants.
In spring, white currants are fed with nitrogen fertilizer: urea is added to the soil, using 10-15 g of fertilizer for each m² of currant. In June, the bushes are fed with organic matter - mullein at the rate of 1 liter of infusion per bucket of water or half a liter of bird droppings dissolved in 10 liters of water. Bucket liquid fertilizer spend on two or three white currant bushes. Organic fertilizers can be replaced with mineral ones: 20 g of superphosphate and 10-15 g of potassium sulfate and urea are added to each adult bush.
In the summer, if necessary, you can carry out foliar feeding with microfertilizers: dissolve 2-3 g of zinc sulfate, 5-10 g of manganese sulfate, 2-2.5 g of boric acid, 2-3 g of ammonium molybdate, 1-2 g of copper sulfate in 10 liters of water and treat the white currant leaves with this mixture.
Towards mid-autumn, add 10-15 kg of compost or humus, 80-120 g of superphosphate, 300-500 g of fruit and vegetable mixture and 30-50 g of potassium chloride under each white currant bush.
White currant pruning
When to prune white currants.
In the spring, sanitary and formative pruning of white currant bushes is carried out. If necessary, anti-aging pruning can be carried out. In the fall, it is enough to do pruning for sanitary purposes so that the bush does not feed diseased, drying or unnecessary shoots all winter.
Pruning promotes the growth of new branches and strong root shoots, stimulates their branching, does not allow the bush to become overgrown, and promotes the formation of larger fruits and an increase in their number.
Pruning white currants in spring.
At the end of March, before sap flow has yet begun, white currants need to be freed from diseased, frozen, broken and dry branches. After this, they begin formative pruning of the currants. In newly planted plants, all shoots are shortened to 3-4 buds. For two- to three-year-old bushes, 3-4 well-developed shoots are left, the remaining basal shoots are cut out at the surface of the area, trying not to leave stumps. Every year, leave another 3-4 strong shoots from the root shoots, cutting out the rest of the shoots until the bush has 16-20 skeletal branches of different ages: there should be 1-2 more one-year-old branches than three-year-old ones, 1-2 fewer four- to five-year-old branches, five- to six-year-old branches should be even fewer, and older branches already need to be replaced. There is no need to shorten annual growths of fruiting branches, as this leads to a decrease in yield. It takes 4-5 years to form a white currant bush.
Pruning white currants in autumn.
In the fall, tidy up the bushes before wintering by cutting out old, broken, drying and thickening shoots and branches, as well as those in which gall midges or glass beetles have settled.
Propagation of white currants
How to propagate white currants.
The most reliable way to propagate white currants is by laying cuttings. With scrupulous adherence to the procedure good results gives cuttings.
Propagation of white currants by horizontal layering.
In early spring loosen the soil around the bush, add fertilizer to the soil, make grooves 10-12 cm deep, place well-developed annual or biennial shoots in them, secure them in this position with metal pins and sprinkle with soil, leaving the top of the shoot above the surface. As soon as the shoots growing from the cuttings reach a height of 8-10 cm, hill them up to half wet loose soil. After 2-3 weeks, when the shoots have grown to the same height again, sprinkle them halfway with soil again. Mulch the soil around the cuttings and do not forget to moisten it when you water the mother bush. In autumn, rooted shoots are separated from the bush and from each other and planted. If the cuttings have not taken root well, leave them near the bush for another year or transplant them into a shrub for growing. Seedlings from layering begin to bear fruit 2-3 years after planting in a permanent place.
Propagation of white currants by cuttings.
In February, semi-lignified white currant cuttings are cut from branches growing inside the bush. There should be 5-7 buds on the cutting, the thickness of the segments should be at least 8 mm, and the length should be 18-20 cm. The tip of the shoot is not suitable for cuttings. The cuttings are placed with the lower cut in water so that they sprout roots. In spring, cuttings with roots are planted in a sunny bed in loose soil at an angle of 45º, covered glass jars or plastic bottles until they take root. As soon as the cuttings are accepted, they are fed with organic matter. The cuttings must spend two years in the garden bed, and only then are they transplanted into the currant tree.
White currant diseases
White currants are affected by the same diseases that harm black, red currants and gooseberries: anthracnose, powdery mildew, goblet and columnar rust, septoria, cercospora, mosaic and terry. You can read in detail about these diseases and measures to combat them in the article “Currants: diseases and pests - how to treat them,” posted on our website.
White currant pests
From the same article you can get complete information about insects that can harm white currants and ways to protect against them. Let us remind you that pests of white currants are different types of aphids, moths, mites and currant glass beetles.
Large varieties of white currants.
There are not so many varieties of white currants, but there is still plenty to choose from. For those who love large berries, we suggest planting the following varieties:
- – White fairy– sweet and sour, transparent white berries of this early ripening variety reach from 1.5 to 3 g in weight;
- – Dessert– large white currants, the creamy yellow berries of which can weigh more than one gram. This early ripening and productive variety bred by German breeders;
- – Bayana- a late-ripening variety of Oryol breeders, the berries of which reach a weight of 3 g and contain a large amount of pectin. The disadvantage of the variety is susceptibility to red gall aphid.
To white currant varieties with large berries also include Primus, Minusinskaya, Cream, Dutch White.
Sweet varieties of white currants.
Currant is a sour berry, the degree of sweetness or sourness of its fruit depends on many factors, however, there are varieties that are distinguished by greater sweetness of the fruit compared to other varieties. These include:
- – Smolyaninovskaya– productive variety resistant to fungal diseases Russian selection with transparent white berries of medium size, pleasant sweet and sour taste;
- – Belyan– sweet white currant of medium ripening, characterized by winter hardiness, very high yield and resistance to powdery mildew, with medium-sized transparent yellow berries with a sweet and sour taste;
- – Primus– a winter-hardy, productive and resistant to septoria, anthracnose and gall aphid variety of Czech selection with medium-sized yellowish berries and sweet, juicy pulp.
Early varieties of white currant.
Early ripening varieties of white currant are those that ripen by mid-July. For example:
- – Dutch white– an early self-sterile, high-yielding, winter-hardy and anthracnose-resistant variety with large yellowish berries of excellent sour-sweet taste;
- – Versailles white currant- a not very winter-hardy variety of average yield, susceptible to anthracnose disease. Berries of this variety small size, transparent yellow, excellent taste;
- – Uteborgskaya– a productive, relatively winter-hardy variety with large, transparent light cream berries of excellent taste.
To the famous early varieties refers to White Fairy (or Diamond) and Ural white currant.
Medium varieties of white currants.
Mid-season white currant varieties ripen by the end of July. These include the following:
- – Cream – Russian variety with a complex of advantages: large-fruited, productive, winter-hardy, resistant to anthracnose. The berries of this variety are cream-colored with a sour-sweet refreshing taste;
- – Squirrel– a universal, winter-hardy, early-ripening, consistently fruiting variety, sensitive to fungal diseases, with small transparent berries of a yellowish-milky hue;
- – Snezhana– highly productive, winter-hardy and drought-resistant variety Ukrainian selection, not damaged by fungal diseases, with luxurious transparent white berries of delicate taste;
- – Boulogne– a disease-resistant, productive Western European variety, the transparent white berries of which acquire a pinkish blush when exposed to the sun. The taste is sweet and sour, harmonious.
In addition to those described, medium-ripening varieties include Belaya Potapenko, Smolyaninovskaya, Minusinskaya, Dessertnaya, Primus and Bayana.
The best varieties of white currants.
One of the best varieties of white currant is considered Ural - almost ideal variety, which received the highest rating from tasters. It is distinguished by its yield (you can remove up to 6 kg of berries from a bush in one year), frost resistance, and resistance to fungi. The berries of this variety are large - weighing about one gram, yellow, and have excellent taste.
The best white currant in terms of large fruit size and taste is Minusinskaya. This variety, resistant to frost, pests and diseases, is distinguished by its high yield and delicate, harmonious taste of large (weighing more than 1 g), transparent yellowish berries.
White currant varieties for the Moscow region.
Readers often ask us to name the best varieties of white currants for the Moscow region. The fact is that almost all varieties of white currants are winter-hardy enough for the middle zone, so white currants are an ideal crop for the Moscow region. In Moscow and the Moscow region, the varieties Bayana, Smolyaninovskaya, White Fairy, Kremovaya, Belyana, Dessertnaya, Uralskaya, Minusinskaya and Boulogne grow well. And such varieties as Minusinskaya, Beliana and Uralskaya white feel great in the Urals and the Volga region, while in Siberia you can successfully cultivate Belaya Potapenko and Minusinskaya white.
Properties of white currant
Useful properties of white currants.
The composition of white currants includes fiber, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, mono- and disaccharides, vitamins A, P, K, E, B vitamins, microelement iron, macroelements potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and sodium, organic acids, and sugars. And although the phytotherapeutic value of this species is not as high as the value of black currant, since ascorbic acid in white currant is 5 times less than in black currant, the content of such important elements as iron and potassium in white currant is higher.
For people with special sensitivity to allergens, it is better to eat white currants, since they do not contain coloring substances, like red and black berries. Vitamin A, which is part of white currants, prevents premature aging of the body, improves vision, stimulates cellular metabolism and prevents the occurrence of tumors.
And vitamin P cleanses blood vessels, restores their elasticity, normalizes blood composition, promotes the restoration of liver cells, stimulates the function of the adrenal cortex, activates the secretion of bile, and in combination with ascorbic acid serves to protect the body from atherosclerosis.
But what makes white currant a real elixir of youth is vitamin E, which slows down aging, protects against cataracts, improves reproductive function and protects the body from free radicals.
B vitamins strengthen nervous system and blood vessels of the brain, improve memory, help cope with stressful situations and mental stress, and are involved in the synthesis of fats and proteins.
The high content of minerals in white currants helps strengthen the immune system and heart muscle. The pectins contained in berries help the body get rid of excess cholesterol and cleanse blood vessels, and organic acids protect the human body from various infections and promote good digestion. People living in environmentally disadvantaged areas should eat white currants regularly, as they remove heavy metals, waste, salts and toxins from the body.
White currants are contraindications.
This product has few contraindications: frequent consumption of white currants is not recommended for gastritis with high acidity, stomach or duodenal ulcers. Due to the vitamin K content in the berries, which enhances blood clotting, it is undesirable for people with thrombophlebitis to eat white currants.
To significantly strengthen the immune system and maintain health for many years, doctors recommend eating just a tablespoon of white currant berries every day during the fruit ripening season. And the juicy and transparent fruits wonderfully quench your thirst: in the hot sun, a few bunches of berries can replace a glass of juice.
- Appearance – perennial shrub up to 1.5 m high
- Family– Saxifraga
- Leaves– 3-5 lobed with jagged edges, petiolate, dense
- Flowers– Small, inconspicuous, yellow-green, collected in clusters, bloom in May, self-fertile in zoned varieties
- Fruit– Berries with a diameter of 8-12 mm, yellowish, cream or light pink in color, ripen in July-August
White currants, compared to black currants, are more productive - the average yield per bush is 8 kg. The crop reacts less to drought and soil salinity, is less demanding in terms of fertilization, and is also fast-growing and long-lasting.
Conditions for growing white currants
White currant is light-loving, so you should not plant it under trees. It is drought-resistant, but with insufficient moisture supply, growth, fruiting and winter hardiness are reduced. Bushes planted on loose, nutritious soils provided with a sufficient amount of organic and mineral fertilizers will be more stable, durable and productive.
Planting white currants
White currants can be planted in the spring before buds open or in early autumn (late September - early October). The distance between bushes is at least 1 m. Pits 40 cm deep and 50-60 cm wide are prepared 2-3 weeks before planting. Add to them, stirring, 8-10 kg of compost or humus, 150-200 g of superphosphate, 30-40 g of potassium sulfide. Seedlings are buried in the soil up to 8-10 cm from the conditional root collar, placing them straight or inclined to better education additional roots. Cover with a fertile layer of soil, lightly tamp, be sure to water and mulch with humus or peat. Then the branches are shortened to 4-5 well-developed buds.
At favorable conditions white currant begins to bear fruit in the 3rd year after planting and bears fruit for 15-20 years
Formation of white currants
In the first year after planting, 5-6 strong annual shoots can grow. In autumn, 2-3 weaker ones are removed from them. Over the next three years, 3-4 strong shoots are left every season from the newly grown shoots, the rest are cut out. By the autumn of the fifth year the bush will consist of 18-20 skeletal branches of different ages. Old branches are renewed at the age of 6-7 years and older, leaving strong root shoots for replacement, and the rest, thickening the bush, are cut out at the base. Every year, if necessary, sanitary pruning is carried out, removing broken, diseased branches lying on the ground.
Your own white currant seedlings
White currants are best propagated by horizontal cuttings. To do this, in early spring, a groove 5-8 cm deep is made from the bush, the one-year-old shoot is bent, placed in this hole, pinned to the soil with a metal bracket and covered with peat, light loose humus or compost. During the season, be sure to water, carefully loosen if necessary, and remove weeds. By autumn, vertical shoots will grow on the layering. They are carefully dug up, separated from the mother bush, cut into individual seedlings and planted in a permanent place in the garden or nursery for growing.
Spring care
And now about the next ones seasonal work. In early spring, when the buds on the bushes have not yet swelled, without waiting for the snow to completely melt, currant plants can be doused hot water, brought almost to a boil (approximately 10 liters per bush). This “shower” is effective against pests and fungal diseases. The soil under the plants should be slightly loosened and nitrogen fertilizers applied (18-20 g of ammonium nitrate or 13-17 g of urea per 1 sq.m.). To reduce the evaporation of moisture from the soil, currants can be mulched with leaves, manure or peat in a layer of about 7 cm, after weeding out the weeds. This technique will increase the yield.
White currant - beneficial and medicinal properties
White currant, due to the high content of pectin substances, fiber and potassium in the berries, removes toxic substances and heavy metal salts, including radioactive ones, from the body.
The fruits are rich in vitamin E, have anti-sclerotic properties, slow down the aging process, and help improve reproductive function.
Due to the absence of coloring substances, white currants do not cause allergies in children.
Berries contain a lot of iron and potassium, so consuming them improves blood composition and helps the heart function properly.
Everyone loves currants and many people willingly grow them. summer cottages. Among the varieties of this culture it stands out for its taste and medicinal properties white currant.
Planting and caring for white currants are similar to the agricultural practices of red and black currants. But there are some differences. They need to be taken into account if you want to get a high yield of white currants. Currant fruits are transparent, all the seeds are visible in them. The taste is slightly sour. The berries are used in cooking. At autumn harvesting They are added as an assortment to compotes, preserves and marmalade are made, and wine liqueurs are prepared.
How to prepare for planting
For planting in open ground, experienced gardeners always take two-year-old seedlings. Aboveground part and the roots must be well developed. In order for the seedling to take root painlessly, it is advisable to first place its root system in a soil mash and then keep it wrapped in a wet cloth, burlap or ordinary matting until planting. It is advisable to remove the leaves by moving your hand towards the top to reduce the evaporation process.
Landing dates
White currants can be planted both in spring and autumn. But for spring planting, seedlings are taken whose roots are placed in a container - with a so-called closed root system. Planting material can be your own or purchased from a fruit nursery. Autumn planting. Autumn planting of bushes is carried out in last days September or the first week of October. 15 days before the proposed planting, the soil must be prepared: remove weeds, loosen them, feed them with a compost mixture with the addition of wood ash. Application rate: per 1 m² / 1 bucket of compost / 0.5 l of ash. Water the soil generously so that it settles - when planting in loose soil, the roots of the plant are damaged as it settles.
Holes for planting seedlings need to be dug about 40 cm deep with a diameter of 5 cm. The prepared nutrient mixture is laid at the bottom. Straighten the roots of the prepared planting material, cut out any diseased or rotten ones. There should be about 5 buds on the bush, the rest can be safely removed. Lower the seedling into the hole at an angle of 45º, then sprinkle it with soil, lightly pressing it on top. Next comes watering - 5 liters of water is enough for each hole. Then sprinkle the wet surface with a layer of peat. Optimal distance between young bushes - one meter. Spring planting. If the deadlines autumn planting white fruits are missed, then you can plant them in early spring. You need to have time before the buds begin to bloom. A hole is dug 30 cm deep and 60 cm in diameter. Place the seedling in the hole at an angle of 45º. Root collar deepen by 10 cm. Remove the upper part of the seedling, leaving 2-3 buds. After planting, pour half a bucket of water into each hole.
Choosing a place in the garden
White currant - unpretentious shrub. It can grow comfortably in open ground different levels fertility. But it does not tolerate swampy areas. Prefers illuminated places. Then the fruits grow large and taste sweet.
Selecting planting material and preparing for planting
When choosing a white currant seedling, consider some nuances:
- in one-year-old seedlings the trunk thickness is 8 mm;
- for two-year-old seedlings – 10 mm;
- roots are fresh and undamaged;
- with an open root system, all leaves are removed;
- There is no need to worry if the shoot has grayish bark; this is a feature of some varieties.
The seedling will take root painlessly in a new place if the roots were constantly wet before planting. To do this, it is recommended to keep them in a peat mash for some time, adding a growth stimulator to it.
Preparing the soil for planting
The soil for planting young white currant bushes is taken with the following composition:
- soil from the planting site;
- a bucket of rotted organic matter or compost;
- potassium sulfate – 0.04 kg;
- wood ash – 0.3 kg;
- superphosphate – 0.4 kg.
To reduce acidity, you can add 150 g of lime.
Rules for planting white-fruited shrubs
Autumn planting of white currant seedlings allows them to take root before the first frost occurs.
- Before planting, the place needs to be prepared. Remove weeds, dig with a shovel, feed with manure, compost mixture, and wood ash.
- Dig shallow holes up to 40 cm for each bush, placing them within 0.8-1 m.
- Wait at least 2 weeks for the soil to settle.
- Add humus to the prepared hole and plant a bush or rooted twig at an angle of 45º.
- Sprinkle the roots with soil and press down slightly.
- Water and then mulch with peat or dry sawdust.
How to care for white currant bushes
In the spring season, as soon as the snow melts, it is necessary to carry out pruning for the purpose of sanitary prevention. Cut out all diseased shoots, broken and old. Before the first buds begin to bloom, spray the white currant bushes with a solution of Bordeaux mixture. Remove the mulch and loosen the root soil. For young plants, cut the stems to 4 buds. Cut out everything from two-year-old bushes, leaving only 4-5 strong shoots. This procedure It is advisable to carry out annually until 15-20 branches of different ages are fully formed. In the spring season, young white currant bushes may be subject to late frosts. You can save them by preparing covering material in advance. IN summer months trunk holes need to be watered, loosened and cleared of weeds.
Advice! "Regular watering - important condition for the formation of large and delicious berries currants Watering should be plentiful - 2-3 buckets per 1 m². Mulch can be used to retain moisture in the soil.”
In the summer months, currant bushes need to be sprayed with microelements. This is a fairly effective foliar feeding. Ingredients: add 3 g of zinc sulfate, 6-10 g of manganese sulfate, 2 g of boric acid, 2 g of copper sulfate to a bucket of water. If currants are damaged by pests or if a disease is detected, the bushes should be immediately sprayed with fungicides. The berries begin to ripen in July. In August there is a massive harvest. After this, gardeners water the bushes abundantly, followed by loosening the soil.
In the last days of September, the soil is fertilized. White currants are also pruned in the fall. Damaged stems are cut out. The branches that thicken the bush must also be removed and some of them subsequently used as planting material. When the foliage falls, the currants need to be treated for preventive purposes with a solution of Bordeaux mixture.
How to prune and shape bushes correctly
The procedure for pruning white-fruited shrubs is carried out twice - with the onset of the spring season and in the last autumn month.
Purpose of pruning:
- form a bush;
- remove unnecessary branches;
- rejuvenate an old plant and improve its nutrition.
Correct and timely pruning will allow you to form a well-fruiting bush. Spring pruning. In spring, it is customary to begin pruning currants with the onset of stable warm weather. If weather forecasters predict temperature changes, then it is better not to carry out the procedure. But it is advisable to have time to do the pruning before the buds open. Failure to meet deadlines can lead to some problematic situations:
- risk of infection with pathogenic fungi and diseases;
- copious secretion of juice;
- long healing of cut sites.
Pruning white currants in spring has a number of advantages:
- optimal stimulation of the growth of young shoots;
- leads to an increase in the quality and quantity of the future harvest;
- preventing bush infection;
- the plant is well lit, which leads to uniform ripening of the berries.
Autumn pruning. In autumn, currant pruning is carried out after the end of leaf fall, when sap flow has practically stopped. Pruning white currants in the fall has its advantages:
- there is more time for pruning work;
- ridding the bush of diseased shoots and those damaged by insects;
- the bush is preparing for winter;
- creating comfortable conditions for quality and abundant fruiting next season.
Processing whiteberry bushes
Measures for treating white currant bushes consist of the prevention and destruction of insect pests. The importance of this procedure should be noted. Insects lay larvae in damaged shoots. Adults climb into cracks in trunks for the winter. In the future, this leads to the death and death of shoots. Experienced summer residents It is recommended to spray currant bushes twice. Carry out the first spraying until the buds swell. The second - at the end of leaf fall. But if the need arises, you can spray the bushes in the summer. The drugs are sold in specialized stores.
Irrigation regime
The regularity and abundance of watering affect future harvest white-fruited culture. The first watering is in April. The second - in the last days of May. On hot days summer season Currants need to be well watered during the appearance of flowers and the formation of the ovary. The next watering is when the berries are harvested. The last watering is in early October. In rainy autumn, you can skip the last moisturizing.
Feeding mode
Fertilizer application - important event for good growth of white currants. In early spring, the bush needs to be fed with nitrogen microelements, which are part of urea.
When the currants begin to actively bloom, feed them with organic matter. It is better to prepare mullein slurry; you can also use chicken droppings. But only with caution. In the absence of organic fertilizers, mineral supplements are also suitable. Fertilizers must be applied to each plant. When the bush is completely covered green leaf, it is sprayed with fertilizer containing boron, molybdenum, copper, manganese.
We propagate white currants
White currants are propagated in two ways. Experienced gardeners The culture is propagated by cuttings. It is safer for beginners to propagate by layering.
Reproduction by cuttings
Planting material for propagating currants can be prepared from woody cuttings. They should be cut at the end of winter. Select shoots 20 cm long, 0.8 cm in diameter, with 5 buds.
Place the cut branches in water until roots form. With the onset of warm spring days, transplant into open ground in a lighted place. The angle of inclination of the seedling should be 45º. For quick rooting, create a greenhouse effect by covering the shoot with a plastic or glass container. Enter organic fertilizers after the cutting takes root. After two years, move it to a permanent growing location. Gardeners carry out further care for white currants as usual.
Reproduction by layering
good planting material may become horizontal layering. The procedure is simple. During the period of spring loosening of the soil in the root hole, you need to dig shallow grooves and place a one-year-old shoot there, fix it in this position and sprinkle it with soil. The upper part of the layer should remain outside. When the shoot grows 10 cm, moisten and hill up. After 20 days, the hilling procedure must be repeated. And then water and mulch. During the autumn planting period, horizontal layering is separated from the mother bush and placed in a designated place.
Advice! “If rooting is poor, the cuttings should not be touched until the next season. Young bushes will begin to bear fruit in three years.”
Preventive measures to combat diseases and pests
The white-fruited shrub becomes infected with the following diseases:
Frequent pests of white currants are shoot and leaf aphids, currant glass, spider mites and other insects.
Preventive measures are as follows. From pests:
- autumn spraying of shrubs and root holes with a highly concentrated urea composition;
- repeated spring spraying;
From diseases:
- treatment in the spring with the chemical preparation “Zircon”;
- another August treatment.
When spraying, the time for chemical decomposition of the drug is taken into account. Proper agricultural technology will protect currant bushes from infection and destruction by pests.
Berry picking
The time for collecting currant berries depends on both the variety and the area where the bush grows. But usually it occurs in the middle of summer.
The berries are picked after the dew has disappeared or in the late afternoon. In cloudy weather, collection can be done during the day. Shallow trays or boxes are used as containers, the bottom of which is lined with paper. Harvest can be transported over long distances. It is better to store the berries in a cool room before shipping. Various preparations are made from ripe berries. Each housewife's recipes are different. White currants are useful in fresh, boiled, dried and frozen form.
Variety of whiteberry
Distinctive features of all types of white fruit: the clusters are dense, the berries remain fresh and tasty until the onset of cold weather. If different types of bushes are placed side by side, maintaining distance parameters, the yield will increase.
Beginner gardeners doubt whether it is possible to plant red and black currants next to white-fruited varieties. If open ground optimal composition, then the “relatives” will coexist perfectly with each other.
Early ripening varieties
The berries ripen in the middle of the summer season. The most common varieties:
- white "Dutch" currant - large-fruited, excellent taste, frost-resistant, rarely infected with diseases;
- “Versailles” currant is medium-fruited, has an excellent taste, but in severe winter the shoots may die;
- "Yuteborg" - frost-resistant, large-fruited, high-yielding.
Others can be found in the areas early ripening varieties white-fruited culture.
Mid-season varieties
Mass ripening of fruits begins in the last week of July.
- The “cream” variety pleases high yield large sweet-sour berries, well tolerated winter cold, resistant to infections.
- Currant “squirrel” is a universal variety, consistently fruitful, harsh winters tolerates well, but is sensitive to fungal infection.
- The white fruit "Snezhana", which was bred by Ukrainian breeders, bears berries of a special taste and aroma, the variety is resistant to fungal attack, and comfortably tolerates harsh winters and dry summers. fetal weight is more than 1 g, high-yielding variety early ripening;
- "white fairy" - early variety bush, berries up to 3 g;
- "accordion" - late-ripening variety, fruit weighing 3 grams, rich in pectins.
Beloplodka for zoning in the Moscow region
Most of the listed varieties of white-fruited crops are well tolerated winter season, therefore ideal for growing in the Moscow region. Planting and caring for white currants in this natural area the same as in central Russia.
White currant berries are a storehouse of vitamins. They are very tasty in fresh. But people suffering from work disabilities should not eat them in large quantities. digestive system, especially with gastritis or stomach ulcers.
Propagating white currants is not difficult. Plant a plant in the garden, and the bushes will delight you with their generous, tasty harvest every year.
