Gooseberry General Information

Its not for nothing called "northern grapes", because of its healing properties and usefulness, it does not yield to anything in grapes, except in taste qualities. Gooseberries were known in Russia in the XI century. In the royal gardens in the XII-XIV centuries, it was grown in Moscow in large quantities. This berry was so popular that special plantations were laid, on the site of which the Bersenevskaya embankment and Bersenevsky lane are now located. In their names the old name of berries of gooseberries - "bersen" has been preserved. And only in the XVI century gooseberries began to breed first in Europe, and then two centuries later in North America. So gooseberries are a truly Russian berry.

Many gooseberries are underestimated and consider it almost a junk berry. But in vain. It's just a storehouse of all sorts of vitamins. In addition, berries of gooseberry have a pronounced cholagogue and diuretic properties. It is used for pains and cuts in the stomach, with diarrhea and constipation, as it normalizes the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. Useful gooseberry in tuberculosis and after severe diseases. Besides, it's just a delicious berry. Gooseberries are useful to everyone, and there are no contraindications to its use.

Advantages of gooseberry are its unpretentiousness, endurance, quickness, yield, durability.

It grows well in almost all areas, including the North-West. Unlike the black currant, some gooseberry varieties are less winter hardy, and the growths of the current year, that is, the young ends of the branches, can freeze to the level of snow cover at temperatures below 33 degrees below zero, although the gooseberry crown usually withstands frosts up to 40 degrees.

Winter thaws with subsequent frosts without snow are unfavorable. Roots can freeze in such conditions already at a temperature below 3-5 degrees below zero. Usually the root system is able to withstand up to 20 degrees of frost. Flower buds, like black currant, endure severe frosts - up to 35 degrees - without damage, buds - only -6, flowers - only -3, and young ovaries - only -2 degrees. So, with strong spring frosts, the entire crop can be lost.

Sometimes gooseberries mulch in the fall to protect its root system from death in frosty, snowless winters, and against wintering pests under bushes. But in the spring mulch must necessarily be cut off from the bush, firstly, that in the layer of mulch there are no additional roots that will still die in the next winter, and the plant will waste energy in vain, and secondly, that the pests that wintered under the bushes died.

Features of growing

What does not like gooseberry? He does not like stagnant waters, excessive overmoistening, strongly acidic soils. He prefers to grow in the sun, but suffers a little shading. He does not like the neighborhood of black currant, but it is quite reconciled, like raspberries, with apples, but you can plant it no closer than 1,5-2 m from these trees. The gooseberries are also friendly to the neighborhood of the red currant.

Variety of variety

An ancient variety Houghton has dark red berries, but, unfortunately, small ones. You must have it, because without berries you will not stay in any weather conditions.

Grade Green bottle has medium taste, but very large berries with a long "neck", like a bottle. From its green berries, in which seeds have not yet formed, they cook amazingly tasty, "royal" jam.

There are two ancient varieties of the average maturation period - Russian red and Russian yellow. High - with arched branches bushes are very fruitful, and most importantly, are not affected by powdery mildew.

There are two good old varieties - English yellow and English green, which are less affected by powdery mildew, but both varieties are not winter hardy and often freeze in frosty winters above the level of snow cover. The bushes are easily restored, but yields are low. But the taste is excellent.

About the same way behaves and an old sort of dates, with berries of amber color in a mature form. The early and sweet variety that children love.

Of the relatively new varieties resistant to powdery mildew, all have black or dark purple berries.

Michurinsky variety The black negus is a huge, chaotic bush, which almost never gets sick. In addition, it has good winter hardiness and good resistance to late spring frosts, and therefore gives annually a consistently high yield of berries, with a thin, delicate skin, suitable for cooking jam in its mature form. They produce wine and a compote of fine grape taste and beautiful color. The only disadvantage of the variety is its great spiny.

Black also has a tall, but compact, bush, very spiny. The color of the berries is almost black, the taste is excellent. The variety is resistant to pests and diseases, in particular, it does not suffer from powdery mildew.

An African is a disease-resistant variety. Its thin vertical branches are strewn with black berries of good taste. A significant advantage of the variety is that it has almost no spines.

Isabella has a huge bush. The grade of the average ripening period is not very long. Berries have the color and taste of Isabella grapes. The disease is not exposed to powdery mildew.

One of the earliest varieties is Leora Seedling, it has a low spherical bush and small thorns. The berries are oval in shape, mature in red, and even before they mature, they have a good taste. The variety is winter-hardy and is rarely susceptible to powdery mildew disease.

Variety Krasnoslavyansky high winter hardiness, medium spiny, excellent taste, but in the Northwest is affected by powdery mildew. A sort of medium ripening period, yielding, with elegant, large, raspberry round berries.

The old Swedish-Finnish variety Olavi( Henomanain Pulainen) has medium-berry berries. The variety is winter-hardy, weakly affected by powdery mildew, medium-mediumed, but it requires constant supervision, as it rapidly withers when thickened.

Malachite has sourish berries of bright green color with a slight waxy coating. Very yielding.

Variety Moscow red differs unusually tasty berries of dark red color. But the variety is unstable to powdery mildew. The variety is rare. It can be recognized immediately by some special feature. The only grade that lifts the leaves upwards, showing the wrong side of the leaf. He is medium-bodied.

Of the yellow varieties there are fairly resistant to disease varieties: Radiant and Lady fingers - very late grade.

There is also an interesting variety - Plum - with berries, in which the skin is dark, and the pulp, like plum, is soft, fleshy, yellow in color. The bush is slightly axed.

Variety Early pink is delicious, but not very productive, and is unstable to powdery mildew.

Grade Spring has berries of green color, the grade is resistant to powdery mildew, weakly harsh.

Eaglet - little-berry, berries of purple color, mediocre taste.

To the classless varieties belongs the Captain with berries of almost black color, mediocre taste, but from them you get an amazing taste of jam. The variety has a high yield. Another unhealthy variety is Kolobok.

Variety The Leningrader is interesting with purple berry color of rather good taste.

The Baltic variety, with berries of green color, has exceptionally high yields.

Variety Salute is attractive for resistance to powdery mildew.

One of the latest and large-bodied varieties - Goliath( Green date), with red berries, unfortunately, is strongly affected by powdery mildew.

Variety Nesluchovsky very early, tasty, one of the largest, with berries in the form of a pink keg, is not affected by powdery mildew, but, unfortunately, it freezes.

A hybrid of gooseberries with black currant Joshta( created in Germany), or a similar hybrid Crom( Sweden), or Jochen( Bulgaria), is not affected by powdery mildew, and this is its only dignity. He not only freezes with flower buds, but also shoots, because in the autumn their growth continues for a long time. The fruiting is poor, the taste of the berries is mediocre, the flavor and taste of the black currant hybrid is not inherited. In my opinion - this is a failed creation of breeders.

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If you are tired of waging a regular war with powdery mildew, constantly overcoming your gooseberry, then develop varieties that are not prone to this scourge, namely, simple and small, but very reliable and tasty variety Houghton or black, Negus, African andothers. From the latter you can cook excellent jam, prepare compotes or make a first-class wine.

Landing

Put gooseberries only in the fall, best in September. Before planting, the roots must be lowered into the water for 2-3 hours, so that they are saturated with moisture. If possible, add "Kornevin" to the water, which contributes to root formation. The pit is digged in the size of 50 x 50 cm, a depth of at least 40 cm. The pit is filled to half the height with a mixture of soil excavated from the pit and well-repaired compost, which will require at least 8-10 kg per pit. Add half a glass of double granular superphosphate and two glasses of ash to the pit. Other fertilizers should not be brought in from autumn, because in autumn rains and winter thaws, they will be washed into the lower layers of the soil. When planting the roots are carefully straightened on a small mound, which is done in the center of the pit.

Gooseberries can be planted vertically, but it is better to plant it obliquely so that the shoots from the ground go faster. Gooseberries are able to give additional roots, so when planting the root neck is buried 3-5 cm. Then the pit is completely covered with soil that was dug from the pit and well watered.

When the ground settles, it is additionally poured. Critical can be attributed to the recommendations to trample the soil around the seedling after planting. There is no better way to fill the voids in the root zone with soil than watering, and trampling leads only to the fact that the roots will not be supplied with air, which in the initial period of plant survival is undesirable, so we will do without trampling down. After watering, which is done in several steps, to cover the soil surface under the bush with any dry earth about 7-8 cm layer.

Forming and pruning

After planting or before planting, but the bush should be shortened by cutting the ends of the branches, no matter how manyit's a pity. Leave on each branch should not more than 3-4 kidneys above the surface of the earth and about the same should be in the soil. Such a strong pruning during planting promotes the formation of lateral shoots at the base of the bush and good, and most importantly, fast and correct, the formation of the plant.

In the future, much depends on the timely and proper pruning of bushes. The fruit buds of gooseberries live long, about 8 years, but they will only bear fruit if there is a good increase( it is considered bad if it reaches only 7-8 cm at the end of summer).Closely monitor this. The growth is clearly visible - the bark on the grown ends of the branches is brighter. The smaller the new growth, the weaker the shoot, the more it is necessary to trim this branch, dropping down to the first strong lateral branch with a good gain. The apical kidney drains all the nutrients, and if the branch is weak( it has a thin end), then no fruit is formed and the yield is reduced. Therefore, it is necessary to shorten weak shoots.

The bush branches only when the shoots are shortened, that is, those that grow from the ground. Each new zero shoot is necessarily shortened by a quarter of its length. Note that the cut is 1 cm above the strong kidney located on the outside of the branch. Otherwise, the shoot that will go from the kidney below the cut will grow inside the crown and it will have to be removed. Zero shoots shorten in the spring of next year. Pruning is done in March, before the beginning of the sap flow. Either it can be done late in the autumn, when the plant has gone to rest. But you can not make shortening trim in summer or early autumn, as it will cause a new growth, and it will not have time to grow lighter to frost and dry up. So you just kill the escape.

If there are no pads on the branch, it should be removed before the first strong branching( usually to the branch from which this sterile shoot escapes).If the branch is obsolete, it ceases to bear fruit, and then it must be cut to the level of the soil, without leaving a hemp.

In the first 2-3 years, gooseberry usually develops a root system, and the crown hardly grows. Then the rapid growth of the above-ground part begins, and also a lot of growth appears. The whole bush can not feed the bush, so it will be in vain to thicken the bush and dry up. It is better to remove it immediately, especially the one.which appears in the center of the bush. All excess shoots are cut according to the level of the soil, leaving no hemp, otherwise pests and pathogens will quickly settle in the left hemp. In addition, cut branches lying on the ground.

While forming the bush, you need to leave 3-4 young zero shoots every year, then gradually over 5 years the plant has 20-25 strong branches of different ages. From this moment, abundant fruiting begins. In a properly formed bush in the prime of its strength, there should always be 20-25 fruit-bearing branches. Plant bushes of gooseberry should be at a distance of 1.5 m from each other.

Old, broken, sick and weak branches should be removed annually. Usually the branch grows old by 8-9 years, and on it fructification turns.

Then shorten each shoot that emerges from the ground by a quarter of its length, remove the shoots in the center of the bush, cut out unnecessary branches, especially those growing in the bush, thin the bush. Annual growth in fruiting branches does not shorten, because it reduces the yield. They are shortened in the early spring only if they have turned black or withered during the winter. The ends turn black if they are infected with powdery mildew. The ends of the branches dry up if the young sprout has not managed to grow lighter before frost. To prevent this from happening, pluck the apex bud( the uppermost bud at the end of the branch) in the first days of July to stop the outflow of nutrients to the top.

Old shrubs can be rejuvenated by strong pruning. Late in autumn, cut a third of the branches in the bush to the level of the soil. Make 2-3 buckets of humus. This will cause the growth of zero shoots from the soil. The next fall, the shoots grown over the summer will be shortened by one quarter of their length, and from the old branches remove another third. Then next autumn remove the remaining old part of the bush. Cut the root at once all the bush for the purpose of its rejuvenation should not be. However, one must know that no rejuvenation will not help too old plant, which is more than 30 years old. If you cut out obsolete branches in a timely manner( usually they grow old by the age of 10), then such cardinal measures as rejuvenation of the bush will not be required. The indicator of aging of the branch is the cessation of its fruiting.

Remember that gooseberries do not tolerate thickening and shading. He begins to die, get sick and can die. If you throw gooseberries to the mercy of fate, you will lose it.

Read the note

Gooseberries, as well as red currants, can be grown in a mold. The quality of the rootstock is usually taken with a golden currant, but which is planted with a stem cut from a fruit-bearing branch of gooseberry. This bush comes into fruition immediately, but next year. And you can grow gooseberries and root, but then it must be planted vertically to delay the emergence from the ground of new( zero) shoots. Deepen into the soil for 3-4 cm and make pruning, leaving only one kidney. From it will escape, which at the end of the season should be removed( pluck) 4-5 lower buds. This will be the stem of the future bush. The shoot itself is also shortened by a quarter of its length, so that the next spring there will be lateral branches. In the future, when the shoots of substitution( zero shoots) appear from the soil, they are cut to the ground. Cut also all the lateral branches that appear on the stem. The crown of the bush above the stem is allowed to develop freely. It is convenient to process such a bush, do weeding, digging under it. He looks very smart, but, alas, fructifies much less than a common bush. In addition, the bushes in the mold are short-lived. They live and bear fruit until the fetuses on this single trunk become obsolete, that is, about 8 years, since they do not have substitutions from zero shoots. In severe winters, gooseberry freezes above the level of snow cover, so the bush in the form of a rod often freezes.

Top dressing and care

Because the gooseberry roots lie at a rather large depth( about 40 cm), it does not need constant watering in dry weather, unlike the black currant. However, with a lack of moisture, gooseberries prematurely discard leaves, and berries grow smaller. It differs from red and blackcurrant, great phosphorus lovers, the need for increased doses of potassium, which should be taken into account when planting, and when dressing. Usually it is recommended to bring under each bush every 20 g nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium immediately after fruiting. With potassium supplementation it is useful to know that potassium salt contains 40% of potassium salt, and 100 g of fertilizer( half a glass) should be added. Potassium sulphate contains 500% potassium, and it is enough to make 80 g( less than half a glass).In potassium carbonate contains about 45% of pure potassium, you will need to make about 90 g of this fertilizer. Potassium nitrate contains about 14% nitrogen and 38% potassium, enough half a cup of fertilizer. In the ash contains only about 10% of potassium, so you need to make ash about 400 g( 4 cups).You should know that gooseberries do not tolerate chlorine and sulfur. It will prematurely discard the leaves if fed with potassium chloride, and immediately discard the leaves if it is treated with sulfur against pests or diseases.

As already mentioned, gooseberry is more resistant to drought than black currant, and watering is required only in arid summer, at the time of ovary formation and after fruiting. If there was a long dry autumn, it would require abundant watering of the entire garden, including gooseberry, in late September - early October.

It is inadmissible that the garden is left for the winter with a dry root system, in the cold it can lead to the drying of the branches.

If the summer was too rainy, then the ashes( liter bank under the bush) should be placed directly along the soil along the perimeter of the crown of the bush, into the zone of sucking roots. It is generally good to make ash in half a liter can in spring and autumn. In spring, you can feed a slurry of slurry, diluting the manure with water 1: 10, half a bucket under a bush, again along the perimeter of the crown. Immediately after fruiting, mineral dressing is given, as already written above.

Since the second half of August, no nitrogen fertilizing should be given, as nitrogen reduces the frost resistance of plants, in addition, nitrogen can provoke further growth of the ends of branches( if you did not pinch the apical buds early in July).And in autumn rains, nitrogen is easily washed out of soils. Very good gooseberry, like most garden crops, responds to the introduction of complex fertilizer AVA.It is enough to make it once every three years for 1 tbsp.spoon, sealing the granules in a shallow groove along the perimeter of the crown of the bush. In addition, it is necessary annually to bring in each bucket not less than a bucket of well-repaired manure or compost along the perimeter of the crown. Do you need an autumn digging of the soil under the bushes? It is believed that in the fall under the bushes, you must certainly make a digging. Firstly, in order to free the bush from the pests that have settled under it, to winters the pests, and secondly, to loosen the soil under the plants, which was trampled upon harvesting. Since the roots begin to lack oxygen in the compacted soil, they begin to rise closer to the surface in search of air, instead of going down, and then freezing into snowless frosty winters. Perekopku should be done shallow near the center of the bush( about 6-8 cm) and deeper along the perimeter of the crown( about 12-15 cm).

However, it is not necessary to make a digging if you cut the weeds regularly during the summer and leave them under the bushes. At the same time, the top layer of the soil remains loose throughout the summer and does not compact. If the bushes are planted on the ridges, then when harvesting you do not trample under the bushes. Pests should simply not be allowed into their garden, as I wrote about it in the book "How to plant, so sing."Moreover, it is now fashionable to plant bushes on the lawn. For planting, simply cut the sod( a square measuring 50 x 50 cm or a circle with a diameter of 50 cm), which is removed, a landing pit is prepared at this location and the plant is planted. Especially effective look at the lawn bushes in the form of a stem. Lawn constantly cut. When the bushes grow in the form of a stem, mowing grass under them is easier. No digging of soil under the bushes in this case is out of the question.

Reproduction

Gooseberries breed well only by dividing the bush and layers, it grows from cuttings and seeds for a long time. Seed propagation is used mainly when creating new varieties.

Easiest and most painless for a bush to breed a variety of layers. For this purpose, in the spring, even before the bud budding, select several( or one) healthy, strong root shoots( zero-order shoots growing from the ground), carefully not to break, bend to the ground and pinned in prepared shallow grooves( 6-8 cmdepth).The earth does not fall asleep until there are vertically growing new shoots. When they grow up to a height of about 10 cm, they are half hunched. Then they bite again. The soil, both in the furrow and after hilling, must be moist all the time. The easiest way to do this is to cover the layers with green sphagnum moss. The division of the bush should not be carried along, as this leads to a strong weakening of the uterine bush. This method is usually used if you need to transport a valuable variety to another location.

Pests and diseases

Gooseberries are loved by everyone, including pests, and it has many pests. Fortunately, not all of them cause great damage to the crop, so it is necessary to fight mainly with gooseberry flax, gooseberry moth and sawfly.

Gooseberries are an unremarkable butterfly that lays eggs in flowers in the spring. Caterpillars that are born of them damage ovaries. Each caterpillar can destroy up to 8-15 berries. Entangled in the web of bunches of grapes eaten, they are clearly visible on the bushes. They must be collected and destroyed during harvesting. Undisplated, tangled cobwebs of grapes will fall to the ground and leave for wintering in the soil under the bush. The easiest way to fight is to hump the soil in the autumn of the center of the bush to a height of about 10-12 cm. But in early spring the soil should be bent to the periphery of the bush( along the perimeter of the crown).Pests will perish. From chemical preparations it is possible to use before flowering "Carbofos" or "Fufanon", immediately after flowering - "Decis", "Karate", "Actellik" or biologics "Fitoverm", "Iskra-bio", "Agravertin".

Gooseberry moth is a beautiful yellow butterfly, with numerous black spots, the flight of which coincides with the flight of a notable and well-known butterfly-butterfly( cabbage) and runs from the end of June. Of the eggs laid on the leaves, the caterpillars are born, at first they are green, growing yellow in the bottom, gray from above. They feed on leaves and can quickly swallow the entire bush, leaving only veins from the leaves. They hibernate in spider webs hanging on bushes, in cracks in the bark, in fallen leaves. You can collect and destroy caterpillars that are clearly visible, or collect and burn spider cocoons, or use biological preparations "Fitoverm", "Iskra-Bio"( "Agravertin"), since we can not use toxic chemicals at this time.

The gooseberry sawfly develops in two generations. The wrecker winters in dense cocoons in the soil under bushes. In the early spring, during the dissolution of leaves, leaves the soil. Females lay eggs on young leaves, from which the

quickly appear caterpillars feeding on leaves. By the end of flowering, the first generation pupates in the soil under the bush, and already at the end of June a second generation of pests emerges from these pupae, the larvae of which are introduced into the young ovaries of berries. The berries, populated by sawflies, are deformed, becoming ribbed, and are painted ahead of schedule, so they are clearly visible on the bushes. They should simply be robbed and destroyed, and no processing is required.

Rarely a gooseberry attacked by a glass beet, whose flight coincides with cherry blossoms. The larva penetrates into the core of branches through cracks and lesions on the cortex. While eating out the core, it causes the death of branches. The damaged branches wither after flowering. They must be cut and burned.

Of the diseases of gooseberry, the most common and pernicious is American powdery mildew( spherote).It appears in early spring. On young leaves appears white, sparkling like a hoarfrost plaque. Then he switches to the young ovaries. In the future, the plaque darkens, becomes dense, becomes like felt. The harvest is dying. If you do not take any measures, then the bush will gradually die.

Three-time spraying in a season with a solution of chemical preparations "Vectra" or "Topaz" is required. The first time - on the unfolding leaves in spring, then, about two weeks later, - on young ovaries, then - after harvesting. Mildew will not be a few years old, but then it will appear again. No watering of bushes with boiling water in March from powdery mildew of gooseberry will not save. Prophylactically cleared from the spherotek( American powdery mildew) bushes of gooseberries can be watered 2-Zraza per season with a solution of the biological preparation "Fitosporin" or a biological preparation "Zircon" can be used. As for any garden plants, in spring, young leaves are sprayed with "Zircon" along with "Epin-exstra", and after harvesting - "Zircon".This is a very effective protection against any diseases, including against powdery mildew.

Among the varieties of gooseberries are old varieties, unusually resistant to diseases and pests. They should have those gardeners who once fuss with bushes, always ill with powdery mildew. Unfortunately, most modern large-bodied and very tasty varieties are susceptible to this heinous disease.