Red currant

Unlike black currant, red is more resistant to pests and can bear fruit longer. Therefore, for a good harvest enough 2 bushes of this berry. Red currant is more suitable for freezing for the winter and making jam, jams and other preparations.

Planting red currants: basic rules

• Planting red currant begins in the fall. The optimal time is 2 weeks before frost. At a temperature of 6 degrees can buds buds. First you need to choose the right place. Bushes are not particularly whimsical, but at the same time, they do not like overmoistened soils. It is better to choose open, well-lit areas.

• If groundwater passes under the soil, it is better to plant red currants on hills and other elevations. Roots should not be washed with water or grow in constant humidity. Otherwise they will rot and the bush will die.
• It is useful to process seedlings in advance: a couple of hours before planting, place in a bucket of water. There you can also add funds to improve growth (for example, Kornevin).
• Currant bushes are planted in holes 50 cm wide and 40-60 cm deep. The depth is due to a well-developed root system. Before planting spread fertilizer and organic matter to the bottom. This may be a bucket of compost or humus. They can be mixed with soil and add superphosphate.
• It is better to prepare the pits in advance, a week before the direct planting of berry bushes. This is done to ensure that the earth settles. Further, planting red currant is not very different from planting black. The seedling is lowered into the pit, the root neck is buried by 5 cm. The bush is covered with earth, the hole is tamped down. Planted currants shed a bucket of water.
• Caring for red currants, mainly consists of weeding and watering. Shrubs are well watered in early summer, and closer to August, they reduce the amount of moisture.

Diseases of the red currant: how to fight?

Red currant is more disease resistant than black currant. Of the common problems faced by summer residents when growing bushes, it is possible to call the red-haly aphid. The insect lays larvae around the kidneys. In the spring, they begin to eat currant leaves. From this, red galls appear on the underside.

During flowering and fruit set, you can get rid of parasites by destroying diseased leaves. After harvesting, it is advised to use drugs such as Aktara.

Another disease is anthracnose. It is manifested in a change in the color of the leaves. They become brown. Currant leaves often suffer from glass. The larvae of this insect gnaw through shoots. It helps from pest destruction of diseased shoots and spraying with Aktar (20 days before picking berries stop).

In order to not get sick bush need:

• Carefully inspect the red currant bushes
• Trim sore branches
• Prevent thickening of the bush
• Burn sick leaves
• Smear the wounds on the trunk and shoots with garden pitch
• Dig aisle after harvest

In addition to combating diseases, it is necessary to feed currant bushes in time. Top dressing for bushes requires more, because the yield of red currants is higher than that of the black one. First year shrubs are fertilized with ammonium nitrate solution. Also, the berry responds well to fertilizing diluted with water droppings and compost.

Pruning red currants in autumn

• Red currant grows not so much as black. Therefore, it is easier to cut. Before flowering and after harvesting, sanitize - cut off the damaged shoots. Do it better at ground level. If hemp remains after pruning, it is useful to grease them with garden pitch.
• Currants are pruned a year after planting. A young bush in the first autumn just spud. Pruning is done like this: all grown shoots are shortened by ¼ of the entire length. In the first years, annual branches are usually pruned, since they are very weak.
• Processing of red currant in the fall is needed for the formation of mouth and increase yields. After 8 years, it is recommended to leave only 3-4 old branches, cut off the rest.
• Red currant can bear fruit up to 25 years. After 15 years, the yield decreases. Old bushes are recommended to be removed.

Reproduction of red currants

Red currant propagated by cuttings. Usually they are harvested in late autumn, in November. At an adult bush find a healthy strong shoot. From it cut off 25 cm - this will be the landing handle. Leaves are torn from it, and slice covered with garden pitch. Stalk before planting stored in the cold. The resulting material is planted in the spring.

Red Currant Transplant

Red currant tolerates transplant. Best done in the fall. Optimally transplant young bushes. It is possible to do this in the spring, but in this case the bush gets worse.

Red currant transplantation begins with the preparation of a new pit. Then the bush is poured abundantly with water to make it easier to dig. From the plant recede 40 cm and dug currants. The bush is placed on the film, dragged to a new pit and planted. The transplanted plant in the first year needs increased care. In the spring and at the beginning of the summer he is fed up with manure and manure. In addition, he needs constant watering.

On the other hand, there is an opinion that it is better not to repot the shrub, but to propagate it using cuttings.

Many gardeners prefer to grow black currants, instead of red. It has long been thought that the berries are the last sour. Fortunately, the selection works wonders: many varieties of red currant are no longer distinguished by a sharp taste. This plant is unpretentious and frost-resistant, gives a big harvest for many years.