Content
Black currants are highly valued for their beneficial properties, although their excessive acidity is not everyone's cup of tea. The berries of hybrid plants, like Pygmy currants, having unique qualities, acquired a dessert sweet taste and large fruit as a result of selection work. Bred by V.S. Ilyin in the South Ural Research Institute on the basis of currant Seedling Golubki and Bredtorp, the Pygmy currant variety has been presented in the State Register since 1999. The plant was recommended for cultivation in Siberia and the Far East, but thanks to winter hardiness, endurance and productivity, it spread throughout the European territory of Russia and neighboring countries.
Characteristic
Mid-season black currant Pygmy begins to ripen in late June, early July. The flowers open alternately and harvest lasts up to three weeks or more. From one bush, subject to the requirements of agricultural technology, 5.5-5.7 kg of tasty and aromatic berries are harvested, or up to 22 t/ha. The average yield on an industrial scale reaches 6.5 tons per hectare. Increased yield is typical for the variety, since Pygmy currant bushes are self-fertile. The plants are quite unpretentious and take root easily. The variety bears fruit annually.
The black currant bush Pygmy tolerates frosts down to -35 degrees and summer heat of 30 degrees. Plants are undemanding to soil, but love timely watering and fertilizing. The variety is resistant to common diseases and requires preventive spraying. Sensitive to septoria and bud mite attacks.
The sweetness and pleasant specific aroma of Pygmy berries makes it possible to enjoy them fresh. Traditional preparations are made from the berries, frozen and dried.
Description
Pygmy black currant bushes are tall, reaching 1.5-2 m, compact, the branches are often directed upwards rather than to the sides. Young shoots are green, with a slight anthocyanin tint, and pubescent. Single oval brown buds extend from the branches at an angle of 30 degrees. Experienced gardeners, in their reviews and descriptions of black Pygmy currant, indicate that even in early spring it is easy to distinguish it from other varieties by the characteristic bronze color of the buds. The leaves are large, five-lobed, wrinkled, shiny, slightly concave in the middle, with small teeth. The inflorescences of the Pygmy variety are medium length with 6-10 pale pink flowers.
The berries are on a long green stalk, round, large, up to 5-7.5 g, with thin, black skin. The pulp is sweet, with the expected currant flavor and a small amount of seeds. Pygmy currant berries are famous for their balanced composition of sugar, acid, trace elements and vitamins. Sugar content is 9.4%, 100 g of berries contains 150 mg of ascorbic acid. The variety was rated highly by tasters: 5 points.
Advantages and disadvantages
The popular Pygmy currant variety has many advantages:
- Stable productivity;
- Large fruit and high consumer quality;
- Long-term fruiting;
- Frost resistance;
- Resistant to powdery mildew and anthracnose.
The disadvantages of the Pygmy variety include susceptibility to septoria and bud mite.
Growing
According to reviews from gardeners, Pygmy currants have been planted since the beginning of September. Before the onset of cold weather, the plant needs two weeks to take root. In spring they plant very early, in March or early April, when the buds have not yet opened.
Requirements for seedlings
When buying Pygmy currant seedlings, you need to choose them carefully.
- Optimal age for planting: 1- or 2-year-olds;
- The volume of the root system is not less than 20 cm;
- Seedling height – 40 cm;
- The roots and stem are elastic, fresh, without damage.
Site preparation
For Pygmy black currants, select a sunny place in the south or south-west direction from buildings, a fence or a large garden. In partial shade the berries will be small. Groundwater in the area should not rise above 1.5 m. You should also avoid places where melt water stands for a long time in the spring. The best soil for the Pygmy variety is loose, slightly acidic, not swampy or dry sandy. The pits are prepared in advance.
- When digging up soil in summer per 1 sq. m add 10 liters of compost or humus, 30 g of potassium sulfate, 200 g of superphosphate;
- Wood ash (1 l), a good potassium fertilizer, is often used instead of mineral preparations;
- When digging up an area for Pygmy currants, carefully select wheatgrass roots from the soil;
- The distance between bushes is 1.5 m;
- Hole depth – 0.4-0.5 m, diameter – 0.6 m;
- The top layer of soil is mixed with humus in a 1:1 ratio, 300 g of wood ash, 30 g of potassium sulfate, 120 g of superphosphate are added to the mixture;
- Drainage material is placed at the bottom and covered with earthen mixture. The hole is covered with film, fragments of slate or other available means so that the fertile soil does not erode.
Landing
When the time comes to plant Pygmy black currants, after purchasing the seedlings, they are placed in a mash of a solution of mullein and clay for half an hour.
- Before planting, pour a bucket of water into the hole, sprinkle wet soil on top with dry soil and place the seedling, carefully leveling the roots;
- The seedling is placed vertically or with an inclination of 45 degrees;
- The root neck of the Pygmy currant is sprinkled with 5-7 cm of soil so that the shoots grow well;
- A side is formed along the edges of the hole, and 5-8 liters of water are poured. Water again after 3 days;
- The surface is mulched with sawdust, hay, straw up to 7-10 cm thick to maintain moisture.
Some gardeners advise trimming the stems of currant seedlings to 2-3 buds in order to stimulate shoot growth in the spring. Others are against this method, saying that a healthy shoot should be left completely for the winter. Before frost, the seedling is covered with earth and mulched. In the spring, the currant seedling is freed from the poured soil, preserving the sides for watering.
Care
Currant bushes bear fruit in the third year; constant watering and fertilizing are required. Loosening of the soil is shallow, up to 8 cm.
Watering
The soil near the currant bushes is watered so that it is moistened to a depth of 40 cm.
- During the dry period, Pygmy currants need to be watered regularly every 2-3 days, 30-40 liters per bush;
- After watering, apply fresh mulch;
- Important watering is during the formation of ovaries, at the end of May, and when the berries ripen, in July;
- Water-recharging watering of bushes is carried out in October.
Top dressing
The next season after planting, currants are not fed if the soil in the hole and on the site has been enriched with fertilizers.
- For Pygmy black currant, the first feeding with natural and nitrogen preparations (30 g of urea) is given in the spring, a year after planting;
- After harvesting, the bushes are fed with 12 g of potassium sulfate and 50 g of superphosphate per 1 square meter. m of soil when digging;
- In spring, adult currant bushes are given 30 g of Nitrophoska and then watered generously;
- Before the formation of berries, the bushes are treated with a solution of 30 g of copper sulfate, 5 g of potassium permanganate and boric acid per 10 liters of water;
- Regular application of microelements - boron, zinc, manganese, copper - as part of complex fertilizers increases the resistance of currants to fungal diseases.
Trimming
In the spring, Pygmy currant bushes are carefully inspected and damaged branches are removed. Prepare sharp and clean tools for work.
- In autumn, thickening shoots that grow inside the bush are cut out;
- The largest harvest will be from 2-3 year old shoots, they are left;
- 5-year-old branches are removed;
- A full-fledged bush consists of 15-20 shoots of different ages;
- Shoots that bend down are cut to a branch that grows vertically;
- An 8-year-old bush is thinned out, leaving only 2-year-old shoots.
Protection from pests and diseases
The black currant variety Pygmy is affected by white spotting. First, brown spots up to 3 cm wide appear on the leaves. Then the center of the spot turns white. The disease can lead to complete leaf loss. As a preventative measure in the fall, all leaves are removed from under the currant bush, and the soil is dug up in the fall and spring. Before the buds awaken, the bushes are sprayed with copper sulfate. When the disease appears in the summer, after harvesting, the bushes are treated with Bordeaux mixture.
Modern acaricidal drugs are used against ticks.
Growing large and sweet berries with unique adsorbent properties is an exciting activity for people who love to garden.
Pygmy purchased currants on the territory of Fortuna in Irkutsk. in 2019, (annual Fair of the Omsk Gardener nursery, directly next to Mvideo). At the beginning of growth and fruiting, I noticed the different shades of the leaves of two supposedly identical plants, light green and dark green, different taste and density of the berries, one hundred percent mismatched, in addition, if we consider Pygmy a very sweet berry, and this is so , the berry adheres very weakly to the stalk, i.e. great crumbling. Something like this.