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Spreading gooseberry bushes with fragrant berries and rich green foliage have occupied pride of place in private plots for many decades. Breeders continue to work intensively to create varieties that are more promising in terms of yield. Gooseberry Green Rain is a new, hybrid variety that many experienced gardeners do not yet know about, but whose popularity is becoming higher every year.
Description of the gooseberry variety Green Rain
A powerful, large, but compact and neat bush with erect shoots, dense foliage and medium spreading. The variety is characterized by low thorniness: the bulk of rare and small thorns are concentrated near the base of the branches.
Very large, weighing up to 7 - 8 g, gooseberry berries of the Green Rain variety have an oval, pear-shaped shape, unusual for such species. When ripe, the light green fruits acquire a yellowish color, and lightened, large veining is clearly visible through the skin. Long stalks make it easy to pick berries from the bush.The variety is suitable for cultivation in the North-Western regions of Russia, Siberia and the Far East. The plant does not require supports.
Drought resistance, frost resistance
Gooseberry Green Rain does not need shelter for the winter, as it has high frost resistance. Even in the risky farming zone, plants do not freeze in the harshest winters. They are also not afraid of thaws in winter, after which many “tender” shrubs cannot recover, and young shoots freeze completely.
The gooseberry variety Green rain and drought tolerate well. But for abundant fruiting, it requires periodic watering during the dry season.
Fruiting, productivity
The Green Rain gooseberry bears fruit in late July and early August with aromatic, sweet berries with a honey flavor. The late-ripening variety is not prone to shedding, but overexposure of the fruits on the branches can lead to cracking of their thin skin.
Young gooseberry seedlings of the Green Rain variety begin to bear fruit already in the 2nd year after planting, which indicates the early fruiting of the crop. Abundant harvests can be obtained a little later - in the 4th - 6th year of cultivation. Large berries are densely located along the branches, hanging in huge, green clusters. From one bush you can easily get up to 4 - 5 kg of sweet berries, which can be consumed fresh or for preparing canned berries. Large, strong berries do not bake in the sun, and fruits collected on time can easily withstand transportation.
Advantages and disadvantages
Gooseberry Green Rain, as is clear from the description of the variety and the visual photo presented below, has undeniable advantages, which allows it to be widely used for growing in summer cottages. Some of the main advantages are:
- good productivity;
- resistance to drought, frost, winter thaws;
- unpretentiousness to growing conditions;
- resistance to diseases and pests;
- excellent taste of berries and versatility of their use;
- early fruiting.
No obvious deficiencies have been identified in this gooseberry variety. The only relative disadvantage can be considered the late ripening of the berries.
Features of reproduction
A lot of planting material can be obtained by propagating Green Rain gooseberries by cuttings. They are prepared from shoots that grow at the base of the bush of this variety. You can cut off only the upper part of the shoots by dipping the cuttings into a root-stimulating solution. After the roots appear, they are placed in light, peat soil. The seedlings are regularly watered, weeded and loosened. For the winter, the pre-insulated bed is covered with material. Stronger cuttings can be planted in a permanent place in the second year after cutting, in the fall.
As practice has shown, the most productive and effective way of breeding Green Rain gooseberries is propagation by layering. To do this, select annual root shoots from 3-4 year old bushes for placement in a specially dug trench. These shoots are bent to the trench and laid to a depth of 10 cm, sprinkled with soil. The soil in the furrows must be kept moist and loosened regularly.By autumn, the rooted cuttings reach a height of 17–20 cm and become sufficiently developed to grow independently. However, it is better to leave them near the mother plant for the winter.
Planting and care
The gooseberry Green Rain will produce its full harvest in a well-lit area, protected from wind and drafts. The light-loving plant is best planted in slightly acidic or neutral, loose and fertile soils with deep groundwater. Their level should be at least 1.5 m. Previously, 15 - 20 days before planting seedlings of this variety, the entire area is dug up with the removal of weeds, roots and other vegetation. River sand must be added to dense soil, and lime must be added to acidic soil. Gooseberries can be planted in spring or early autumn. When planting, you should ensure that the root collar deepens by about 5 - 6 cm. This measure will stimulate the formation and growth of new shoots.
Caring for Green Rain gooseberries comes down to watering, fertilizing and spring pruning. Despite the fact that the plant is considered drought-resistant, it requires four times of watering during the growing season. It is necessary to water the bushes abundantly in mid-spring, when the green mass is growing, as well as during flowering and fruit formation. Watering is stopped approximately half a month before harvesting so that the berries do not become watery. Fertilizing gooseberries with Green Rain comes down to the application of nitrogen fertilizers in the spring, and mineral fertilizers in the summer and autumn.In the spring, nitrogen fertilizing will allow the plant to gain green mass, then the gooseberries are fed with superphosphate 3 - 4 times during the growing season. Spring sanitary pruning is carried out to remove damaged, dry branches.
Growing rules
In order for the harvest of honey, sweet berries to please you with its stunning quantity, you should adhere to certain growing rules:
- planting holes should have a size of 50/50 cm, with a distance from each other of 80 - 100 cm;
- When digging holes, the top fertile layer of soil is removed and mixed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers;
- a small amount of nutrient substrate is poured into the hole, then a seedling is installed with the root system straightened, the planting hole is filled with fertile soil with fertilizers;
- in the spring, the tree trunk circle is loosened and mulched with leaves, sawdust, and rotted manure, which will retain moisture and additionally fertilize the plant.
The video clearly demonstrates the rules for caring for gooseberries and how to propagate them:
Pests and diseases
A promising gooseberry variety, Green Rain, has good resistance to pests and dangerous diseases. Spheroteka and anthrocnosis are not scary for him. But incorrect agricultural technology does not eliminate the risk of developing:
- white spotting;
- rust;
- mosaics.
For white spot and rust, the bushes are treated with fungicides. Mosaic is practically untreatable.However, preventive measures will not allow diseases to develop. In the spring, before the buds swell, and closer to autumn, after harvesting, the plants are treated with 1% Bordeaux mixture. Copper-containing preparations prevent the development of dangerous, incurable diseases, which guarantees good harvests of Green Rain gooseberries.
Conclusion
Gooseberry Green Rain will delight you with stable, large yields for many years, if you carry out simple care measures. The popularity of gooseberries as a berry crop continues to grow, because its fruits are a source of vitamins and beneficial microelements. Well, breeders continue to delight gardeners with new, increasingly promising and easy-to-care varieties.
