The berry season is over. The entire harvest is safely hidden in jars. For gardeners, the period of caring for currants does not end. This is the stage of work on which the future harvest depends. Processing currants in autumn involves the following types of gardening activities: pruning currant bush, treating it from insect pests and diseases, applying fertilizers to increase the plant’s immunity.
Currants have a number of specific diseases and can be attacked by pests. During flowering and ripening of berries, currants should not be treated with special preparations. The most convenient time for processing is after harvest. To ensure that the currant bushes remain healthy throughout the growing season, you should take a number of actions in advance in the fall:
- The shrub is sprayed with special chemicals aimed at protecting plants;
- Loosening and cultivating the soil under blackcurrant bushes is carried out;
- They add fertilizer;
- They rejuvenate the bushes by carrying out autumn pruning of currants.
The measures will be preventive in nature.
Feeding and fertilizing
If the plant is strong and healthy, then it is not afraid of diseases and attacks by insect pests.The application of mineral fertilizers and timely fertilizing increases the immunity of black currants.
After harvesting, the plant needs phosphorus and potassium. A sufficient amount of absorbed microelements makes black currants resistant to upcoming frosts and promotes the growth of root mass.
Potassium sulfate or potassium sulfate and double superphosphate require 1 tbsp. l., scattered around the diameter of the currant bush, and then pour it well with water, taking at least 10 l. Or dissolve the fertilizer in a bucket of water and pour over the prepared solution.
No less useful will be the addition of wood ash, which is rich in a variety of microelements. For fertilizing currants take 1 tbsp. and scattered around the bush. It is better to combine the application of ash with digging up the soil under the bush. You can prepare an ash solution if the weather is too dry.
Gardeners who are fundamentally against the application of mineral fertilizers can cover the currant bushes with compost or dig up the soil along with it. Over the winter, organic compounds will transform into a form convenient for absorption by currant roots. The fertilizing done with organic matter will be required by the plant in full in the spring to increase green mass.
If the currant bush was planted correctly with all the necessary fertilizers placed in the planting hole, then additional fertilizing will not be required for 2 years. They begin to be introduced only from the 3rd year of the bush’s life.
Watch a video about fertilizing in the fall:
Currant pruning
Another important agrotechnical event after harvesting is autumn pruning of currants. To do this you will need tools: pruning shears, garden saw and garden shears. Regular saws and scissors are not suitable.All instruments must be well sharpened and treated with disinfectants (kerosene, alcohol, potassium permanganate).
Pruning begins immediately after the leaves fall. The first step is to trim dried, broken branches, weakened and affected by diseases or pests. Currant branches that are too thin and lying on the ground are also candidates for removal.
The next stage is pruning and shaping the crown of the bush. Shoots 3-4 years old should be cut down. They place unnecessary stress on the root system, which supplies the entire bush with nutrients. The berries on such old branches are small and there are too few of them.
Branches that grow inward or intertwine with others should be removed. To avoid infection, all sections are treated with either Bordeaux mixture or garden varnish.
About 6 young shoots of the current year are selected; they should be the strongest, healthiest and well located. They are left behind. The rest of the growth is cut out. If you follow this pruning plan annually, then you will have a currant bush of 15 shoots, of different ages (1, 2, 3 years), but which are the most productive.
Next, you should shorten the length of the branches. The tops of old ones are cut off, which usually dry out; in young ones, no more than 6 buds are left. It is better to burn all trimmed material, this way you will prevent the spread of potential infection and pests. After pruning, protective measures are taken to process the currants.
Protection from pests and diseases
How process currants in the fallto prevent the development of diseases and pests? After harvesting, it is recommended as a preventative measure to spray the currant bush itself, the soil around it, and the row spacing with Bordeaux mixture.
For beginning gardeners, let us remind you that Bordeaux mixture is prepared from 100 g of copper sulfate and 100 g of lime, which are dissolved in a bucket of water, the resulting liquid is a rich turquoise color. Bordeaux mixture fights fungal infections well; it can be used to treat cut areas on shrubs. The product has long been known to gardeners and is widely used because it is quite effective. Process blackcurrants at least 2 times weekly.
Another substance that acts against fungi and their spores, insects and larvae is a concentrated solution of carbamide (urea). To spray black currants, take at least 300 g of urea dissolved in a bucket of water (10 l). The entire bush is generously sprayed with the prepared solution.
Some gardeners recommend not waiting for autumn leaves to fall on currants. And remove the leaves yourself at the first signs of wilting and yellowing. This way the plant will focus on preparing for winter, all nutrients will be sent to the branches and buds of the currant bush.
Collecting fallen leaves, removing litter and dry branches from the soil is a mandatory activity. Typically, pests and spores of bacteria and fungi overwinter in rotting plant debris. Collected waste is best burned.
And the soil under the currant bushes is loosened and treated with a light pink solution of potassium permanganate, Bordeaux mixture (100 g/10 l of water) or a solution of copper sulfate (50 g/10 l of water).
Loosening around the base of the bush is carried out to a shallow depth of about 5 cm under the crown, going 15 cm deep, and in the rows they dig to a depth of 20-30 cm. After loosening, the soil and bush are treated with Karbofos according to the instructions or with boric acid.
Several rules, the observance of which will lead to success in the fight against insects and diseases:
- Choose disease-resistant currant varieties for future planting;
- If the first signs of the disease appear, do not be afraid to use insecticidal and fungicidal preparations, i.e. those aimed at protecting plants from insects and diseases;
- For spraying to be effective, carry it out only in dry weather when no rain is expected. Currant bushes should not be treated immediately after rain or after dew has fallen.
Preventive measures will protect currant bushes from such serious diseases and pests as:
- Anthracnose – initially looks like reddish spots on the leaves that appear in the summer. Then they become larger and affect the entire leaf, it dries and falls off. Spores are stored in plant debris under the bush in winter. In autumn it is necessary to collect fallen leaves and burn them;
- Powdery mildew – its appearance is indicated by a white coating on the leaves and berries of currants in mid-summer. The disease primarily affects weakened bushes. It is important to prevent weakening of plants by feeding them regularly;
- Rust - manifests itself in the appearance of convex orange growths or as dots also orange. Bordeaux mixture or Fitosporin will help;
- Damage to currant glass - butterfly, which lays eggs in currant bark. Caterpillars emerge from the eggs and make passages in the middle of the shoots, causing them to dry out. The means of control is “Karbofos”.
- Aphid – the leaves turn red, then darken and fall off. “Karbafos” fights well against aphids. Autumn treatment with the drug will prevent the appearance of aphids in the summer;
- Firefly - butterfly, whose pupae overwinter in the soil under a bush. It is necessary to loosen the soil around the bush. Moths lay eggs in currant flowers, causing their death.
It is much easier to take simple preventive measures than, without doing so, to treat diseases that can end very sadly: the complete removal of the diseased bush.
Conclusion
Preventive measures aimed at protecting currants from possible diseases and pests are important agrotechnical techniques, as they are aimed at shaping the future harvest. Pay due attention to the autumn fertilizing of currants, which makes it possible to develop strong immunity; the plant will enter winter prepared and will easily endure it. Don’t forget about pruning the currant bush. It is important to rejuvenate the bush and have shoots that will give the highest possible yield.
