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Red currant bushes are often found in personal plots, however, preference is still undeservedly given to black currants. Although red currant berries are richer in the content of many elements. For example, they contain more iron, potassium, vitamin A and flavonoids. There are many biologically active substances - coumarins, which reduce blood viscosity and prevent the formation of blood clots.
The easiest way to pick berries is on tassels and freeze them in the refrigerator, and in winter, during colds, make vitamin compotes and jelly. However, it often happens that red currants grow on a plot like an ornamental shrub, not producing a good harvest of berries, which would be enough for both food and supplies.
Why do you prune currants?
Red currant bushes can live in one place for up to 20 years. The plant prefers well-lit places with fertile light soils, without stagnant moisture. You can select 2-3 varieties that ripen at different times, and the family will be provided with berries from June until late autumn.
Caring for red currants is simple, the bushes are resistant to pests and diseases, and tolerate frosty winters well. Pruning red currants in the fall - an important agrotechnical technique that should be given special attention; after its implementation, the future growing season will bring many pleasant surprises to gardeners:
- The berry harvest will increase;
- The berries will become much larger;
- By removing excessive thickening of the bush, all currant branches will be illuminated by the sun. The berries will be tastier, and they contain a lot of vitamins and microelements;
- The bush will be rejuvenated and will look neater;
- It will become easier for gardeners to care for the bush and carry out work around it;
- Autumn pruning promotes the growth of young shoots, from which new fruit-bearing shoots can be formed in the future.
Pruning red currants is carried out after the plant has dropped its leaves and is preparing for the hibernation period. Approximate time: second half of October. The bush can be pruned in the spring, however, at this time it is more difficult to choose the necessary time before the sap begins to flow and the buds swell. And in late autumn, gardeners have much more free time, and it is aimed at cleaning up plant debris and recycling it.
Garden pruning tool
To prune a bush, you should arm yourself with the necessary garden tools, which must be well sharpened and disinfected in a solution of potassium permanganate, Bordeaux mixture, alcohol or kerosene. Disinfection is necessary to prevent infection of healthy bushes with viruses, bacteria and fungi. After all, most often it is the diseased branches that are removed.
Required tool:
- You will need pruning shears. A well-sharpened pruner can easily cut branches of any diameter;
- A pruning saw or hacksaw may be needed to remove old, thick shoots. They have sharp teeth that will cut down the branch that the pruning shears could not handle;
- And another gardening tool that you can have on hand is loppers. They have long arms. If the bush is very neglected, and there is no way to get into the middle, then you can stick a lopper through and use it to trim what you want.
With such garden assistants, any pruning job will be a joy, you can easily cope with any volume.
Rules for pruning red currants (+ video)
How to prune red currants in autumn? There are several rules that must be followed:
- An equally important question is when to prune red currants? The best time period is late September - early October. The foliage has already fallen off, all the shoots that need to be trimmed are clearly visible. The plant is in dormant mode and tolerates all interventions painlessly;
- Young weakened branches of the currant bush are pruned;
- It is mandatory to prune those shoots that are damaged by diseases or insect pests;
- Don’t take principles as your guide to action. blackcurrant trimmings. It won't be right. Shrubs produce crops in different ways. The main part of the blackcurrant harvest is formed on 1, 2, 3 year old shoots. Therefore, black currant branches older than 4 years are removed, the remaining shoots are shortened for better branching, and some of the zero shoots are cut off;
- In red currants, the harvest is formed on one-year-old shoots and on adult branches 2-6 years old. After 6-7 years of life, the yield of such branches drops significantly, so they should be completely pruned;
- It is worth keeping in mind that red currants produce very few young shoots, so they are not cut off, but left to rejuvenate the bush;
- The upper part of the currant shoots is cut off only if it was damaged by aphids in the summer, as evidenced by the curvature of the shoot;
- When planting a young bush, immediately cut off all the shoots, leaving no more than 3 buds;
- In the next 6 years, pruning is carried out only for sanitary purposes. Trim dried, broken and diseased shoots. This kind of pruning does not have to be left until autumn. Branches are pruned as soon as damage is detected;
- At the 6-7th year of the bush’s life, shoots that are the most advanced in age (6 or more years) are pruned;
- Cut off shoots whose growth is directed inside the bush and those that grow parallel to the ground;
- If the branches have grown very much, then their length can be reduced by a third;
- The sections should be treated with garden varnish or Bordeaux mixture to prevent any infection.
A currant bush that has been properly pruned bears fruit well and has about 20-25 branches of different ages.
Watch a detailed video on how to properly prune red currants:
It is recommended to collect and burn trimmed material, litter and foliage, as the threat of disease spread from infected branches is too great. In plant debris, as a rule, larvae of insect pests, spores of bacteria and fungi overwinter.
The bush may look quite healthy in appearance. Take the time to examine it carefully. Especially the cutting areas.
If you see that the core is dark, then this is a clear sign of damage to the currant glassworm - a pest butterfly. In spring, a wasp-like butterfly lays eggs in cracks in the bark of a currant bush. After 2 weeks, their eggs hatch into caterpillars that penetrate the stem. They live and eat there.The black center of the stem is the fruit of the activity of glass butterfly caterpillars.
This pest is difficult to control because it spends its life inside the stem. Therefore, carefully inspect all cuttings before planting. In autumn and spring, cut off all affected shoots to the length where you see the light core. Preventative treatment with insecticides in the fall will also help in the fight against glassware.
Another enemy of currants is the bud mite. Its presence can be determined by large round buds. In the fall, they fight it by pruning damaged shoots and spraying with colloidal sulfur. Treatment with sulfur increases the bush's immunity against fungal infections.
If there is a need for planting material, then cuttings 15-20 cm long can be cut from the trimmings for subsequent rooting. They are planted in a prepared place, mulched, and with the beginning of the growing season, the rooted specimens will sprout leaves.
Another way to get seedlings: select a bush branch that is inclined to the ground, dig a shallow trench under it, place the branch in it, securely secure it with staples, sprinkle soil on top, and mulch with peat. In the spring you will have a ready-made redcurrant seedling, which should be cut from the mother bush and transferred for planting to a permanent place of growth.
Caring for red currants in autumn
Currant bushes do not require special care in the autumn. However, if you take preventive measures to protect the plant in the fall, then many problems can be avoided in the spring and summer.
Watch a video about autumn pruning and bush care:
After pruning and removing debris, red currant bushes are treated for preventive purposes with a solution of Bordeaux mixture, Karbafos, urea, and colloidal sulfur.
Under the crown of the bush, the soil is loosened and covered with mulch: peat or compost. They act both as a fertilizer and as protection against excessive moisture loss, and prevent the growth of weeds in the next season.
It is carried out to compensate for moisture loss during the summer period. If the plant does not receive moisture in the required volume, this will affect the formation of future flower buds. In a red currant bush, the trunk circle should be wetted to a depth of 0.5 m. At the end of October, water-charging irrigation will require about 30 liters of water. You should not pour all the water under the bush at once; spread out the watering for about a week, spending about a bucket of water on watering at a time.
Conclusion
If you are interested in getting a decent harvest of very healthy berries, then caring for your red currant bush is worth paying some attention to. The plant especially needs proper autumn pruning, which will rejuvenate it, form the crown of the bush, and you will get large, sweet berries saturated with sunlight.
