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Proper care of gooseberries after harvest plays an important role for the subsequent growth and development of the plant. It allows you to restore the energy spent on fruiting, and also prepares the plantings for the cold. It is during this period that gooseberries need special care.
What to do with gooseberries after picking the berries
Harvesting takes place at the end of August or early autumn, depending on the characteristics of a particular variety. Proper care of gooseberries after picking the berries is the key to health and abundant fruiting for the next year. You need to start doing all the necessary work immediately after picking the berries. Care during this period includes the following stages:
- Weeding the soil under the bushes, removing old leaves and plants, loosening.
- Abundant watering according to a specific schedule.
- Application of mineral and organic fertilizers.
- Pruning old and damaged shoots.
- Preventive treatment of bushes against diseases and parasites.
- Mulching the soil under gooseberries.
How to care for gooseberries after harvest
Caring for gooseberries after harvest has its own characteristics. Compliance with certain rules will allow the plant to replenish the energy spent during the season.
Sanitary pruning
Experienced gardeners do not recommend pruning bushes immediately after the fruiting season. This can lead to the development of young shoots that simply do not have time to become strong enough to survive the winter before the onset of frost.
Pruning is done after all the foliage has fallen, usually in mid-autumn. The purpose of this event is to remove excess branches that can harm the plant. Branches for pruning are selected according to the following criteria:
- broken, damaged;
- dried out;
- old, with dark bark;
- thin, undeveloped;
- growing towards the inside of the bush;
- lower shoots lying on the ground;
- showing signs of disease or pest damage.
To properly prune gooseberries, you should follow a number of simple rules:
- Pruning is done using a lopper or pruning shears with long handles, this will avoid getting pricked by gooseberry thorns.
- For additional hand protection, use thick gloves.
- Unnecessary branches are cut out entirely, leaving no stump.
- In young healthy branches that are shortened to enhance branching, the incision is made above a strong bud.
Cleaning and digging of the root zone
The very first thing you need to do with gooseberries after harvesting is to collect flying leaves, fallen berries, and broken branches from under the bushes. If traces of a fungal infection are visible on the collected leaves and fruits, they must be burned so that the disease does not spread to healthy crops.If there are no signs of disease, they can be used as humus.
You also need to weed the weeds under the gooseberries so that they do not take nutrients from the roots of the plant and deplete the soil. Small weeds can simply be pulled out, and large ones can be dug up along with the rhizome. The green part of pest plants can be scattered under the bushes, they will play the role of organic fertilizer.
After this, the soil must be dug up. This will help get rid of pests and possible fungal spores, and will also saturate the soil with oxygen. The soil should be loosened carefully, to a depth of no more than 6-7 cm, so as not to damage the gooseberry roots.
Watering schedule and rules
Gooseberries, unlike other berry bushes, do not need regular watering. But still, after fruiting is completed, the plant should not experience a lack of moisture. If the gooseberry overwinters with dry roots, this can lead to the death of the bush.
In this case, you need to focus on the amount of precipitation: in a rainy autumn, additional watering may not be necessary, but if the weather is dry, the gooseberries should be moistened.
Watering is carried out in several passes. At one time, 4-5 buckets of water are poured under each bush. The soil should be moistened to at least half a meter, since the gooseberry roots are located quite deep. Watering is carried out 3-5 times depending on the amount of precipitation.
To avoid the development of fungal diseases, some gardeners resort to a special watering method: they dig a ditch around the perimeter of the crown and pour 2-4 buckets of water into it. After the water has been absorbed, the groove is covered with a layer of earth.
How to feed gooseberries after fruiting
Caring for gooseberries after picking the berries also includes fertilizing. There is no need to use nitrogen-containing fertilizers, as they can become a catalyst for the growth of new branches that will not have time to grow stronger before the onset of cold weather.
During the post-harvest period, the following mineral fertilizers can be used:
- 2 tablespoons of superphosphate per bucket of water;
- a glass of ash and a tablespoon of superphosphate in a bucket of water.
Organic fertilizers will also be useful:
- dry wood ash at the rate of 100-150 g per 1 sq. m. soil;
- a bucket of humus or peat for 1 gooseberry bush (after application, the soil should be loosened well);
- The mullein infusion is diluted in half and watered at the rate of a bucket per 1 gooseberry bush.
If fertilizers are applied in dry form, it is necessary to water the ground under the gooseberries after fertilizing.
You can also use foliar feeding: treatment with growth and immunity stimulants. This is especially important for bushes with a large number of berries, which have spent a lot of energy during the fruiting season.
Processing gooseberries after fruiting
The time after harvest is the most suitable for preventive treatment of gooseberry bushes against pests and various diseases. If there are no signs of damage on the plant, then it is enough to carry out a single treatment in October. If signs of disease are noticeable, the treatment can be repeated again at the end of autumn.
Care consists of treatment with a solution of Bordeaux mixture, Fundazol or other antifungal agents, which can be purchased in specialized stores.
You can also spray the bushes after picking berries against the most common pests that threaten plantings: mites, glass beetles, and gall midges. For this purpose, drugs such as Karbafos, Lepidicide, Fitoverm, etc. are used.
Mulching the root zone
After harvesting, it is also necessary to protect the gooseberry roots from the upcoming cold weather. To maintain soil porosity, mulching is carried out. The following materials can be used for this:
- dry leaves mixed with humus;
- peat;
- needles;
- sawdust;
- special covering material.
The mulch is placed around the gooseberry trunk in a layer of 10-15 cm. In the spring, you must remember to remove the layer of mulch and properly loosen the soil.
Conclusion
Caring for gooseberries after harvest is an important component of abundant fruiting in subsequent years. It includes loosening the soil under the bush, watering and fertilizing with mineral and organic fertilizers, preventive treatment, and mulching. Following the care recommendations will allow the gooseberry to quickly regain its strength and prepare it for the upcoming frosts.
