Content
- 1 Do I need to feed gooseberries
- 2 What top dressing does gooseberry like?
- 3 How to fertilize the gooseberry correctly
- 4 Top dressing gooseberries when planting
- 5 How to fertilize gooseberries in spring
- 6 How to feed gooseberries in summer
- 7 How to fertilize gooseberries in autumn
- 8 Gooseberry care after feeding
- 9 Conclusion
Top dressing of berry bushes, including gooseberries. - an important part of caring for them. Abundant fruiting greatly depletes the soil, and its fertility can only be increased by applying the necessary fertilizers. In short, if you do not feed the gooseberries in the fall, then the berry harvest for next year may be significantly lower than expected.
Do I need to feed gooseberries
The unequivocal answer to this question is yes. It is necessary to feed gooseberries, and in spring, summer, and autumn. This shrub has a fairly extensive root system, so it absorbs nutrients very intensively. On poor soils, the crop without fertilization can be very poor. Even when grown on fertile soil, the supply of nutrients in it is quickly depleted, so periodic feeding is necessary. They not only compensate for the deficiency of certain nutrients in the soil, but also contribute to the normal growth and development of young shoots.
Timely application of top dressing significantly strengthens the immunity of the shrub, favorably affects the plant's resistance to adverse weather conditions, improves the taste of berries and increases the overall yield. However, fertilize the soil in moderation. Do not forget that an excess of fresh organic matter, as well as an excessive amount of, for example, nitrogen fertilizers, is a risk factor for the appearance of a disease such as powdery mildew on the bushes. Overfed with fertilizers, the bushes of this plant are more often exposed to the invasion of insect pests, their immunity decreases, they tolerate winter worse.
What top dressing does gooseberry like?
When planting young gooseberry bushes, a fairly large amount of nutrients are introduced into the soil of the planting pit, therefore, feeding is not required for the first few years. In this case, fertilization begins only from 3, and sometimes from 4 years. The following types of fertilizers are usually used for feeding.
- Organic (compost, rotted manure, humus).
- Mineral (one-component). They contain one of the main nutrients, nitrogen, potassium or phosphorus.
- Complex (mineral, multicomponent). This includes all other mineral fertilizers, which contain two or more nutrients in an assimilable form.
Often, folk remedies are used to feed gooseberries. As a rule, these are various infusions that enrich the soil with microelements. All dressings can be applied both root and foliar.
How to fertilize the gooseberry correctly
The timing and procedure for making gooseberry dressings depend on the type of soil on which the bushes grow. For dense clay soils, it is more advisable to apply fertilizers in the fall.If the soil is light and loose, then you can only do with spring top dressing. However, it is more correct to make all the fertilizing according to the calendar or a specific schedule. This is how plants receive the most balanced nutrition.
For fertilization, choose cloudy, warm days. When applying fertilizer by the root method, the soil must be pre-moistened. All work should be done either early in the morning or in the evening. All fertilizers should be applied strictly in the indicated dosages, exceeding the concentration can lead to root burns and cause harm to the gooseberry rather than help in development, and with a strong excessive concentration, the shrub may simply die.
Top dressing gooseberries when planting
Before planting, the soil in the gooseberry plot must be dug up while fertilizing. When digging in the fall, usually add 1-2 buckets of rotted manure or compost, 4 tbsp. l. phosphorus fertilizers and 2 tbsp. l. potash per 1 sq. m. Additionally, it is recommended to add 0.5 kg or a little more (but not more than 1 kg) of wood ash to the same area.
When planting in spring, no organic matter is added before digging. At this time, only complex phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are used at the rate of 0.1 kg per 1 sq. m. They are buried in the ground just before planting gooseberries.
Many gardeners prefer not to dig up the soil before planting, but to prepare the planting holes in advance, preparing a special nutritious soil for backfilling them after planting the gooseberry. It consists of humus, river sand and sod land in equal proportions. Additionally, a glass of wood ash is added to its composition, 2 tbsp. l. superphosphate and 1 tbsp. l. potassium sulfate.
How to fertilize gooseberries in spring
Feeding gooseberries in spring is very important for getting a good harvest, as well as for the fastest possible recovery after the winter period. As a rule, it is carried out in several stages. Here is a rough diagram of the annual spring feeding of gooseberries.
How to feed gooseberries in spring before flowering
The first spring feeding of gooseberries is carried out before the beginning of the growing season, while the buds have not yet blossomed on the bushes. At this time, nitrogen is important for this berry bush, it contributes to the rapid recovery of the bush, the recruitment of green mass and the growth of shoots. For feeding at this time, rotted manure is used, spreading it in a layer along the projection of the crown. Additionally, urea, simple or double superphosphate, and potassium salt are used. This fertilizer is simply spread evenly under the bushes.
Then, the soil is loosened, filling the fertilizing substances to a shallow depth, after which the root zone of the bushes is watered abundantly with water and mulched with peat.
How to feed gooseberries during flowering
Top dressing during flowering increases the number of ovaries, helping to increase yields. As a fertilizer for gooseberries during this period of spring, rotted manure is used at the rate of 5 kg per 1 bush, as well as any nitrogen fertilizer (nitrophoska, azofoska) in accordance with the recommended doses.
How to fertilize gooseberries in spring for a better harvest
Feed the gooseberries in the spring, during the budding period, best of all with ammonium sulfate or urea (urea). This measure has a beneficial effect on the quantity and quality of flower buds. And this has the most direct effect on productivity. Such top dressing is carried out by foliar method, spraying the shrub with a fertilizer solution in a low concentration.
Top dressing of gooseberries in the spring can also be done with folk remedies. Most often, potato peels are used for this purpose. To prepare the infusion, 1 kg of purification is brewed with 10 liters of boiling water.After 3 days, the infusion can be used for feeding. In addition to the nutritional value, the infusion of potato peelings remarkably enriches the soil with trace elements. A more exotic feeding option is an infusion of banana skins. Usually, 5 banana peels are added to 10 liters of water, after which they are infused for several days. This infusion is an excellent source of potassium.
How to feed gooseberries in summer
On each adult fruiting gooseberry bush, up to 10 kg of berries can ripen per season. Simultaneously with the setting and ripening of berries in the summer, there is an intensive growth of the root system, the number of absorbing roots significantly increases. At the same time, plants intensively absorb nutrients from the soil. To replenish them, in the summer, the bushes are fed with both organic and mineral fertilizers.
Top dressing of gooseberries in summer during the period of fruit formation
During the period of intensive ripening of fruits, it is very important to provide the gooseberry with all the necessary elements for normal nutrition. To compensate for the lack of nutrients during this period, you can use the following fertilizers.
- Slurry. To prepare a 200 liter concentrate, put 2 buckets of fresh manure, half a bucket of compost in a barrel and fill it with water. The mixture should be infused for several days. After about 1.5-2 weeks, the concentrate is diluted with clean water in a ratio of 1:10 and the gooseberry is fed. To do this, a shallow groove is made around the bush in the direct projection of the crown, into which the solution is carefully poured. Then the groove is covered with earth and mulched with peat. This procedure can be done twice in the summer while the berries ripen. After the final harvest, such dressing cannot be used.
- Mineral dressing. In the summer, I feed the bushes only with potash and phosphorus fertilizers. For this, it is best to use superphosphate and potassium sulfate, adding them to the soil in accordance with the recommended doses.
How to feed gooseberries after picking berries
Fruiting, especially abundant, rather drains the berry bush. To help him quickly regain strength, as well as to lay fruit buds, which will become the basis of the harvest for next year, the bushes are fed with the following fertilizers.
- Superphosphate 50 g.
- Ammonium sulfate 25 g.
- Potassium sulfate 25 g.
If the bushes bear fruit abundantly, then the fertilization rates for feeding the gooseberries after harvesting can be doubled. Additionally, to improve the nutritional value of the soil, rotted manure is used at the rate of 2-3 kg for each adult berry bush. All fertilizers are embedded in the soil at a shallow depth, while loosening the root zone.
How to fertilize gooseberries in autumn
The main purpose of fertilizing gooseberries in the fall is to prepare the shrub for winter. At this time, it is necessary to completely exclude the use of nitrogen fertilizers, as well as fresh manure and chicken droppings, containing this food element in large quantities. Otherwise, it will continue to stimulate the growth of young shoots, which will not have time to woody by winter and are guaranteed to freeze out.
The main fertilizers used in the autumn feeding of gooseberries include elements such as phosphorus and potassium. The standard dose of fertilizer per 1 bush is 20 g of superphosphate and 30 g of potassium sulfate. An additional top dressing of gooseberries in the fall is humus mulch, which is used to cover the root zone of the bush for the winter. If humus is not included in the mulch, then it is separately introduced into the soil, embedded in the aisles when digging up the earth.
Gooseberry care after feeding
The root method of feeding involves the incorporation of fertilizers into the soil, therefore, immediately after application, the root zone is loosened, after which the soil is watered abundantly, and then mulched with humus or peat. Watering is very important for gooseberries, with a lack of moisture, fertilizer in the ground will decompose for a very long time, and its absorption by gooseberry roots will greatly slow down.
Foliar dressing is more effective, but it must be done very carefully. In no case should the indicated dosage of the active substance be exceeded, this may cause burns to the plants. All foliar dressings should be carried out only in the evening, in dry, cool weather, so that the nutrient solution remains on the leaves for as long as possible and does not dry out. It is not necessary to water the bushes with sprinkling at this time.
A video about feeding gooseberries can be viewed at the link below.
Conclusion
To feed the gooseberries in the fall, spring and summer, you do not need large financial costs. The amount of fertilizers that are applied for this shrub is very small, but without them you should not expect a good harvest. Timely feeding is not only a guarantee of abundant fruiting, but also a long life of gooseberries, and in combination with other agrotechnical measures, they give a wonderful result.
