Content
All fruit and berry crops in the garden need nutrition for good growth and fruiting. The content of elements necessary for plants in the soil may be insufficient, both due to the characteristics of different types of soil, and simply because the plants have used up the entire supply of nutrients. In this regard, fertilization is necessary. Gardeners who grow berry bushes on their plots will need information about how to feed currants and gooseberries in the spring, what fertilizers to use, when and in what quantities to apply them.
Nitrogen fertilizers
Plants use nitrogen to synthesize proteins, which are 1/5 of this component. It is also necessary for the creation of chlorophyll, therefore it has an effect on the passage of the processes of photosynthesis. Nitrogen is needed mainly for the growth of the green parts of the plant, especially in the early stages of their development. If there is a lack of this element, the shrubs grow slowly, their shoots become thin, and the leaves are small and may fall off ahead of time. This weakens the bushes, leads to shedding of the ovary and to a decrease in yield. Highly productive varieties of currants and gooseberries suffer especially from nitrogen deficiency.
Excess nitrogen also negatively affects plants. The green mass is growing rapidly, the fruits ripen later than the term, flower buds are almost not laid, which means that there will be few flowers next year. Also, an excess of nitrogen reduces the resistance of shrubs to fungal diseases.
The first spring feeding of currants and gooseberries very early, as soon as the snow melts. Early application of fertilizers is due to the fact that their assimilation is hampered by the dense structure of the soil and its insufficient moisture by the middle of spring. Most often, a lack of nitrogen is noted on light sandy loam soils, but, despite this, gooseberries and currants need to be fed on soils of any type.
It is best to use ammonium nitrate as nitrogen fertilizer.... 40-60 g of this substance is scattered around the bush, spreading evenly around the crown projection. Then the soil is loosened deeply so that the granules fall into the soil.
Two-year-old bushes of currants and gooseberries do not need to be fed with nitrogen in spring if the planting pits were well fertilized.
In the event that, despite the work carried out, the plants show signs of nitrogen starvation, in the spring you can carry out foliar feeding of currants and gooseberries with urea. To do this, 30-40 g of urea is dissolved in a bucket of warm water and the bushes are sprayed with this liquid. It is better to work in the morning or evening, but always in calm weather. It will also be possible to carry out such foliar feeding if the ovary begins to crumble. This will help keep her in the bush.
Spring feeding of currants and gooseberries with mineral fertilizers can be replaced with organic fertilizing, and instead of ready-made mineral mixtures, add humus or compost to the ground. To do this, the earth around the bushes is covered with organic matter in such an amount that it covers it with a layer of 2-3 cm.For feeding, you can also use a solution of mullein in a ratio of 1 to 5 or bird droppings in a ratio of 1 to 10. Mullein and droppings are pre-infused for 2-3 days. Application rate - 1 bucket for 3 or 4 bushes. You can also mulch the soil around the bushes with lupine, sweet clover, clover, or prepare an infusion from them and feed the bushes.
instructions for use and take them exactly in the amount in which it is indicated there: both a deficiency and an excess of elements in dressings are equally harmful to plants.
Phosphate fertilizers
Top dressing of currants and gooseberries in the spring should be carried out not only with nitrogen, but also with phosphorus fertilizers. A balanced diet with a phosphorus content is necessary for enhanced growth of the root system, which begins to branch more strongly and penetrates deeper into the soil. Phosphorus helps to accelerate the formation and ripening of berries, enhance the winter hardiness of shrubs. It is found in many elements and vitamins that are found in the leaves and fruits of berry bushes.
Most often, phosphorus deficiency is observed on acidic and least of all - in humus-rich soils. The maximum concentration of this element is noted in the upper layer of the earth and decreases as it deepens. Phosphorus is absorbed only by the root system, so the spring application of phosphorus fertilizers for currants and gooseberries can only be root. Foliar dressing is ineffective.
The following phosphorus mixtures are used for feeding shrubs:
- simple superphosphate;
- double;
- enriched;
- phosphate rock;
- precipitate.
Bring them before the start of the growing seasonso that the plants have time to be saturated with this element before the buds begin to bloom and develop normally throughout the current season. The dosage of fertilizers for dressing is indicated in the instructions for them, which must be adhered to when preparing the working solution.
Potash fertilizers
Potassium is necessary for berry bushes for the normal course of photosynthesis, increases the sugar content of fruits and their keeping quality, enhances plant resistance to diseases and frost resistance of roots and aerial parts, has a positive effect on the general condition of plants, accelerates their recovery after damage by pests, diseases, frosts. Freshly planted potassium helps to take root normally.
With a lack of this element, uncooked ripening of berries is observed, resistance to fungal diseases and the general productivity of shrubs decrease. Potassium starvation can be determined, first of all, by the lower leaves, the edges of which first begin to turn yellow, and then turn brown and die off. Fertilization of berry bushes with potassium is carried out on any type of soil, except clay, but it is especially necessary for plants growing on sandy soil. Shrubs growing on clays are fertilized with potassium in the fall, after the foliage has fallen off.
Potash fertilizer for currant and gooseberry bushes, which is applied in spring, should not include chlorine: plants do not like this element. Potassium sulfate is suitable for dressing, which, in addition to sulfur and potassium, also contains calcium and magnesium. Plants also need these elements. You can also use potassium nitrate and potassium carbonate (potash).
40-50 g of fertilizer is applied under adult gooseberry and currant bushes, spreading them around the bushes evenly, and then loosen the earth in order to embed the granules into the soil. For young bushes that have not yet entered fruiting, it is enough to apply half the amount of fertilizer.
What else can you feed currants in spring and gooseberries? Wood ash is ideal for this. 2-3 handfuls of ash are poured under each bush or a watering solution is prepared from it: fill the bucket 1/3 with ash, fill it with hot water and leave to infuse for a week. Then 1 liter of this concentrate is diluted in 1 bucket of water and poured under each plant.
Fertilizers when planting
In spring, not only adult currant and gooseberry bushes need feeding, but also young seedlings. In order for them to take root in a new place and start growing, you need to provide them with all the necessary substances. When planting, all 3 basic nutrients are used: N, P and K. Fertilizers, in which they are included, are poured onto the bottom of the planting pits. For top dressing, you can use compost in the amount of 5 kg per bush in combination with 0.5 kg of wood ash. Instead of organic matter, you can use mineral fertilizers: a mixture of ammonium sulfate (40 g), potassium sulfate (60 g) and nitrate or urea (40 g).
Top dressing with iodine
Iodine is used in gardening for feeding and as a fungicidal agent that suppresses the development of numerous pathogens of various origins: fungi, viruses, bacteria. When iodine is introduced into the ground, it is disinfected.
Fertilizing currants and gooseberries with iodine in the spring is carried out according to the following rules:
- Pharmacy iodine solution is used in micro doses: 1-2 drops are taken for 2 liters of water.
- Shrub seedlings are watered with iodine solution only after they take root and get stronger. Adult bushes can be watered without restrictions.
- Before spilling the ground with a solution, it must be moistened with plain water.
- In order for the fertilizing solution to become more effective, ash is added to it at the rate of 1 to 10.
- Foliar top dressing can be carried out by spraying the solution over the leaves from a sprayer.
Iodine can also be used to kill beetle larvae and weevils. To do this, 15 drops of iodine are dissolved in 10 liters of water and the soil around the bushes is poured with the solution. The solution should not get on the plants themselves. The time of work is before bud break.
Conclusion
Top dressing of currant and gooseberry bushes in spring is a necessary stage of agrotechnical work in the process of growing these crops. If carried out correctly, the result will be an abundant and high-quality berry harvest.
