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Proper care of the gooseberry after harvest plays an important role in the subsequent growth and development of the plant. It allows you to restore the strength spent on fruiting, and also prepares plantings for the cold weather. It is during this period that gooseberries need special care.
What to do with gooseberries after picking berries
Harvesting is carried out in late August or early autumn, depending on the characteristics of a particular variety. Proper care of gooseberries after picking berries is a guarantee of health and abundant fruiting for the next year. You need to start performing all the necessary work immediately after picking the berries. Care during this period includes the following steps:
- 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 from diseases and parasites.
- Mulching the soil under the gooseberry.
How to care for gooseberries after harvest
Caring for gooseberries after harvesting has its own characteristics. Compliance with some rules will allow the plant to replenish the strength spent during the season.
Sanitary pruning
Experienced gardeners do not recommend pruning the bushes immediately after the fruiting season. This can lead to the development of young shoots, which simply do not have time to get strong enough before the onset of frost to survive the winter.
Pruning is done after all the foliage has fallen, usually in mid-autumn. The purpose of this event is to remove unnecessary branches that can harm the plant. Pruning branches are selected according to the following criteria:
- broken, damaged;
- dried up;
- old, with dark bark;
- thin, undeveloped;
- growing towards the inside of the bush;
- lower shoots lying on the ground;
- with traces of disease or pests.
To properly prune gooseberries, you should follow a number of simple rules:
- Pruning is done with a lopper or long-handled pruning shears to avoid pricks on the gooseberry thorns.
- For additional protection of the hands, heavy gloves are used.
- Unnecessary branches are cut out entirely without leaving a hemp.
- In young healthy branches that are shortened to enhance branching, an incision is made over a strong bud.
Cleaning and digging the root zone
The very first thing to do with the gooseberries after harvesting is to collect loose leaves, fallen berries, broken branches from under the bushes. If traces of 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 illness, 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 do not deplete the soil. Small weeds can simply be pulled out, and large weeds can be dug out together with the rhizome. The green part of pest plants can be scattered under the bushes, they will play the role of organic fertilizer.
After that, the soil must be dug up.This will help get rid of pests and possible fungal spores, as well as saturate the earth with oxygen. The soil should be loosened carefully, to a depth of no more than 6-7 cm, so as not to damage the roots of the gooseberry.
Watering schedule and rules
Gooseberries, unlike other berry bushes, do not need regular watering too much. But still, after the completion of fruiting, the plant should not experience a lack of moisture. If the gooseberry hibernates 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 needed, but if the weather is dry, the gooseberries should be moistened.
Watering is carried out in several passes. 4-5 buckets of water are poured under each bush at a time. The soil should be moistened at least half a meter, since the roots of the gooseberry are located deep enough. 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 groove around the crown perimeter and pour 2-4 buckets of water there. After the water has been absorbed, the groove is sprinkled with a layer of earth.
How to feed gooseberries after fruiting
Caring for gooseberries after picking berries includes fertilizing. You do not need to use nitrogen-containing top dressing, as they can become a catalyst for the growth of new branches that will not have time to get stronger before the onset of cold weather.
In the period after harvest, the following mineral fertilizers can be used:
- 2 tablespoons of superphosphate in a bucket of water;
- a glass of ash and a tablespoon of superphosphate in a bucket of water.
Organic dressings 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 making the soil should be well loosened);
- mullein infusion is bred in half and watered at the rate of a bucket per 1 gooseberry bush.
If fertilizers are applied dry, it is necessary to water the soil under the gooseberry after feeding.
You can also use foliar feeding: treatment with growth and immunity stimulants. This is especially important for bushes with a lot 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 from pests and various diseases. If there are no traces of damage on the plant, then it is enough to carry out a single treatment in October. If signs of the disease are noticeable, then the treatment can be repeated again at the end of autumn.
Care consists in treatment with a solution of Bordeaux liquid, Fundazole or other antifungal agents that can be purchased in specialized stores.
You can also spray the bushes after picking berries from the most common pests that threaten plantings: mites, glassworms, gall midges. For this, drugs such as Karbaphos, Lepidicide, Fitoverm, etc. are used.
Root zone mulching
After harvesting, it is also necessary to protect the roots of the gooseberry from the upcoming cold weather. To preserve the porosity of the soil, mulching is carried out. As a material for this, you can use:
- dry leaves mixed with humus;
- peat;
- needles;
- sawdust;
- special covering material.
Mulch is laid around the gooseberry trunk in a layer of 10-15 cm. In the spring, remember to remove the mulch layer and loosen the soil properly.
Conclusion
Caring for gooseberries after harvest is an important component of abundant fruiting in subsequent years. It includes loosening the soil under the bushes, watering and feeding with mineral and organic fertilizers, preventive treatment, and mulching.Compliance with the care recommendations will allow the gooseberry to quickly recuperate and prepare it for the upcoming frost.
