How to feed blackcurrant during fruiting. Root top dressing currants
Probably, there is no such summer resident who would not plant at least a few currant bushes on his site. about the benefits of these healing berries everyone knows. By the amount of vitamins, minerals and nutrients black currant surpassed all berries known to mankind. But the culture itself is unpretentious and modest - it does not seem to require anything special. In summer, currants should be fed so that shoots and fruit buds grow and develop well. Currants can be fed with phosphate fertilizer (phosphorite flour with the addition of superphosphate). Currant bushes are sensitive to chlorine, so substances containing potassium should be avoided for their feeding, preferring potassium sulfate or wood ash. In our article we will talk about summer top dressing of currants.
When currants are fed in summer
In the first half of June, organic fertilizing of currants should be carried out. Experienced gardeners advise spending at least two more top dressings in the summer. liquid fertilizers. One - in early July, during the filling of berries, the other - after harvesting, when new flower buds are laid, that is, in late July - early August. Top dressing after picking berries will provide good harvest currants next year.
Foliar top dressing of currants, which are carried out in June-July, are very welcome by specialists. For this use water mixture urea with trace elements. For 10 liters of water take 20 g of urea, 5 g boric acid, 3 g of potassium permanganate and 30 g blue vitriol. Boric acid, potassium permanganate and vitriol are stirred in a separate container, and then they are combined together and the plant is sprayed with this mixture.
Precautions when feeding currants
It is especially necessary to pay attention to the fact that currants purchased for bushes mineral fertilizers did not contain chlorine, this element has a bad effect on the plant. You also need to be careful when using nitrogen fertilizers. They have a good effect on the growth of the bush, but at the same time reduce the fruitfulness of the plant and make it more vulnerable to fungal diseases. Excessive nitrogen fertilizers for currants after harvest are especially dangerous, as they inhibit the ripening of branches, and this can lead to freezing of the bush in winter time. However, it is important to observe the dosage of any fertilizer, not just nitrogen, so that the currant roots do not suffer.
How to properly feed currants
In order not to harm the currant, every gardener should know how to properly apply nutrients. Nitrogen top dressings are usually applied in the root way, since the foliage absorbs them somewhat worse.
Before top dressing, the ground around the bush should be dug up well and watered abundantly, otherwise fertilizers can burn young roots. For the same reason, you cannot expand bird droppings right into the circle.
It is better to step back 20-30 cm from the stems and scatter fertilizer on the ground, and then cover it with a small layer of earth or mulch on top. cow dung insert deep enough. To do this, the rotted mass is laid out around the bush and the soil is dug up to a depth of 20–25 cm within a radius of about one meter.
Fertilizing currants in summer after flowering
Immediately after flowering and summer period experts advise using liquid top dressings for blackcurrants - organic and mineral. For organic dressings suitable diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10 infusion of chicken mint, diluted with water 1:4 infusion of liquid mullein or " green manure"- infusions of weeds, which is also diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10.
For mineral liquid dressings, 10 g of nitrogen, 20 g of phosphorus and 10 g of potassium fertilizers are diluted per 10 liters of water. You can use complex fertilizer with high content phosphorus and potassium, using 20-30 g per 10 liters of water. Liquid fertilizer - both organic and mineral - is applied at the rate of 10 liters of solution for each bush. Feeding with liquid fertilizer after flowering is necessary to support the plant and get a good harvest. Liquid fertilizers are applied after good watering or rain in the furrows that make around each currant bush. After watering and fertilizing, it is advisable to mulch the soil around the bush.
Foliar dressing of currants in summer
Experienced gardeners recommend foliar fertilizing of currants with microelements in June-July. To do this, 5 grams of potassium permanganate, 3 grams of boric acid and 30-40 grams of copper sulfate are diluted separately in different containers, and then mixed in 10 liters of water. This solution is sprayed with currant bushes.
Liquid fertilizing currants in summer
In addition to applying basic fertilizers, blackcurrants are given liquid top dressing, which is combined with watering. Usually they are used during flowering (May), during the period of shoot growth (May, June), when pouring berries (June) and immediately after harvest (August), when flower buds are laid.
For top dressing, an infusion of mullein or slurry is used, diluting 3-4 times (a bucket of solution per bush); infusion of bird droppings, diluted 8-10 times (half a bucket-bucket of solution per bush). Sometimes it's hard to get natural organic fertilizers, in these cases, you can use ready-made preparations from the store, for example, “Barrel and 4 buckets”, “Top-roots”, etc.
Fertilizing currants in the summer with folk methods
- Ash feeding. Pour half a bucket of ash with water 1:1 and leave for 2 days, dilute the resulting composition 1:10, consumption per bush 1-2 buckets of solution.
- Starch. It is advised to dig under dried bushes potato peelings, but the process of collecting and drying cleanings is very laborious and long. You can use store starch - dilute 200 grams of starch in 3 liters of water, boil and dilute in 1 bucket of water, consumption per bush is 2-3 liters. The downside of this recipe is that such starch is poorly digested. Most acceptable way the use of potato peels is to prepare an infusion from them. From the beginning of the summer season, put the potato peelings in a large bucket or barrel with a small amount of water, you can add chopped green grass and banana peel, throughout the season, after 2-5 weeks, the infusion can be used. Dilute 1:10 and water currant bushes at the rate of 1 bucket of infusion per bush.
- Bread fertilizer. Bread crusts are poured with water from 5 to 10 liters and infused in a warm place for 2 weeks. It can be diluted from 1:10 to 1:3, depending on the amount of solution and its concentration.
What other care is needed for currants in summer
Watering plays important role when caring for currants in hot summer. Also keep clean between the bushes, remove weeds on time. Feed with organic fertilizers, along with watering. Inspect the bushes all the time, and if pests or diseases are identified, take action, but do not treat with chemicals three weeks before the berries ripen, get by folk remedies. When the berries begin to sing, they need to be collected individually and selectively - only ripe as they ripen.
Knowing how to fertilize currants in the summer, and spending preventive examination, you can get every year big harvest this berry.
Before laying a plantation for currants, you need to deeply cultivate the soil and add rotted manure or other organic matter to it. In poor areas per 1 m2, up to 15 kg of organic matter, 50-60 g of phosphorus and 30-40 g of potash fertilizers should be applied. On soils with an average level of fertility, the amount of potash and phosphorus fertilizers can be reduced by a quarter, and on fertile lands, it can be halved. With the joint application of organic matter and mineral fertilizers, the rate of both is reduced by half. Can be used instead of potash fertilizer wood ash in the amount of 20-30 g per 1 m 2.
All types currants they prefer slightly acidic soils with a pH of about 6-6.5, so in the fall, when preparing the site, acidic soil will have to be limed, evenly adding 0.3-0.8 kg of lime per 1 m 2 of future plantings.
In each landing pit lay up to 10 kg of organic matter (compost, peat or humus) and 40 g of potassium sulfate.
After planting, the soil surface around a seedling of any kind of currant is mulched with humus, peat or peat-dung compost, spending up to 4-5 kg of material per bush. At autumn planting mulch layer can be increased.
When planting blackcurrant bushes in well-fertilized planting holes in the first year after planting, they will not need fertilizer.
Annual fertilization should begin 3 years after planting. For adult plants, fertilizers are laid along the projection of the crown of the bush, in the area where most of the roots are located.
On loamy soils with high level fertility, you can make organic, phosphorus and potash fertilizers once every 3-4 years, doing it in two doses (spring and autumn) or limited only to spring application. To do this, in the spring, 1 liter can of wood ash is scattered on the surface of the soil inside the perimeter of the crown of the bush.
Additionally, on loamy, sandy, sandy and peaty soils, summer top dressing, combining them with watering plants. The first liquid root dressing is given during the intensive formation of ovaries. For it, you can use a solution of mullein, diluted with water 2-4 times, spending 1 bucket of fertilizer per 1 m 2 of planting, or a solution of bird droppings, diluted with water 8-10 times (0.5-1 bucket of solution per 1 m 2 of planting ). Additionally, during this period, foliar top dressing (spraying the leaves) is carried out with a solution of trace elements: 2 teaspoons of Uniflor-micro fertilizer per 10 liters of water.
Immediately after fruiting, you need to feed the blackcurrant bushes with potassium and phosphorus. To prepare a solution of 1 tbsp. a spoonful of potassium sulfate and double granular superphosphate is diluted in 10 liters of water. In dry weather, fertilizers are applied during irrigation. In rainy weather, it is best to scatter fertilizer over moist soil and loosen slightly with top layer soil.
In August, on the surface of the soil inside the perimeter of the crown of the bush, they are scattered for the second time. liter jar wood ash.
At the end of October, 1 bucket of fully prepared humus is distributed along the perimeter of the crown of the bush.
In each landing hole under the red and white currant contribute 8-10 kg of organic matter, as well as 150-200 g of superphosphate and 30-40 g of potassium sulfate or wood ash.
Nitrogen mineral fertilizers, if necessary, can be applied only after the full rooting of the bushes. If currant leaves in the summer in the first year after planting have light color, then in July the plants need to be fed with liquid nitrogen fertilizer: 12-15 g of ammonium nitrate per 10 liters of water (this volume is enough for 2 plants).
❧ The rate of lime meal to reduce soil acidity is determined separately in each case, based on soil analysis data. According to experienced gardeners and gardeners, the average consumption of lime flour is 150-200 kg per hundred square meters.
Bushes of red and white currants begin to feed from the second or third year of development. On medium-fertile soils, 60-80 g of ammonium nitrate, 80 g of superphosphate, 50 g of potassium sulfate are annually applied per 1 bush. It is advisable to apply nitrogen fertilizers from the kit in the spring before bud break.
If in the spring under 3-year-old white and red currant bushes per 1 m2 of plantings, 4.5-6 g of the active substance of nitrogen are applied, then by the end of the operational period of an adult bush, this rate should be increased to 9-12 g of the active substance per 1 m2.
Superphosphate and potassium are laid before flowering and during the period of active formation of ovaries, as well as in August after harvest. A set of certain types fertilizers can be replaced with 400 g of fruit mixture.
With annual mulching of the soil under the bushes with organic fertilizer (15 kg per bush), mineral fertilizers can be omitted.
In the autumn, in the third year of the life of red and white currant bushes, it is advisable to add organic matter: approximately 5-10 kg of manure, humus or compost per 1 m 2 of plantings, planting fertilizers to a depth of 10 cm. It is convenient to combine this event with autumn digging soil.
After harvesting, you should seriously think about how to prepare the bush for fruiting next year. Autumn top dressing currant is mandatory, since the plant draws almost all the juices from the ground during the season and it does not have enough strength to form berries.
That is why it is worth giving him all the missing chemical elements and organic matter so that the bush takes a “low start” already in early March, when all plants are just waking up after frost.
Fertilizers for currants are extremely important in order to survive the winter, because the accumulated useful material help to endure severe frosts. The thicker the stem and the more sugars it contains, the more likely it is to survive the cold winter. Some gardeners say that estimating and bending branches is a pointless procedure, since with an abundance of organic matter and salts in the stem of a plant, it easily tolerates temperatures of -30 degrees.
It is very important to carry out this procedure in a timely manner. You can’t hesitate and you need to gradually add superphosphates and standard nitrogen fertilizers after harvesting the berries from the bush. By the end of November, the stems should grow significantly, so you can speed up this process by any possible means.
It is necessary to stop adding nitrogen fertilizers until the end of September. This is due to the fact that excessive metabolism before cold weather is very dangerous. It is necessary to “lull” the plant as much as possible, but nitrogen fertilizers can act for a month or more. If you do not stop this, currants can freeze out during the first frost.
Compost and humus must be buried in the soil as late as possible. The fact is that it decomposes only after a few months and begins to give a "push" to the root system. In 3-4 months in winter, it will decompose and begin to release the first necessary chemical elements, just at the moment when the plant needs it to start in the spring.
Humus is an integral component and must be added for everybody perennial plant, especially when growing currants or. This can be done even in December, weather permitting. Some gardeners have successfully practiced "staged application", where the first burying of manure is carried out in October, the second at the end of November, and the third in winter during the first thaw in December.
How to properly fertilize
Every gardener needs to know how to feed currants in the fall and what should not be added to the soil so as not to harm the bush. After all, this process may not always be beneficial for the plant, on the contrary - wrong actions or poorly selected components can destroy the bush!
Nitrogen components are added first. They act almost immediately and the result can be seen after 5-8 days - the bush will begin to grow rapidly, dormant buds will awaken, and one-year shoots will also become denser.
Can be added ammonium nitrate- it will help to activate root system and improve the absorption (absorption) of moisture from the soil. After fruiting, the bush is weak, it is necessary to stimulate it to further growth. Potash and phosphate fertilizers are not needed - this is an extra waste of money (and they cost a lot), but you will not see the result. They are aimed at improving the quality of fruits and are valid for only 30-50 days.
Therefore, buying drugs containing these expensive components is not worth it. autumn work. Nitrogen fertilizers are best given as a root dressing, as the leaves absorb them worse.
Now let's take a closer look at how to fertilize currants with foliar dressings.
Every 3 weeks, be sure to spray the bushes with urea. It is better to apply often, but little, than 1 time and a lot.
Spray at 50% of the indicated dose, no later than 20 days after the previous treatment. You will see significant stem growth in the first week of growth. It is advisable to carry out abundant watering - together with complex nitrogen fertilizers, this will give an extraordinary effect.
Next, we move to the soil under the bush. In mid-October, you can start burying jewelry for the bush - cow dung and chicken manure. Without them, it is impossible to talk about the full development of the plant, since it is manure that contains the complex of necessary minerals and substances required for the correct and rapid development of the plant in spring.
The first "portion" must be buried deep. To do this, we scatter manure around the bush within a radius of 1 meter and dig everything with a shovel to a depth of 17-22 cm, just as with. Moreover, everything must be leveled with a rake from above in order to “close” the moisture.
After 1 month, you can scatter manure in the same area, just don’t bury it anymore, but simply sprinkle it with earth or leave it on “ fresh air so that it decomposes under the snow. Chicken manure can not be laid directly next to the bush. It is very concentrated and can burn the roots with nitrogen if not decomposed enough.
Step back 25-30 centimeters from the stems and pour it around the plant. During the winter, all the nitrogen will decompose and erode, leaving only durable components that will nourish the bush for 4-6 months.
Is it possible to fertilize in late autumn and winter?
We have already figured out how to fertilize currants in the fall, now we need to decide whether something needs to be done in the winter and how effective it is to fool ourselves in the cold. First, the relevance of this process depends on the type of plant.
Top dressing of blackcurrant, for example, is carried out practically all year round, as it bears fruit profusely and constantly needs in large numbers phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and other elements. If we are talking about red currants, then the effectiveness of winter work is extremely doubtful, because the manure introduced in the fall will be enough for almost the entire period of fruit formation.
Fertilizers for blackcurrant should be applied in without fail at the end of autumn (we have already described this procedure above), as well as every subsequent 2-3 months. What is it for? In fact, everything is very simple. The decomposition period of components important for the formation and development of currant fruits is 5-6 months, and 2-3 months for the development of the vegetative mass.
Thus, manure, chicken droppings and other organic matter that got into the soil in November will begin to affect the bush only in March. That is, if you bring another portion of “food” under the snow or during the thaw, then it will start working for you only in April and early May, and it affects the fruits just during the period of their formation.
In fact, organics need to be supplied to the soil as often as possible in small quantities. It is better to evenly distribute everything throughout the year than to apply 1 time big pile manure or chicken manure.
If, when planting bushes, you brought rotted manure, compost, wood ash and complex fertilizers, then the stock of phosphorus and potassium will be enough for the plant for the next 2-3 years. It should be understood that these minerals are responsible for the winter "phase" of currant life - thanks to phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, bushes approach winter with fully lignified young shoots that will not freeze even when extreme cold. Potassium is also responsible for assimilation - if the first is not enough, then no matter how much you add nitrogen-containing substances, this will not affect the growth rate.
Nitrogen fertilizers, by the way, are strictly forbidden to be applied in the fall - this is a general rule for all crops. Otherwise, you can provoke the appearance of young shoots, which will weaken the bushes as a whole and will certainly die during frosts. Urea and other nitrogenous types of top dressing should be applied only in the spring, after the snow has melted. For one bush, 50 g of substances are enough, which are embedded in the soil directly under the bush. Be sure to then water the soil around the currant.
Top dressing for currants in the fall - choose fertilizers
Starting from the 3-4th year of the life of the bush, a deficiency of minerals is formed in the soil. How to fertilize currants in the fall? After the crop has been harvested, up to 6 kg of organic fertilizers (chicken manure, slurry, mullein) are applied under the bushes. In the autumn fertilizer for currants include up to 50 g of superphosphate and about 20 g of potassium sulfate. The components are embedded in the soil around the bush and watered.
Shrubs older than this age should be fertilized based on their nutrient needs. , starting from the fourth year of life, already contribute twice during the growing season. Bushes will need nitrogen constantly - it is too easy for this substance to leave the soil due to winds and growth processes.
Autumn top dressing of blackcurrant and organic matter is regulated depending on the composition and quality of the soil on the site. For example, on fertile loamy soil, it is enough to apply them only once every two to three years, in the fall. In this case, blackcurrant fertilizer in the fall can be made up of the following components: 40 g of potassium sulfate, 150 g of superphosphate and up to 20 organics. The same ratio of fertilizers is also used on peat-bog soils, however, in addition, every 4 years they also add half a kilogram of lime per square meter.
Sandy and sandy loamy soils lose useful elements much faster due to the porous structure. Therefore, fertilizers in the same proportions are applied more often - once every 1–2 years.
How to fertilize blackcurrants in the fall - there is an alternative!
Far from always we spend so much time in the country to have time to take care of every bush. In this case, we recommend using the experience of summer residents who sow green manure plants in the aisles: peas, rapeseed, lupins. All that is required of you is to mow green manure crops in time. Optimal time for this, their flowering is considered.
Many gardeners consider currants to be unpretentious crops and reduce their care to rare waterings. As a result, every year the harvest of berries becomes smaller, so the bushes have to be uprooted to plant other plants.
Meanwhile, the currant can grow magnificently and bear fruit in one place for over 15 years, but for this it must be looked after and provided with fertilizers in spring, summer and autumn.
When fertilize currants?
In the fruiting phase currant bushes enter their second or third year, so in early spring in the second year after planting, they need organic fertilizers. The first dressing is applied immediately after flowering, trying to saturate the plants well with nitrogen-containing substances.
In summer, after fruit set, currants are fertilized with potash and phosphorus mixtures, and in the fall, phased feeding is carried out, allowing the bushes to prepare well for the upcoming winter.
Autumn fertilizers are extremely important for the plant, because the nutrients help it survive the hard frosts. The more useful elements will be contained in the bush, the more likely it is to survive during cold winter and give a good harvest next year.
Urea is introduced no later than the end of September, since too much metabolism before frost is quite dangerous. Manure, bird droppings, potassium and phosphorus can be given until November, dividing top dressing into several stages.
How to properly feed currants?
In order not to harm currants, every gardener must know how to properly apply nutrients. Nitrogen top dressings are usually applied in the root way, since the foliage absorbs them somewhat worse.
Before top dressing, the ground around the bush should be dug up well and watered abundantly, otherwise fertilizers can burn young roots. For the same reason, it is impossible to lay out bird droppings directly into the trunk circle. 
It is better to step back 20-30 cm from the stems and scatter fertilizer on the ground, and then cover it with a small layer of earth or mulch on top. Cow dung is applied deep enough. To do this, the rotted mass is laid out around the bush and the soil is dug up to a depth of 20–25 cm within a radius of about one meter.
What fertilize currants in spring?
Spring top dressing involves the application of nitrogen fertilizers, the effect of which can be seen in about a week - the bush will begin to grow rapidly, dormant buds will wake up and young shoots will compact.
In order to saturate the plant well, 40–50 grams of urea are added under each bush, covering the top dressing with a layer of earth. From the fourth year of the currant's life, the amount of fertilizer applied can be reduced to 20-30 grams by dividing the work into two stages - one part of the drug is applied in early spring, the second is given after flowering.
What top dressing do currants need in summer?
In the summer, another nitrogen fertilization is carried out, which allows to improve the volumes and. During this period, it is especially important to saturate the currants with manure and potassium-phosphorus fertilizer. Under each bush, 4–5 kg of organic matter, 10–20 grams of potassium sulfate and 40 grams of superphosphate are added.
Some gardeners practice fertilizing currants with foliar top dressing. To do this, 2 grams of boric acid, 5 grams of manganese potassium and 10 grams of copper sulfate are mixed in a bucket of water, after which the foliage is sprayed with the resulting solution in the evening.
Autumn top dressing of currants
In autumn, fertilizer is started after fruiting, adding 4–6 kg of organic matter, 15 grams of potassium sulfate and 50 grams of superphosphate to the soil. In mid-October, humus or chicken manure containing necessary set minerals. 
The first dressing is buried in the soil, and in November, you can simply scatter fertilizers around the plant, leaving them in the fresh air. During the winter, the compost will decompose, and only useful components will remain on the ground, which will nourish the roots for 4-5 months.