How to plant currants in the fall?

Currant is an unusually useful and fragrant berry culture. Even in small suburban areas you can always find 1-2 bushes of this plant. Clusters of yellow, black, pink and white berries will perfectly decorate a personal plot, as well as allow you to collect a high vitamin yield. Due to the incredible popularity of this garden culture, many gardeners are engaged in its cultivation. Further in the article we will tell you how to plant black currants in the fall so that even beginning gardeners could cope with such a task.

Dates of autumn planting

The planting of currant bushes can be carried out both in spring and autumn. In the current article we will talk about the autumn planting, since it is considered more favorable by experienced gardeners. According to reviews of experienced gardeners, planting should be carried out a few weeks before the expected frost, that is, around the beginning or middle of October, not later.

If you plant the bushes during this period, then by the beginning of spring the ground around the currant will have time to be well compacted, and the bushes themselves will take root. Culture with the advent of heat can immediately begin to grow and develop rapidly.

Location selection

Having learned when to plant currants in the fall, and determining in which particular month it is recommended to do it, it is also important to learn how to choose the right place for planting.

Lighting

It should be remembered that both black and other varieties of currants love sunny areas. Therefore, you need to choose a place that will be well lit most of the day. It is best to allocate a separate place for shrubs.

It is not recommended to plant them around the perimeter of the garden. It is also important to ensure that there are no drafts at the site.

Soil type

Black variety currants need well-moistened soil. It is important not to forget about this feature when choosing a seat. The best option would be a place on a weak decrease.

The north-west or west sides of the backyard plot will do. You can plant this berry crop on the north side of the house.

Naturally, everything should be in moderation, so too wetland, where groundwater is too close to the surface, in no case suitable for planting this berry crop. Will require a soil of high fertility. For black currant varieties, the best option would be medium loamy or heavy loamy, for the red one - loamy.

Cuttings or ready saplings?

As practice shows, it is the berry cultures that are easiest to reproduce among fruit crops. As for the currant, it can be propagated by layering, lignified or green cuttings, seeds.

If this culture is planned for the first time to settle on the site, then in this case you can purchase a ready sapling from a breeder. You should make purchases only from trusted vendors, as well as from those gardeners who grow currants for sale for a long time. It values ​​its reputation, which reduces the risk of acquiring poor quality planting material to a minimum.

Each of the methods has both advantages and disadvantages. In particular, propagating currants with seeds, it will most likely be impossible for the young to inherit all the qualitative characteristics of the mother plant.

Therefore, most gardeners either use cuttings, or buy ready-made seedlings. It is about these most popular options that we will be discussing further.

We multiply currants by cuttings

Quite widespread method of reproduction of currant bushes when using green cuttings. To root them need greenhouses, greenhouses or film shelters. We will understand how to plant currants in the fall cuttings.

Preform

To implement this method, it is necessary to use one-year green growth of currant bushes. We are talking about those shoots that grew in the current year.The cutting is considered ready at the moment when it still retains flexibility, but if it is bent sharply and with effort, it can break.

Such shoots in hot weather should be harvested early in the morning. If the weather is overcast, you can do it during the day. In the process of harvesting, it is important to take into account the fact that those branches that were taken from the upper shoots will be more amenable to rooting.

To store such cuts it is necessary in the conditions of the damp environment. To do this, wrap them in a pre-moistened burlap and then place them in a bag of polyethylene. The length of the cutting should be about 8-12 cm. 3-4 leaves should be left on each of them. At the same time, in several lower sheets the plate should be shortened or cut off completely, leaving only the petioles. The lower cut is done on a green cutting half a centimeter below the bud, the top one is slightly higher than the upper bud.

All cuts must be done with a pruner straight, without tilting. It is permissible to use also a knife for this purpose, but it should be as sharp as possible so as not to damage the shrub.

Rooting

In order for the cuttings to better root, you need to tie them into small bunches and place the lower ends into a solution of a growth-promoting substance. For this you can use heteroauxin (10 mg), diluted in 1 liter of water. The cuttings themselves should be lowered into the liquid to a depth of no more than 2 cm. After 12–20 hours, the bundles should be removed from the solution and covered with a moistened cloth. The landing process should take place on the same day.

Landing

Greenhouses and greenhouses for planting cuttings in them must be prepared in advance. The soil should be carefully dig and level. Pure river sand should be poured on top of it, or a mixture of sand and peat, the thickness of this layer should be about 4 cm.

It is recommended to plant the cuttings in rows, keeping the distance between the lines of about 7-8 cm. The interval between plants in one lane should be about 5 cm. Cuttings into the soil are set straight, observing a depth of 2-2.5 cm.

At the end of the landing, the bed should be watered abundantly using a sprayer. Shelters should be tightly closed and priten branches or gauze. How quickly the cuttings take root depends on the proper care of them. It is very important to maintain a high level of humidity and optimum temperature conditions.The first 2-3 weeks cuttings should be sprayed at least 2 times a day in cloudy weather, from 4-5 times a day in hot.

The temperature at night should not fall below 16 ° С, in the daytime - not exceed 25 ° С.

After 2-3 weeks, when the cuttings begin to take root, it is recommended to reduce watering, and feed the plants themselves with nitrogen-containing mineral fertilizers. It is also important to harden sprouts. To do this, it is necessary to air the greenhouse from time to time, and later the shelter can be removed altogether. Cuttings that are rooted can be planted in a permanent place for the next year. It is necessary to take care of them in every possible way, weed and loosen the soil, fight against diseases and harmful microorganisms.

Planting currants ready seedlings

It is best to plant currants with saplings in the fall. Spring disembarking is usually less successful because the bushes start growing early, which complicates the rooting process. Seedlings should be bought only from proven distributors.

Planting material should have a good branching of the root system, the stem should be healthy and fresh, signs of the presence of diseases should be absent.In no case can not buy faded or too dry seedlings. They will not be able to take root and time will be wasted. You also need to carefully monitor the absence of insect larvae and pests on the roots of shrubs.

To plant currants need to dig a hole 40x40 cm. The depth of the hole depends on the volume of the root system. The roots should fit completely into the pit, without twisting and bending over.

On less rich soils, the hole is recommended to do more. In the pit itself you need to form a nutrient layer. Place a mixture of earth and compost on the bottom. You can also use peat or rotted manure.

Additionally, it is recommended to add wood ash and some mineral fertilizers to the hole. Then it is necessary to fill the pit with more fertile soil (darker) without any fertilizers, place the seedling and at the end fill the hole to the top with an earthy mixture. The seedling should be placed in the hole to a depth that is about 5 cm larger than the one in which the plant has previously grown.After planting it is very important to water the bush plentifully, even if it is rainy outside.

Bottom circle is recommended to mulch sawdust, peat or compost. A layer of mulch will need about 5-8 cm. You can not fall asleep the seedling itself.

Immediately after the currant planting is completed, the bush should be cut off, leaving the plant 7 cm high. No need to regret the currant and neglect such a technique. It should be understood that the plant, which was shortened in this way, will form a bushy and beautiful bush already next year.

And the plant, which will remain intact, throughout the year will look like a miserable whip. So post-plant pruning is an extremely necessary manipulation. It is necessary to place currants on a separate site, but not on borders of a personal plot. Usually it is planted in rows, keeping a distance of 2-2.5 m between them. The distance is needed so that the shrub can comfortably grow, and also that the plants do not shade each other from the sun's rays.

Transplant features

There are cases when it becomes necessary to transplant currant bushes. This happens when the bush requires rejuvenation, when other shrubs or trees hinder its development. Also, transplantation is needed in cases where the soil under the currant is depleted. First of all, you need to choose a place for the future berry. It should be well lit. Also, before transplanting this berry crop, it is necessary to prepare the soil. The essence of the preparation is the same as it was described earlier. It is necessary to dig a plot, fertilize it with useful mineral dressings. You can apply humus, superphosphate, ash, etc.

Next on the site should prepare the wells, it is desirable to do it for 2-3 weeks before the intended transplant. The distance between the holes is recommended to keep from one and a half to two meters, so that the plants do not overshadow each other. For planting red currants, it is desirable to lay out a bit of rubble as a drainage at the bottom of the pit.

Wells need to do a depth of 40 cm or more, so that the root system can get the right amount of side roots. The width of the holes should be at least 50-60 cm. You need to focus on the size of the currant. Shrub that will be transplanted, you need to carefully dig and get out of the ground. In this case, you can not pull the shoots, so as not to damage the branches. A healthy shrub can be transplanted along with an earthball.

If the plant is sick, then you need to carefully inspect the root system, remove all dried and damaged roots, remove insects and pest larvae. Plant roots can be treated with a solution of potassium permanganate.

After all the above manipulations, it is necessary to pour a sufficient amount of water into the pit so that the earth becomes a liquid substance. In this mixture, you need to lower the bush, holding it on the weight, sprinkle with dry soil 6-8 cm above the root neck of the plant. Then the currant bush is watered again, so that the root soil is compacted.

Planting a currant at first glance may not seem like the easiest process, but it is worth noting that after doing all the manipulations once, in the future everything will be much easier.This remarkable berry crop, with proper care, will very quickly become comfortable on the site, will delight the gardener with a rich and rewarding crop.