How to feed black currants: tips for the seasons

Quite often, gardeners complain: the currant bush does not grow well, few berries are planted, diseases and pests settle on the leaves, shoots freeze out in winter. These and many other problems can be caused by poor nutrition. If currants do not receive all the necessary elements, then they will not be able to develop normally, resist diseases, give healthy growths and kidneys. The first years after planting, the bush picks up nutrients from the soil, but in the future, it already needs help in the form of top dressing.

Why currants need top dressing

Currant forms a superficial root system, which is located at a depth of up to 50 cm. Like any cultivated plant, it needs fertilizer, because sooner or later a set of nutrients in the root zone is exhausted. Due to the timely application of mineral and organic fertilizers, currant grows well in the mass of the bush, the berries grow large, juicy, with high taste. Autumn top dressing is very important - they not only help currant bushes prepare for winter, but also contribute to the laying of new fruit buds.

Blackcurrant grows in one place for 15-20 years, but in the absence of feeding, at a young age, it may lack nutrition

Blackcurrant fertilizer when planting

Currants respond very well to the improvement of growing conditions. If you plan to plant new bushes, then it is advisable to prepare the place in advance. It is necessary to supply the soil with mineral and organic fertilizers, dig, and if the area is waterlogged - then drain.

Landing pit preparation

The supply of currants with food depends on the size of the landing pit. The larger it is, the better stock you can create for the bush. Since the depth of the roots of currants is small, it makes no sense to dig deep. To well fill the pit with loose and fertile soil mixtures, it is better to increase the diameter. The size of the pit depends on the quality of the soil in your garden:

• On chernozem, it is enough to dig a hole to the size of the roots and plant a bush without any fertilizers.
• In most areas, loamy or sandy loamy soil prevails, and a pit is usually made 60x60 cm in size.
• On scanty soils, excavations are made up to 1 meter wide - the size of an adult bush.

Video: how to properly prepare the pit for landing

Fertilizer application

Given that currants will grow in one place for more than one year, the soil mixture for planting must be prepared very carefully:

1. Mix the fertile soil well with humus or compost (1: 1), add 0.5 l of wood ash. Fill the prepared hole with the mixture.
2. Let the mixture sag well for a month, only after that you can plant currants.
3. For spring planting, fill pits since autumn.

Fertile soil is the top 30 cm. But to fill the pit, you can bring land from the forest, from the field or buy universal soil. Land selected at a depth below 30 cm cannot be used for planting.

It looks like a pre-prepared landing pit - it is filled with nutritious soil mixture and marked with a peg

If there is no humus, compost and ash, then fill the pit with prepared soil mixed with the following components (per bush):

• 1 tbsp. l urea
• 2 tbsp. l superphosphate;
• 1 tbsp. l chlorine-free potash fertilizer.

In no case do not plant currants in the ground, freshly seasoned with mineral fertilizers. The crystals have not yet mixed with the soil and did not have time to dissolve, so they can burn the roots.

Basic dressing

Fertilizers introduced during planting will last for 3-4 years, just before it comes to the time of full fruiting. Adult currants need nutrients throughout the season, but each phase of development requires a certain set of elements. So, for the growth of leaves and twigs, nitrogen is needed, to strengthen the roots and increase winter hardiness - phosphorus, and potassium is responsible for the quality of the fruit, increases the immunity of the plant.

Black currants need to be fed at least twice - in spring and autumn. And in order to get the maximum yield for the variety and improve the taste of the berries, currants are additionally micronutrient.

Fertilizing currants with micronutrient fertilizers is often carried out by spraying on a green leaf.

Currant fertilizer in the fall

Young currants, which have developed into a lush fruit bearing bush, begin to be fed at the end of the season, after receiving the first full-fledged crop of berries. In autumn, nitrogen fertilizers cannot be applied, since they provoke violent growth of shoots. During this period, only phosphorus and potassium mineral fertilizers are used.

Table: Benefits of applying mineral fertilizers

Potassium is ideally suited for application under currants in autumn, when the most favorable conditions for pathogenic fungi are created - dampness and coolness. With the help of potassium, currants can increase their immunity and keep it until spring.

Phosphorus is the building material for new plant organs. In fact, this element is needed for currants all year round, but fertilizers containing phosphorus are very slowly dissolved and absorbed by the roots. Introduced in the fall, they gradually turn into a form accessible to currants and will be used by the plant from spring to the end of next season.

Video: the application of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers in the autumn

In autumn, as a top dressing, give currants one tablespoon of potassium sulfate and superphosphate per bush. Fertilizer apply immediately to the root zone. For this:

1. On the circumference of the bush, stepping back a bit so as not to touch the roots, dig a groove 30 cm deep or dig parallel to the bush on both sides.
2. If the ground is dry, spill the groove well with water (2-3 buckets).
3. Sprinkle both types of fertilizer evenly over a damp surface.
   

   Fertilize fertilizer evenly on moistened ground

4. Level the groove.

You can use complex fertilizers for berry crops marked "autumn" or "autumn". Before use, read the composition - nitrogen should not be at all or it may be present in a very low concentration compared with phosphorus and potassium.

Do all root dressing only on wet ground, combine them with watering, or apply after rain.

Photo gallery: how to feed currants in autumn

Currant fertilizer in spring

During budding, the currant needs enhanced nutrition. During this period, she especially needs:

• nitrogen - for the formation of large and strong shoots, increasing leaf mass;
• potassium - for flowering and fruiting.

To fertilize currants, you can choose one of the options for feeding:

• Spread a bucket of humus or compost and a glass of wood ash evenly over the near-stem circle, sprinkle with earth.
• Sprinkle 1 tbsp under the bush. l urea or ammonium nitrate and 1 tbsp. l potassium sulfate, mix with topsoil. You can dissolve these fertilizers in a bucket of water and do liquid top dressing. If potassium fertilizer is already applied in the fall, then potassium sulfate is not necessary.
  

  Mineral fertilizers can be dissolved in water to speed up the absorption of nutrients.
• Buy dry chicken droppings or horse manure extract at the store, prepare the solution according to the instructions on the package.
• Dilute fresh litter with water 1:20, manure - 1:10 (before watering, the solution needs to be fermented for 5-7 days).
• Take advantage of a comprehensive top dressing for berry shrubs that contain all the necessary macro and micronutrients. Read the instructions, make sure that the fertilizer is suitable for spring use.

Photo gallery: how to feed currants in spring

A feature of all spring top dressing is a high nitrogen content compared to other elements. In the spring, apply liquid fertilizer in the same way as in the fall, that is, into a groove on moist ground.

Do not exceed the dosage of fertilizers specified in the instructions, because an excess of any element is even more dangerous than its lack. Undigested salts accumulate in the soil and cause root burns. Excessive application of nitrogen results in an increased level of nitrates in the berries.

Micronutrient supplementation

Trace elements for plants are as important as vitamins for us. Without basic nutrition (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), they are useless. But if the currant receives the most important fertilizers for it in full, these substances are capable of:

• increase productivity;
• affect the size and taste of berries;
• boost immunity;
• cope with various stressful situations, such as pest attack, drought, lingering overcast weather, freezing, pruning, etc.

Table: The main sources of trace elements for currants

Each fertilizer has its own treatment frequency and frequency. Microfertilizers for berry crops are sold under the brands: Energen Extra, AquaMix, Oracle, Novosil, etc.

Photo gallery: preparations for additional nutrition

Potato peeling for currants

Among gardeners, it has become fashionable to use potato peeling as a fertilizer. As a rule, gardeners accumulate the peel all winter, dry it or freeze it. They dig in the purifications for different cultures, but judging by numerous observations, it is blackcurrant that is most responsive to such top dressing.

In the potato peel that we usually throw away, there are various macro- and microelements, and most importantly, starch, which breaks down into glucose over time. In addition, a high content of nitrogenous substances is noted in the purifications. It is necessary to bring this home fertilizer in the spring, as the main top dressing.

The potato peel that we throw can serve as good nutrition for currants

One way to use potato peelings:

1. Before making sure to fill the peel with boiling water. In this way, you neutralize the causative agents of late blight, scab and other diseases. In addition, all eyes will die as a result of steaming (which means that under your currant a spontaneous potato plantation will not grow).
2. As in previous cases, next to the bush you need to dig a groove 30 cm deep.
3. At the bottom, lay the potato mass moistened with water, a layer of about 5 cm.
   

   At the bottom of the prepared groove, spread the potato peels moistened with water

4. Cover the ground with cleanings (10 cm) and evenly sprinkle a glass of wood ash on top.
5. Fill the groove without mixing anything.

Ash will complement organic dressing with microelements, but you should not mix it with cleanings. Nitrogen, which is contained in the purifications, when interacting with alkali (ash) turns into ammonia and volatilizes. In this case, top dressing will be ineffective. The best option is to make ash 5-7 days after nitrogen-containing top dressing.

Video: how to harvest and use potato peelings

If the gardener is well acquainted with the phases of growth and fruiting of currants, then it is not difficult to pick up fertilizing. In spring, the plant needs nitrogen fertilizers, in the fall - phosphate. Potassium can be applied three times per season, but the dose per bush (1 tbsp.) Should be divided into three parts. Micronutrient top dressing, although not necessary, but their use positively affects the condition of currant bushes, and hence the yield.