Redcurrant: the main stages in the cultivation and care

Redcurrant is a perennial deciduous shrub with a height of 0.5 to 2 m. It is found in the wild in the forest edges, on the banks of rivers or streams throughout Eurasia. This is the favorite berry of many gardeners, modern varieties with good care are able to produce up to 10-12 kg of juicy sour berries.

History of growing red currants

The first mention of redcurrant in Western Europe dates back to the 15th century. The plant was used to form hedges, and the berries were used for medicinal purposes. Around the same time, currants began to be grown in Russia, mainly at monasteries, using berries as a medicine and making tinctures from them.

A well-groomed redcurrant bush is very beautiful during the ripening period of berries and can decorate any garden

Currently, the leading country for growing red currants is the United States. But even in Russia they don’t forget about this culture: in almost every garden plot you can find 1-2 bushes.

Redcurrant is a winter-hardy plant, withstands frosts up to −40^aboutC. In the summer, due to the powerful root system, it suffers much less heat than blackcurrants, and the life span of the bush is up to 20 years without reducing yield.

In dry gardens without watering and human attention, redcurrant bushes grow up to 50-70 cm in height and give a small crop. With regular feeding and irrigation or in low places where groundwater is close to the ground, red currant grows as a powerful bush up to 2 m in height and can produce up to 12 kg of berries.

Currant blooms with nondescript flowers collected in a brush

Currant blooms in May with nondescript yellow-green flowers collected in a brush. Depending on the region and variety of currant, the ripening of berries can begin by mid-June or July. Ripening is uneven: the first to sprinkle berries in the sun. Red currants rarely crumble from the bush, so it can be harvested as needed. They pick red currants like grapes with a brush, without tearing berries, so they are better stored and transported.

Red currants from the bush are collected in clusters

Redcurrant satisfies hunger and thirst; it has a lot of vitamin C, the daily rate of which can be replenished by eating only a handful of this berry. In addition, the berry contains pectin, so the red currant jelly turns out to be thick. Compotes, jams, preserves, jelly, marmalade, tinctures, wines, liqueurs are prepared from it.

Varieties of red currants

To enjoy the fresh berries of red currant all summer, you can plant varieties with different ripening dates: early, mid-ripening and late. You can also pick up bushes with various shades of berries: red, burgundy, pink. Some varieties of redcurrant perfectly fruit in single bushes, that is, self-fertile (able to pollinate their own pollen), while others need a pollinating neighbor.

Depending on the variety, red currant berries can be small (0.7 g) or large, reaching 1.5 cm in diameter and weighing up to 1.5 g.

Table: The main varieties of red currant

Photo gallery: red currant varieties for Moscow region

Photo gallery: red currant varieties for Siberia and the Urals

The main stages of agricultural technology of red currant

Red currants are much less demanding to care than black currants. She begins to bear fruit in the second or third year after planting, increasing yields every year. To maintain the declared varietal yield for many years, you need to regularly feed, water the bush in the especially hot months of summer and remove very old branches.

Planting red currants

For planting red currants, it is advisable to choose a light, protected from cold winds place with fertile soil. However, if in your area in the summer in the sun the thermometer rises to 50^aboutC, then plant the currant under the trees at partial shade, preferably from the northeast side, so that the sun illuminates it only until noon.

Soil preparation for planting red currants

Red currants are best planted in loose loamy or sandy loam soils with a neutral reaction. On acidic soils or in wetlands, red currants grow very poorly.

2-3 weeks before planting currants, we begin to prepare a planting pit. In the selected area, we dig a hole with a diameter of 50-60 cm and a depth on the bayonet of a shovel. In places with clay soil, you can dig a hole more so that currants do not lack nutrients.

2 weeks before planting a seedling, a pit with a diameter of 50 cm and a depth of bayonet spade is prepared

Mix the excavated soil with a bucket of compost (humus), a glass of ash and 200 g of superphosphate. We fall asleep again in the pit and carefully water it to compact the soil.

Planting redcurrant cuttings

If you want to try a new variety, it is better to order planting material with a closed root system - in pots or special packages.

Better to buy cuttings with a closed root system

Local nurseries often grow currants in the open air without pots and sell them with an open root system, so take care of the roots in advance: take a damp rag and bag where you wrap the bottom of the seedling.

The best time to plant red currants in the middle of Russia is the beginning of autumn, literally the first days of September: there is no summer heat, and the cuttings are rooted perfectly. For the southern regions, landing dates are shifted a month later.

Stages of planting red currants:

1. Before planting, soak the roots or a pot of seedlings in water for 1-2 hours.
2. In a prepared landing pit, dig a small depression corresponding to the size of the root.
3. If red currant grows in a pot of earth, then it is carefully pulled out of the pot without damaging the earthen lump. Roots straighten if they twisted into a spiral.
   

   If in a pot of earth the roots began to grow in a spiral, they must be straightened

4. The pot is placed in the landing pit obliquely, at an angle of 45^about to the north, the root neck is buried 5-7 cm below the soil level.
   

   Correct planting of currant cuttings: the root neck is deepened, the handle itself is looking north

5. Sprinkle the seedling with soil and watered.
6. The trunk circle is mulched with straw or leaves, too long branches are shortened, leaving no more than 25 cm above the ground.

How to save redcurrant seedlings before planting

Sometimes it happens that purchased seedlings come too early in the spring, when there is still snow in the garden and planting in a permanent place is impossible.

Storage of a seedling with an open root system in a warm apartment is simply unacceptable. When it is not possible to place the plant in a cool basement, for example, if the buds have already opened, then you need to take a pot or planter with fertile soil and temporarily plant a seedling there.

Small seedlings obtained in the fall can be stored until spring, without planting in pots, and laying on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. First you need to wrap the roots with a damp cloth, and the trunks with thick paper.

Planting redcurrant seeds

Currants are perfectly propagated by seeds, but very often the descendants do not repeat the qualities of the parent bush, especially if several different varieties of red currant grow on the site, which can be pollinated.

Usually the seeds of ripened berries are simply squeezed out onto the soil, sprinkled with earth. Spring water contributes to the swelling and germination of seeds, and by the end of summer small but strong seedlings grow.

Video: currant from seeds

Friends and foes of red currant

Many gardeners are aware of the compatibility of vegetables and specially select pairs for better fruiting and neighborhood. But not everyone even suspects that among the shrubs and trees there is also mutual love and enmity.

Most often, you can observe the planting of shrubs along the fence, with black and red currants planted nearby. It turns out that gooseberries are the best neighbors for redcurrants, and blackcurrants prefer honeysuckle to their neighbors rather than their red-berry relatives.

Gooseberry is the best neighbor for redcurrant

In addition, all berry bushes love planting tomatoes, marigolds, marigolds, mint and other aromatic herbs in their tree-trunk circle. With their essential oils, they drive away various pests of currants.

Redcurrant dressing

In the year of planting, red currant does not need additional top dressing, because a significant amount of humus and mineral fertilizers are introduced into the pit.

In subsequent years, currants should be fed at least 2 times a year: in spring and autumn.

Table: red currant top dressing

In addition to these top dressings, it is very good to mulch the near-stem circle with straw, grass, hay, leaves and spill every 2 weeks with preparations containing beneficial bacteria (Radiance, Baikal EM-1, East).

Never feed the currant with nitrogen fertilizers at the end of summer - a new growth of shoots will begin, which will not have time to prepare for the winter and freeze.

Photo gallery: preparations for increasing soil fertility

If it is not possible to use organics, then in early spring, when loosening the soil, 10 g of urea per 1 m²in June - infusion of bird droppings, and in October - 100 g of superphosphate and 50 g of potassium chloride.

Redcurrant pruning

The fruiting of red currant occurs on branches whose age is from 2 to 5 years. But since currants produce several new shoots each spring, on the whole there should be from 20 to 25 branches of different ages on the bush.

The oldest, five-year-old branches are harvested immediately after picking the berries, and in the summer they remove the extra spring branches (growth of this year), leaving 4 or 5 of the healthiest and most powerful branches. In July, tweak the branches to get lateral growth.

Ideally, on a bush of red currant should simultaneously be:

• 4-5 branches of spring growth (annuals);
• 4-5 last year's branches (two-year-olds) with berries;
• 4-5 branches of three years of age with berries;
• 4-5 branches of four years of age with berries;
• 4-5 branches of five years of age, which are cut immediately after collecting berries from them.

Pruning currant bush is also carried out in spring and autumn. In the spring, you can remove broken or frozen branches, and in the fall - old, diseased or already fruitless. Usually, the shoots of red currants branch little, so they do not shorten it, but cut it to ground level.

How to rejuvenate red currants in spring

If your red currant has not seen the secateurs for a long time and has turned into huge thickets, then the yield on such a bush will be insignificant, and the berries will be small. To correct the situation, you need a cardinal anti-aging pruning, which is usually done in the spring before buds open.

To rejuvenate the plant, all branches are cut flush with the ground.

1. First remove the old thick and dark brown branches, cutting them to ground level.
2. Remove upwardly growing fattening shoots, leaving sloping.
3. Delete horizontally directed lower branches.
4. Remove the shoots growing inside the bush.

Redcurrant loves the bush to be blown away by the wind, so regular haircuts are a must.

Redcurrant propagation

It is easiest to propagate currants with cuttings or layering - in this case, the young bush will completely repeat the mother plant.

Propagation by cuttings

1. In late August, with anti-aging pruning, cut several shoots and cut into pieces 20-25 cm long, remove the leaves.
2. Each shoot should have 4-5 kidneys, make the lower cut oblique 0.5-1 cm below the kidney, and the upper one, straight 1 cm above the kidney.
3. Each stalk with the lower part dipped in the preparation of Kornevin and planted in the soil in a permanent place or for rooting in a separate bed with loose earth.
4. Plant the cuttings at an angle of 45^about, and 2 kidneys immerse in the ground, and the rest should be above the ground.
5. When planting on the bed, leave between the cuttings 15-20 cm.
6. Pour cuttings and mulch with loose compost, peat or dry earth. Periodically monitor the soil so that it does not dry out.
7. By the end of autumn, cuttings usually take root, next spring shoots appear from the buds.

Redcurrant cuttings quickly take root and take root

Propagation by layering

1. In the spring, they choose last year’s shoot and bend it to the ground, where a groove 5-8 cm deep is specially dug.
2. The shoot is laid so that the crown is above the ground, and the shoot itself is in the groove.
3. They pin the shoot to the ground with wire arches and sprinkle with loose soil by 1 cm.
4. When sprouts appear from the buds and grow to 10 cm, they are sprinkled with loose soil almost to the upper leaves.
5. It is important to keep the soil moist at the layering.
6. The soil is added several times during the summer.
7. In mid-September, the shoot is cut off from the mother bush and gently dug.
8. The branch is cut into pieces according to the number of rooted shoots and planted in a permanent place.

Several shoots can grow from one layering

Red currant treatment for pests and diseases

Plants with high immunity are rarely affected by diseases and pests, so you need to follow the rules of agricultural technology and carry out preventive spraying.

1. Plant plants in a ventilated, sunny area.
2. Do not thicken the planting, leave 1-2 m between the plants, and the distance to the buildings should be at least 1 m.
3. Remove diseased branches or parts of the plant in a timely manner - do not let the disease spread.
4. Do anti-aging pruning of the bush for better ventilation.
5. For prevention in spring, spray currants with a mixture of drugs: Fitolavin + Farmayod + Fitoverm (1 tbsp. Of each drug diluted in 10 l of water).
6. Each week, starting with the appearance of the first leaves, spray the currants with a bio-cocktail: dilute 2 Ecoberin and Healthy Garden granules in 1 liter of water and add 2 drops of liquid HB-101.

Such measures allow you to grow currants without the use of chemicals, since the proposed drugs are biological.

Photo gallery: drugs for the prevention of pests and diseases on red currant

The bio-cocktail increases the plant's immunity, reduces the negative effects of stress: heat, temperature, wind.

Photo Gallery: Red Currant Pests

If pests have appeared on the currant, then biologics are used: Fitoverm - from ticks and aphids, Bitoxibacillin - from caterpillars. Spraying is carried out 2-3 times with an interval of 4-5 days.

Photo Gallery: Redcurrant Disease

Growing red currant on a stem

In addition to the standard cultivation of currants with a bush, the standard formation of red currants is often used.

Table: Pros and Cons of Standard Currant Growing

How to give currants a standard shape

1. To get a standard-shaped currant, you need to plant a thick bare annual shoot. When the shoot reaches the desired height of the stem, pinch the top.
   

   The formation of red currants on the stem

2. Next year, we remove all lateral shoots and processes along the entire length of the stem, and in August we pinch off the crown shoots.
3. In the third year, last year's shoots will give the first crop. Caring for the strain mentioned above. Pinch the tops of the annual shoots in the crown again.
4. Fourth year: the currant bears fruit in full force, we cut the old branches after picking the berries, and pinch the young ones.
5. Further care for the standard currant remains the same: the removal of root offspring and shoots on the trunk of the stem.

Currants can be grown in a small tree - on the stem. She is very decorative

Growing red currants on a trellis

This is a very unusual way of growing red currants, more used in industry than in personal gardening.

Trellis redcurrant wall

The essence of the method is to grow currant bushes in one plane - vertical. With a large volume of landings, a wall is obtained.

Table: advantages and disadvantages of growing currants on a trellis

How to grow currants on a trellis

1. First of all, high-yielding varieties resistant to diseases and pests are selected for growing currants on a trellis. The berries should be large, salable and of good taste, the yield of bushes is at least 4 kg.
2. The trellis is made with high quality, with digging holes and pouring cement with racks there. The extreme supports should be additionally strengthened with extensions, and the lower ends of the supports are treated with antiseptic or anticorrosive preparations. The height of the posts is 2-2.5 m, a wire is pulled over them every 50 cm.
3. Two-year-old currant seedlings are planted along the trellis at a distance of 0.7-1 m from each other. Each seedling must be pruned, leaving about 20 cm of the stem with three buds.
   

   The formation of red currants on a trellis

4. Next spring, powerful shoots will come out of these buds, they will be fan-shaped and tied to the bottom wire.
5. The following year, these branches are left to grow upward, and new young shoots from the root are fanned out and tied to the trellis. At the end of summer, pruning is carried out, shortening the shoots, thereby forcing them to branch.
6. In subsequent years, they also continue to form a wall, and from the age of 5, the bush conducts anti-aging pruning, cutting old shoots and replacing them with new ones.

Red currant on a trellis is a continuous wall

Red currant is not only a healthy berry, but also a real decoration of the garden. A wide variety of varieties in terms of ripening, color of berries and size will allow you to choose currants to your liking for any gardener.