Such useful berries as gooseberries must certainly be in the diet of every family, and even more so if it is grown without feeding with any chemical means. This culture will surely give a large harvest of vitamin fruits to those who care for it with patience and love.
This berry bush is not difficult to grow. Gooseberry is an unpretentious plant. It can bear fruit for 3-4 decades in the same area. The main thing is that when planting, the place is chosen correctly, and in the future, the necessary care is carried out.
Pit preparation and gooseberry planting
Gooseberry is a drought-resistant and light-loving shrub. The landing site should be in an open area. The culture does not like shading and high soil moisture.
Planting is recommended between mid-September and mid-October. It is advisable to prepare the planting hole in advance, about a month in advance. Its depth should be at least 30 centimeters, and its diameter should be about 50 centimeters. The pit must be filled with various organic layers in the following sequence: first, a bucket of peat soil, then a bucket of mullein, then vegetable tops, leaves and fresh grass. There may be compost or humus on top.
After each type of organic matter, you need to add a little wood ash or a solution with effective microorganisms. The filled pit is covered with a dense polyethylene material and left until the day of planting.
If the planting was not planned in advance and the pit was not prepared, then you can fill it with a mixture of fresh compost and wood ash.
In the event that the seedling is purchased with an earthen clod, then the plant can be planted immediately without destroying the clod of earth. It is advisable to place seedlings with open roots in a container with water 3-4 hours before planting in a hole.
When planting, the root of the shrub must be at least 5 centimeters deep. Having placed the gooseberry in the prepared recess, you need to sprinkle the bush with small layers of earth and after each of them press down the soil a little. This will gradually release excess air from the soil.
After that, the seedlings are watered (about 10 liters of water for each young plant) and cover the area near each bush with a mulch layer. As mulch, you can take sawdust, peat or humus.
An important final procedure on the day of planting a seedling is its pruning. It is necessary to remove all the leaves and cut off the branches so that each of them has at least 4-5 buds. In this form, the plant winters well, and in the spring it will delight with young shoots.
Gooseberry care: watering, feeding, mulching
The first year of a young seedling is very important and significant for the plant. During this period, the gooseberry needs to be helped to take root, gain strength and strengthen the immune system. All this can be done with five special organic dressings. Each young plant will need about three liters of organic fertilizer.
- During the awakening of the kidneys.For 10 liters of boiling water, you need to add about 1 kilogram of potato peelings, allow to cool to 50 degrees and add 1 glass of wood ash. The infusion is used hot.
- During the active flowering period. Watering and spraying with a solution of grass infusion and poultry droppings is carried out. Top dressing is at the same time a preventive measure against powdery mildew.
- During the formation of the ovary. The previous herbal solution is only used for watering.
- After picking berries. Infusion - dressing is prepared within a day from 200 milliliters of vermicompost and 10 liters of water.
- In preparation for winter (in October). Under each gooseberry bush, add vegetable humus with earth in the amount of two buckets.
In the future, feeding can be skipped for several years. A high-quality mulch layer (at least 10 centimeters) will give the plants everything they need. Thorny berry bushes are preferred as mulch for peeling potatoes, in which it is desirable to add ash.
In the presence of mulch, the plant does not require watering. Prolonged dry weather may be an exception. Then you can water each bush abundantly once a week.
