Currant is the common name for the genus of plants belonging to the class of dicotyledons and the gooseberry family. Almost 200 species belong to it. It is widespread in Eurasia and the North American continent. He loves moisture, therefore, prefers in vivo to grow on the shores of water bodies.
Varieties growing in our latitudes are unpretentious and hardy, but they also need constant care in order for the crop to bring joy. Garden currant, which is grown in the central part of Russia, is very tasty and healthy.
Plant description
Currant is a shrub whose height ranges from one to five meters. Garden varieties, as a rule, do not exceed 1.5-2. The plant has long straight shoots, brown, reddish or gray. The root system is branched and strong, deepening into the ground by about 1.5 meters.
Currant leaves have three or five lobes, serrated, round or elongated. The color of the foliage depends on the species, most often it is green, the shade on the upper side is brighter than on the lower.
Decorative currants leaves can be of various shades: red, brown, crimson.
Flowers are different: from white to dark red. Inflorescences in the form of brushes, in each of which from five to several dozen flowers are collected. Currants bloom in April or May; some varieties can bloom until June.
Currant fruits - berries, round or slightly elongated. Colors vary depending on the species, can be red, black, white, green, yellowish. They also differ in taste.
Some varieties have a pronounced sour taste, some have a sweet and sour taste, and there are also sweet varieties.
Kinds
In our country, currants are willingly grown, cultivated, breeding, breeding new varieties and hybrids.
The most common in Russia are the following types:
- black
- red (ordinary garden);
- white
- golden;
- icy;
- blood red.
Landing: choosing a place and time
Planting currants is best done in the early autumn. Until spring, the bush will have time to take root. If this time of year turned out to be warm, you can plant bushes in September and even in early October. With early frosts, it is better to wait until spring.
A place for planting must be chosen where the plant will receive a lot of sunlight and moisture. If this is done correctly, then with good care the plant will bring a plentiful harvest for about 15 years.
Currant does not like shade and prefers areas where there is enough moisture. Black especially does not tolerate drought, other species are able to survive a lack of moisture for some time.
If the bushes have a small crown, then you can plant them closer to each other. Between spreading seedlings it is better to make a larger distance. On average, 1.5-2 meters should be left.
Step-by-step instructions for planting currants:
- prepare small pits, a depth of about 40 cm;
- if time allows, then leave them for a while (a week or two) so that the soil shrinks;
- fertilizers, manure or compost are placed at the bottom;
- the hole is watered with water;
- the seedling is placed in a hole, tilted 45 degrees, straighten the root system, then bury;
- tamp the soil, gradually filling up the earth;
- cover the open ground with mulch.
Oblique landing contributes to better development of the root system and additional shoots. The bush will be powerful and sprawling.
If you plant a seedling directly, then the bush is likely to grow into one stem.
Currant Care
Those who have currant bushes in the country should take into account that these plants love moisture. If there is no rain for a long time, you should provide the bush with regular watering.
A lack of moisture will cause the berries to fall, and the rest will be small and tasteless.
You should also periodically loosen the earth, at least once every three weeks. Deeply not necessary, 5-8 cm is enough. When loosening, care must be taken not to damage the roots of the plant.
Caring for currant bushes includes:
- the soil around the plant must be regularly weed, freeing from weeds;
- be sure to apply mulch on the soil surface around the bush - a layer that retains moisture, inhibits the growth of weeds, protects against temperature changes;
- Before frost, the bush should be wrapped with cloth or paper, under the plant, place containers with water.
The lower branches of the currant bush can spread along the ground. To avoid this, a support should be built around.
In order for the plant to develop well and bear fruit, it should provide top dressing. Fertilizers introduced during planting last for about two years. After this, regular fertilizer should be provided. This is compost in an amount of about 5 kg and 20 g each of potassium sulfate and superphosphate.
In the spring months, when the plant wakes up from hibernation and begins to grow actively, you need to provide it with fertilizing for the roots. For this purpose, manure or chicken droppings diluted with water, as well as store products, are suitable.
In order for the bush to grow and develop well, it is necessary to regularly prune its branches. Mandatory pruning is carried out in spring. This removes the branches:
- affected by disease;
- damaged by pests;
- curved;
- broken
- old ones.
Circumcision of old, weak damaged branches will enable the plant to let out new strong shoots.
In summer, currants should be regularly watered, loosen the soil, treated with insecticides and fungicides. It is especially important to properly water the plant during flowering and fruiting.
Also, currants need pruning in August, after harvesting. In this case, two or three main branches are cut under the root itself, without leaving even a hemp. By doing this in the summer, after picking berries, you can make room for young root shoots.
Breeding
Reproduction of currants can be carried out in three ways:
- cuttings;
- dividing the bush;
- layering.
The first method is considered to be most effective, especially if there is not much material, but you want to keep the variety. In this way, currants can be propagated both in summer, and in spring, and in autumn.
This should be done in an already prepared substrate, consisting of earth with the addition of compost and manure. As cuttings in autumn and spring, lignified annual shoots are taken, which are most conveniently preserved during the annual pruning.
It is necessary to choose twigs whose diameter is at least 6 mm. The length of the handle is about 20 cm, it must have kidneys (3-4 pieces).
At the bottom, the stalk is cut directly under the kidney, in the upper part an incision is made just above it. He sits obliquely into the prepared soil, watered, mulch is placed on top.
Reproduction by dividing the bush is not the most common method. It is used if the plant needs a transplant to a new place, as well as in cases where there is not enough planting material. When applying this method, the bushes root fairly quickly without additional effort. They should be divided in the fall or spring. It is simple to do this: the plant is removed from the ground, while making sure that when digging out the roots are not damaged, then all old and diseased branches are chopped off, and it is divided into several parts with a sharp ax (usually three or four). This must be done so that each part has well-branched roots, and there are buds on the branches.
One of the easiest ways to propagate currants is the layering method. It is necessary to perform the procedure in early spring, until the plant has bloomed. Around the bush, which is selected as the mother, dig several shallow grooves (6-7 cm). Then, the lower branches (strong and young shoots should be chosen) are cut off (about a third) and bent to the ground, put into a dug groove and fixed (usually a wire is used for this purpose).
5-7 shoots can be taken from the mother bush.
You do not need to sprinkle branches, they do this only when green branches appear on them and when they reach 10-15 cm. Then the grooves where the shoots are located are sprinkled with soil. They should be spud twice or thrice in the summer. By the fall, they already have well-developed roots, and they can be transplanted to a chosen place.
Diseases and Pests
Like other plants in our latitudes, currants are susceptible to disease and can suffer from pests. The most common diseases include:
- Anthracnose is a fungal disease in which the leaves begin to dry and curl, turn brown. Patients must be cut off from the bush and disposed of at the stake, and the plant itself should be sprayed with fungicide.
- Powdery mildew (ashtray) - an infection caused by microscopic parasitic fungi, the plant sprinkles white plaque. It is necessary to combat this scourge with the help of copper sulfate (dilute 30 g in 10 liters of water and spray the bush).
- Striped mosaic - a viral infection, which is characterized by the appearance on the leaves of a bright pattern formed by yellow veins. The infected bush will have to be destroyed, it is useless to treat it, so it is necessary to take measures to protect the plant from infection vectors - aphids and ticks.
- Terry (reversion) - a dangerous viral disease, which is most susceptible to blackcurrant, they infect the plant aphids and ticks, it ceases to bear fruit. Insecticide treatment is required to protect against vectors, and spraying with Bordeaux liquid is necessary to get rid of the reversion.
- Septoria is a fungal disease in which the leaves are first covered with brown spots, and then become whitish. To get rid of white spotting, you should treat the shrub with fungicides.
The most dangerous pests of currants include aphids, caterpillar glass, leaf gall midges. To remove aphids and gall midges, a kalbofos solution is used. A mixture of ash, dry mustard and pepper, tobacco will help get rid of glass. The ingredients are mixed in equal proportions and applied under the plant.
Useful properties of currants
Currant has a very rich composition: it contains many vitamins, especially vitamin C, as well as groups B, E, K, F, healthy carbohydrates (fiber), and many valuable organic acids.
There is so much vitamin C in blackcurrant that about 50 grams of berries provide the daily requirement of an adult.
It is very useful to use currants in order to strengthen immunity, to combat infectious diseases. The rich chemical composition helps to kill pathogenic microorganisms, so drinking currant fruit drinks and eating fresh berries is indicated during antibiotic treatment. Decoctions of them help to remove toxic substances and heavy metals from the body.
Currant fruits can be dried, frozen, made from stewed fruit, preserves, jams. To preserve vitamins, many housewives prefer to grind berries with sugar, in this form they are perfectly stored and help in supporting immunity in the winter. Also contribute to the rejuvenation of the skin, and indeed the whole body. For this purpose, it is useful to use them inside, but you can make masks. Due to the content of fruit acids, such procedures have the properties of light chemical peeling.
Useful not only the fruits of the bush, but also its leaves. They are used to add taste and aroma to homemade preserves, and decoction or tea from them act as an excellent diuretic. It is recommended for use in diseases of the kidneys, bladder.
Contraindications to the use of currants
Eating black, white or red currants can bring both health benefits and harm. You can not eat these berries in any form in the presence of allergies. This is a rather rare variety, however, giving currants to a small child, it is necessary to monitor how his body reacts. If after some time or immediately the baby is covered with a rash, he starts to run a runny nose, so you should stop feeding him these berries, show him to an allergist, and undergo allergological tests.
Contraindication to the use of currants is inflammation of the liver. Berry juice is not recommended for thrombophlebitis.
Do not eat currants to people who have suffered a heart attack, prone to constipation, with increased blood coagulation.
Red currant contains quite a lot of acid, therefore, it should be used carefully for diseases accompanied by increased acidity of the stomach.
In addition, consumption can provoke an exacerbation of chronic gastritis or gastric ulcer.
However, with a deficiency of enzymes, digestive problems, red currants can be beneficial. With abuse, you can earn an upset digestive tract, diarrhea.
