Currant is one of the most useful and loved by many garden crops. Caring for her is not difficult. Modern varieties are distinguished by excellent taste and a plentiful harvest of large juicy berries. The price of good planting material is not as high compared to fruit trees, but even these costs can be avoided by growing seedlings yourself.
Mother plant care
If there is an elite or super-elite currant on the site, propagation by cuttings will allow not only to increase the number of valuable bushes, but also to sell excess seedlings to those who wish.
When buying annual plants for breeding, you should pay attention to the purity of the variety and the absence of diseases, especially viral ones. When planting, the shoots are cut off, leaving 3-5 buds above the ground. In the first year, seedlings need especially careful care: watering, loosening, fertilizing and pest control in the garden.
In autumn, 1-3 strong shoots are left, the rest are cut out. In the second year, you can start breeding blackcurrant cuttings. In order for the shoots to ripen well, at the end of summer they reduce watering and completely exclude fertilizing with nitrogen.
Autumn cuttings
In early autumn, when the dormant period of the buds begins, blackcurrants take root best of all. Propagation by cuttings from the lower and middle lignified parts is more efficient, green unripened tops have a small supply of nutrients and develop worse.
As a rule, annual shoots with a diameter of 6-10 mm are cut. They are divided into parts up to 20 cm long. The lower cut must be carried out under the kidney, the upper one - above the kidney. Sections are made with a sharp pruner: the lower one is at an acute angle, the upper one is at a right angle. For better survival, cuttings are placed in rooting stimulants, but this is not necessary.
Planting should be carried out a month before the onset of cold weather in pre-prepared soil. The cuttings are immersed at an acute angle into the ground, leaving one kidney on top. Then the soil must be compacted and watered. Lunge during autumn planting is less than 30%.
Spring chores
If the currant needed for breeding was not prepared in the fall, propagation by cuttings can be done in the spring. In this case, the material is harvested in winter and at the very beginning of spring. You can store it in wet sand at zero temperature, in a bag in the refrigerator, or dig in the snow on the site.
This landing has its own characteristics:
- cuttings are planted as early as possible, otherwise the survival rate is sharpfalls;
- before planting, the ground is covered with a black film, the cuttings are stuck into the soil through it. This will save heat and moisture reserves, which contributes to the rapid development of the root system and saves gardeners from loosening and weeding.
Propagation of blackcurrant with green cuttings
From the beginning of June to the end of July, you can start green cuttings. This method is more time consuming, but has its advantages:
- You can get a lot of new seedlings from the shoots of the current year.
- Mother bush quickly gives off branches, which are laid fruit buds for next year's harvest.
- Planting material is guaranteed to be free from pests such as gall midge, glass box, bud mite.
First, early varieties go for cuttings, then later currants. Propagation by cuttings is optimally carried out in mid-July.
One-year shoots of the first order of branching, 10-15 cm long, take root better. The top two leaves should be left, and the rest should be removed.
The soil for planting should be loose, nutritious, aerated and drained. The cuttings are stuck into the ground obliquely and deep enough: only the crown with leaves remains above the surface. They must be constantly moistened and weeds removed. Rooting occurs after 3 weeks, watering is reduced after that.
To obtain a large number of plants, cuttings with two buds and one internode can be cut. Their lower parts sink into stimulantsroot formation, then planted vertically to a depth of 1.5 cm. The soil is compressed, a film cover is installed above the cuttings. High humidity remains in the greenhouse until the roots form. The film is then removed. Foliar top dressing is carried out several times during the summer.
In the middle of autumn, young plants are ready for planting in a permanent place.
