Gooseberry is a cultivated plant that grows wild in Western Europe and North Africa. This is a stunted shrub that feels great among fruit trees and in the forest. If you do not take care of the gooseberry, it runs wild, the berries become unbearably acidic, their number decreases, so the question of how to feed the gooseberry during its fruiting often sounds among gardeners.
Gooseberry Brief
The height of the bush is 1-1.3 meters. The bark is dark gray or dark brown, exfoliates. Branches are covered with thorns. The leaves are light green, pubescent, oval-ovate or rounded. The kidneys are brown.
The flowers are painted in light green, giving a red tint. The plant blooms in May.
Seedling
The fruits ripen in June-July, in some varieties in the second half of August. The ripened berry is light green, reddish, bright red or even burgundy, everything again depends on the variety. Gooseberries belong to the genus Currant.
Why you need to fertilize gooseberries
Fertilizing helps the plant recover faster after winter.
And also top dressing:
- accelerates the growth of seedlings;
- improves the taste of berries;
- increases productivity.
Additional nutrients will help the plant cope with diseases and pests.
What happens if the fertilizer is not on time or over the norm
Gooseberry is fed in three stages - in early spring (several times), in summer and last time - in autumn. Gooseberries begin to develop very early, so they fertilize the bushes long before flowering, even at the time of bud formation.
Important! With special care fertilize the plant in the summer. If the time for this is chosen incorrectly, then the ripened berries will turn out to be sour.
To prevent this, fertilizers are applied at the initial stage of berry formation. If this period has passed, then fertilizers are refused.
The same applies to fertilizing bushes above the norm, especially in autumn. Uncontrolled feeding will not allow the plant to fall into a winter state of dormancy, because of which it can die.
What fertilizers suit gooseberries
If the leaves fall, the bush does not bloom, its fruits wither, take care of its fertilizing with mineral or organic fertilizers - both of them are suitable for gooseberries. In some cases, complex store fertilizers and folk remedies are suitable.
Mineral
Gooseberries are in dire need of phosphorus and potassium. Under the bush at the right time make, containing phosphorus:
- superphosphates (diluted with water, used for spring irrigation of bushes, in order to accelerate the growth of their growth and development);
- diammophos (suitable for acidic and super-acidic soils, compatible with organics, but only in case of preliminary infusion).
To increase productivity under the bushes make:
- potassium as sulfate;
- two-component potassium nitrate;
- potash;
- wood ash.
Saturation of the soil with potassium can reduce the number of deaths as a result of frost and plant diseases.
Organic
The ideal plant growth promoter is humus mixed with bone meal or wood ash. If humus is not available, then use compost obtained after processing wormwood, creeping thyme, feather grass, rowan berries or hawthorn.
Important! When using fresh manure instead of humus, they try to make it so as not to get on the lower part of the leaves or trunk. Peat must be spread over manure (mulching).
Integrated
The use of complex fertilizers helps to save money and enhance the effect of the applied fertilizing. Most often used:
- ammophosomes (orthophosphoric acid neutralized with ammonia and therefore containing less nitrogen, is introduced in spring and autumn);
- nitrophosic (in the composition - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, taken in equal proportions, approximately 17-18%).
This type of fertilizer is suitable for spring and autumn feeding.
Spring Care
Folk remedies
Gooseberries can be fed and folk remedies:
- tincture of weeds (weeds are collected, poured with 1 bucket of water, left for a week, after which the sediment is drained and the gooseberries are watered with the remaining liquid);
- sour cream and whey mixed with honey, water and yeast (1 liter of serum is mixed with 1 tablespoon of sour cream, 1 teaspoon of honey and 10 liters of water, allowed to ferment, selected 0.5 liter and diluted another 10 liters water watered bushes);
- potato peel and boiling water (1 kg of potato scraps is poured with 1 bucket of boiling water, covered with a lid and allowed to infuse for 1 hour, after which 1 glass of ash is added to the mixture and watered with a prepared solution of gooseberry).
Important! Not all fertilizers can be mixed with each other. So not compatible: ammophos and ash, potassium or sodium nitrate and superphosphate.
How to properly fertilize gooseberries
The effect of fertilizer depends on how it was applied.
Root dressing
Root dressing is carried out during planting, fertilizers are added to the pit, in which gooseberry roots are placed, as well as throughout the growth and development of the plant.
But they are watered not under the root, but 10-20 cm from it, the same applies to bulk fertilizers. The substances used should not fall on leaves and berries unless the fertilizer is intended for breeding for spraying purposes. This can cause burns on the leaves.
Foliar top dressing
Foliar top dressing
Foliar top dressing is used if the leaves and berries look unhealthy, and the plant itself does not develop fast enough.
In this case, fertilizers are used not for watering or sprinkling under the roots, but for spraying with the help of special spray guns.
Foliar top dressing is the fastest and easiest way to saturate plants with useful substances. The leaves do not need to pull them out of the soil, they absorb them immediately. If the bushes are sprayed at the right time, this saves on the amount of fertilizer that is applied to the soil.
Gooseberry top dressing when planting
During planting, the following is introduced into the pit:
- manure;
- compost;
- superphosphate;
- complex tuk.
Fertilizers are mixed with soil and only after that they fall asleep in a hole. Otherwise, there is a risk of burns on the roots, due to which the plant may die or cease to grow until complete recovery.
Features of spring feeding gooseberries
Spring top dressing of the bush is extremely important, the future harvest depends on its quality. The bushes are fed repeatedly - before flowering, during it, after the ovaries begin to appear.
How to feed gooseberries in spring before flowering
Before the swelling of the kidneys under each gooseberry bush make:
- up to 5 kg of humus or compost;
- urea
- potassium sulfate;
- superphosphates.
Important! Humus is poured with a layer of 9-10 cm around the bushes, covering 1 cm with a layer of earth or peat. This is necessary to slow down the process of nitrogen evaporation.
How to feed gooseberries during flowering
During flowering, gooseberries are fed:
- slurry;
- nitrophosic (not more than 20 g for each bush).
You can also feed folk remedies - tinctures from weeds, a mixture of sour cream, honey, whey and water.
How to fertilize gooseberries in spring for a better crop
To get a big crop, in May, the plant is watered with a mixture of:
- 60 g of superphosphate;
- 40 g of potassium sulfate;
- 1 liter wood ash.
Feeding gooseberry bushes after flowering with manure is no less effective.
Features of summer dressing
In the summer, the plant needs nutrients no less than if you feed the gooseberries in the spring, but carefully apply them, following a certain pattern.
Berries on a healthy bush
Gooseberry top dressing during fruit formation
At the time of formation of the fruits, gooseberries will have to be treated with superphosphate. For 1 gooseberry bush, 70 g of superphosphate is enough.
Important! After using superphosphate, the acidity of the soil increases. Before its use, the earth is lime. Liming is not necessary if a low level of soil acidity is noted.
To make the berries ripen sweet and juicy, potassium salt is added to the soil under the bushes. A mixture of 40 g of potassium sulfate or two-component potassium nitrate is poured under each bush. Feeding is also possible with organics, for example, wood ash. One bush is enough for the normal development of 1-2 kg of ash.
How to feed gooseberries after picking berries
After picking berries, gooseberries and humus are sprinkled under the gooseberry bushes. Sometimes the remains of dead weeds or mulch are used for this purpose. But in the first case, there is a risk of transmission of some contagious diseases to the gooseberry along with weeds, and in the second it is important to be extremely careful, trying to prevent the mulch from touching the root zone.
How to fertilize gooseberries in the fall (top dressing for wintering)
The plant is left alone (the last summer feeding after picking berries) until the beginning of September. With the onset of autumn, gooseberries begin to cook for winter.
For this:
- use vermicompost (1 tbsp. substance is diluted in 10 l of water and water the plants under the root);
- mineral fertilizers are used (100 g of potassium nitrate and 120 g of superphosphate in dry form are mixed and sprinkled with this mixture on the ground under bushes, covering with peat or earth on top);
- watering the bushes with sulphate or carbonate;
- use potassium nitrate (400 g is enough for 1 bush);
- sprinkle the ground under the bushes with wood ash (this type of feeding is used only if the summer was rainy and cold).
Autumn top dressing
Under the bushes, you can make humus, manure or compost. The main thing to remember is that you can use only one type of fertilizer, it is better not to mix.
Gooseberry is an unpretentious plant, the proper feeding of which helps to improve the quality of the fruit and the quantity of the crop. They are mainly fed with mineral, complex and organic fertilizers, top dressing prepared independently from weeds or whey. The plant especially needs phosphorus and potassium.
