Gooseberry "Commander": features and secrets of growing

A huge number of various berries are grown on their land by domestic gardeners. Among this variety stands out such culture as gooseberry.However, the most popular varieties that do not contain thorns on the bushes. Gooseberry "Commander" refers specifically to such crops.

It is rather difficult to meet a person indifferent to this berry, however, the process of picking a ripened gooseberry due to the presence of thorns on the bushes makes many people refuse to grow the plant. Preoccupied with this issue seriously, breeders have carried out serious work, the result of which was the emergence of fundamentally new hybrid no-dripe crops.

The representative of the plants of this species is the "Commander" or "Vladil". Culture was introduced into the registry a little more than 20 years ago, but it is in great demand. The variety is dessert, due to the high organoleptic characteristics of the berries it is assigned a score of 4.6 points on the tasting scale.

The culture appeared as a result of the crossing of “African” and “Chelyabinsk Green” gooseberries. From the first culture, "Commander" took over the main color of the fruit, thanks to the properties of the second culture, it became resistant to frost, and also received immunity to a large number of diseases. Besshipny variety forms small but sprawling bushes that can reach a height of 1-1.5 meters. Culture is prone to thickening, and therefore requires some care. The crop is formed from round berries, which in a state of technical ripeness become completely black.

By chemical composition in the gooseberry contains up to 13% of sugars, the level of acid is 3%. The mass of berries varies within 5 grams. Culture does not lose its viability when the temperature drops to -25 ° C. "Commander" refers to the mid-early varieties of maturity of the crop, the first appearance of the berries can be expected by the end of June. With proper care from one plant in a season, you can collect about 5 kilograms of the crop. On the bushes there is a small number of thorns, the concentration of which falls on the base of the stem, which is not an obstacle to picking berries. "Commander" is resistant to fungal diseases.

Foliage is painted in a saturated green light, green mass grows in different sizes. Flowering occurs in the second part of May, the flower stalks are painted in lime color, but the color of the sun becomes pink.

Rooting of the crop at the site is recommended to be carried out with the arrival of autumn, it is also possible to plant in the spring, but in this case it is important to have time to plant the bushes before the juices begin to move. Preparatory activities with the ground are carried out a few days before the planned date of disembarkation of the culture. The best step when placing a gooseberry in the garden will be a distance of about one meter. Landing in shaded areas should be abandoned, as a small amount of light will adversely affect yields.

It is important to choose the right soil, the variety will develop well in the forest sierozem, loam and sod-podzolic soil. Young plants do not tolerate cold air, so you should isolate the crops from drafts by a small barrage, or plant gooseberries near buildings.

The technology of rooting culture involves several successive steps.

• The preparation of the pit is carried out first, its depth should be about 30 centimeters with a diameter of 50 centimeters.Fertilizer must be applied before rooting. It is best to use humus and superphosphate mixed with potassium salt.
• The landing pit should stand a little before landing. At this time, the acquired seedling culture should be kept in warm water, you can additionally enter any growth stimulant, which simultaneously disinfects the roots of the bushes.
• The landing takes place by vertical placement of the plant in the pit. The shrub is covered with soil and compacted. After that, you need to make a small depression around the bush for the introduction of moisture.
• After planting, the gooseberries need to be watered, and the soil around the cover with a layer of mulch. The young bush also needs to be cut at the fifth point, such activities will contribute to a better adaptation of the plant at the new location.

"Commander" is considered a variety that does not show special requirements in terms of subsequent farming after planting in the garden. However, cultural attention must be paid regularly.

Care activities include compulsory gardening.

The challenge is to loosen the soil in time to ensure optimal soil aeration. However, the work must be done with extreme caution, since the roots of the gooseberry are close to the surface. In the autumn period, it is necessary to remove all fallen leaves, carrion and branches from it in order to exclude the wintering of pests.

The variety belongs to moisture-loving plants, so in the summer it is necessary to introduce moisture every day. On one bush will need about three liters of water. If there is natural precipitation, and the weather is not happy with the abundance of sun, it can be limited to one watering per week. Good results concerning the preservation of moisture in the soil, gives mulching.

Due to the specificity of the crown, which grows rather thick, the variety needs pruning. Sanitary activities are performed twice - in spring and autumn. At the beginning of the season, work should be carried out before the formation of the first leaflets, in the fall - after the leaf fall. This removes the damaged parts, as well as branches that grow in the direction of the crown. Branches whose age has exceeded 7-8 years are also subject to removal, since they will no longer be capable of fruiting. You can distinguish old shoots by color, as a rule, it will be much darker than the others.

In addition to the compulsory work on the formation of the bush, pruning is necessary for young, only planted plants. There are several ways to do this.

In the first case, pruning is carried out in order to form a small tree from the culture. The stem method is supposed to leave the central branch intact, and the rest should be shortened to the second bud. Formed branches on the main shoot are pruned so that their height is no more than a meter. In the next season, about 5 strongest branches are left on the bushes, and the rest are shortened by half their length. The downside of the method is the aging of the main branch, with the result that after 10 years the bush will have to be removed, replacing it with a new one.

But also the gooseberry can be grown in a trellis way; for this, supports are installed in the garden, and at a height of half a meter, 80 centimeters and a meter tension wire. From one plant to a support, no more than 5 branches can be tied up, with a step between them of 15-20 centimeters. Each year, the shoots at the root must be cut, last year's branches are shortened by a third.

For plants planted at the end of the season, urea or any other fertilizer containing nitrogen must be added in the spring.For a young gooseberry, fertilizers are diluted in 10 liters of water, using 20 grams of urea and twice the amount of nitrophoska. For adult bushes, the proportion of fertilizer should be doubled.

As the plants mature, every spring the culture will need superphosphate, compost and potassium nitrate. Fertilizers are introduced around the perimeter of the trunk circle, it is not recommended to bring drugs under the root.

Shortly after flowering bushes gooseberries need a portion of organic fertilizer. For these purposes, you can use chicken manure or manure, good results demonstrates the use of infusion of nettle. In June, gooseberries are fed with mineral complexes, for example, Yagodka, Agro-Nova, and so on. In the phase of formation of the ovaries, the gooseberries are fertilized with potassium humate and nitrophosphate.

In order to protect the culture from frostbite, the crops are sheltered in the fall with agrofibre or sacking, but before that it is necessary to dig up the ground so that possible larvae and harmful microorganisms would be at the top and die at the first frost.

For regions where there are snowy winters, the gooseberries bind together shoots and bend down to the ground. This arrangement eliminates the likelihood that the branches under the weight of snow will break.

Despite the immunity to many diseases, "Commander" may be susceptible to certain diseases.

Signs of illness are changes in color on the green mass. A similar disease quite often affects shrubs, as a result of infection, the plant dies. Mosaic cannot be treated, so the cultures are dug up and destroyed.

Characterized by brown spots on the foliage, the prevention and treatment of the disease includes spraying gooseberry "Fitosporin" or Bordeaux liquid.

In addition to diseases, insects can cause harm to plants:

• shoot aphid - to combat the pest perform processing plants with soapy water;
• shield willow - the insect can be destroyed by spraying the bushes with a solution of soda and calcium diluted with water;
• peppered moth - destroys not only the leaves, but also the flowers of the culture, immediately laying off the larvae, prevention and control of the butterfly is performed using "Akletika" or "Lepidotsida".

The gardener's response to culture plays a huge role in the selection of the gooseberry variety, so they require special attention. As for the "Commander", it is worth noting the need for regular watering of the bushes for good yields. This moment should be taken into account by summer residents who are irregularly located in their personal plots.

A positive point, according to gardeners, is the early periods of fruiting bushes, so that ripe berries can be collected at the beginning of summer. In addition, the variety is positioned as a universal, as a result of which the crop can be consumed both fresh and canned.

See the following video for how to plant gooseberries.