How to feed gooseberries in spring, summer and autumn

Gooseberry is a cultivated plant that grows wild in Western Europe and North Africa. This is a low-growing shrub that feels great both among fruit trees and in the forest. If the gooseberry is not taken care of, it runs wild, the berries become unbearably sour, their number decreases, so the question of how to feed the gooseberry during its fruiting often sounds among gardeners.

Brief description of gooseberry

The height of the bush is 1-1.3 meters. The bark is dark gray or dark brown, flakes off. The branches are covered with thorns. Leaves are light green, pubescent, oval-ovate or rounded. The buds are brown.

The flowers are colored light green, giving off a red hue. The plant blooms in May.

Seedling

Fruits ripen in June-July, in some varieties in the second half of August. The ripe berry is light green, reddish, bright red or even burgundy, again, everything depends on the variety. The gooseberry belongs to the genus Currant.

Why you need to fertilize gooseberries

Top dressing helps the plant recover faster after winter.

How to propagate gooseberries in spring, summer and fall

And also top dressing:

accelerates the growth of seedlings;
improves the taste of berries;
increases productivity.

Additional nutrients will help the plant fight off diseases and pests.

What will happen if fertilized at the wrong time or in excess of the norm

The gooseberry is fed in three stages - in early spring (several times), in the summer and the last time in the fall. The gooseberry begins to develop very early, therefore, the bushes are fertilized long before flowering, even at the time of bud formation.

Important! Fertilize the plant with extreme care in summer. If the time is wrong for this, then ripe berries will turn out to be sour.

To prevent this from happening, fertilizers are applied at the initial stage of berry formation. If this period has passed, then they refuse fertilizers.

The same applies to fertilizing bushes in excess of the norm, especially in autumn. Uncontrolled feeding will prevent the plant from falling into a winter dormant state, which can cause it to die.

What fertilizers are suitable for gooseberries

If leaves fall, the bush does not bloom, its fruits wither, they take care of feeding it with mineral or organic fertilizers - both are suitable for gooseberries. In some cases, complex store fertilizers and folk remedies are suitable.

Mineral

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Gooseberries are in dire need of phosphorus and potassium. Under the bush, at the right time, are introduced containing phosphorus:

superphosphates (diluted with water, used for spring watering of bushes, in order to accelerate the growth of their growth and development);
diammophos (suitable for acidic and super acidic soils, compatible with organic matter, but only in the case of preliminary infusion).

To increase the yield under the bushes, make:

potassium in the form of sulfate;
two-component potassium nitrate;
potash;
wood ash.

Saturation of the soil with potassium reduces the number of deaths from frost and plant diseases.

Organic

An ideal plant growth stimulator is humus mixed with bone meal or wood ash. If humus is not available, then the compost obtained after processing wormwood, creeping thyme, feather grass, rowan berries or hawthorn is used.

Important! When using fresh manure instead of humus, they try to apply it so as not to fall on the lower part of the leaves or the trunk. It is necessary to put peat on top of the manure (mulching).

Complex

The use of complex fertilizers helps to save money and enhance the effect of the applied top dressing. Most often they use:

ammophos (orthophosphoric acid, neutralized with ammonia and therefore containing less nitrogen, is introduced in spring and autumn);
nitrophobic (in the composition - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, taken in equal proportions, approximately 17-18% each).

This type of fertilizer is suitable for spring and autumn feeding.

Plant care in spring

Folk remedies

Gooseberries can also be fed with folk remedies:

weed tincture (weeds are collected, poured with 1 bucket of water, left for a week, after which the sediment is drained and the gooseberry is poured with the remaining liquid);
sour cream and whey mixed with honey, water and yeast (1 liter of whey is mixed with 1 tbsp. l. sour cream, 1 tsp. honey and 10 liters. water, allow to ferment, take 0.5 liter each and diluting another 10 liters water is poured over the 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 brew for 1 hour, after which 1 glass of ash is added to the mixture and gooseberries are poured with the ready-made solution).

Important! Not all fertilizers can be mixed with each other. So incompatible: ammophos and ash, potassium or sodium nitrate and superphosphate.

How to fertilize the gooseberry correctly

Pruning gooseberries in spring, summer and fall

The fertilizer effect depends on how it was applied.

Root dressing

Root feeding is carried out during planting, fertilizers are added to the pit in which the gooseberry roots are placed, as well as throughout the growth and development of the plant.

But they do not water at the root, but 10-20 cm from it, the same applies to bulk fertilizers. The substances used should not get on the leaves and berries, if the fertilizer is not intended for cultivation for the purpose of spraying. This can cause burns on the leaves.

Foliar dressing

Foliar dressing is used if the leaves and berries look unhealthy, and the plant itself does not develop quickly enough.

In this case, fertilizers are used not for watering or pouring under the roots, but for spraying using special spray guns.

Foliar dressing is the fastest and easiest way to saturate plants with nutrients. 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.

Top dressing gooseberries when planting

During planting, the following is introduced into the pit:

manure;
compost;
superphosphate;
complex fat.

Fertilizers are mixed with the soil and only after that they are poured into the pit. Otherwise, there is a risk of burns on the roots, due to which the plant may die or stop growing until it is fully restored.

Features of spring feeding gooseberries

Spring feeding 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 buds swell, under each gooseberry bush, add:

up to 5 kg of humus or compost;
urea;
potassium sulfate;
superphosphates.

Important! Humus is poured in a layer of 9-10 cm around the bushes, covering with a 1 cm 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;
nitrophobic (no more than 20 g for each bush).

You can also feed with folk remedies - weed infusions, a mixture of sour cream, honey, whey and water.

How to fertilize gooseberries in spring for a better harvest

To get a large harvest, in the month of May, the plant is watered with a mixture of:

60 g superphosphate;
40 g of potassium sulfate;
1 l. wood ash.

Feeding gooseberry bushes after flowering with manure is no less effective.

Features of summer feeding

In the summer, the plant needs nutrients no less than if you feed the gooseberries in the spring, but they are introduced carefully, following a certain pattern.

Berries on a healthy bush

Top dressing of gooseberries during the period of fruit formation

At the time of the formation of the fruit, the gooseberry 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 application, the earth is lime. Liming is not necessary if a low level of soil acidity is noted.

To make the berries ripe 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. Top dressing is also allowed with organic matter, 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, manure or humus is poured under the gooseberry bushes. Sometimes for this purpose, the remains of dead weeds or mulch are used. But in the first case, there is a risk of transmission of some infectious 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 autumn (top dressing for wintering)

The plant is left alone (the last summer dressing after picking the berries) until early September. With the onset of autumn, gooseberries begin to be prepared for winter.

For this:

biohumus is used (1 tbsp. of the substance is diluted in 10 liters of water and the plants are watered at the root);
mineral fertilizers are used (100 g of potassium nitrate and 120 g of dry superphosphate are mixed and sprinkled with this mixture on the ground under the bushes, covering the top with peat or earth);
water the bushes with sulphate or potassium carbonate;
use potassium nitrate (400 g is enough for 1 bush);
sprinkle the ground under the bushes with wood ash (this type of top dressing is used only if the summer was rainy and cold).

Autumn feeding

Humus, manure or compost can be added under the bushes. 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 correct feeding of which helps to improve the quality of the fruit and the quantity of the crop. Basically, they are fed with mineral, complex and organic fertilizers, top dressing, prepared independently from weeds or whey. The plant especially needs phosphorus and potassium.