Live and learn. So I thought when I learned about a new method of growing currants. It turns out that it can be decorated not only with a bush or a standard tree, but also with a “fruit wall”. That is, on the tapestries.
This method came to us from Western Europe, where they cook less jams and compotes, and they like to use fresh berries. The currant on the trunk is not as fruitful as the bush one, but the fruits on it are larger and sweeter. After all, branches with this arrangement receive more light, are well ventilated and get sick much less often.
Landing Features
The main innovation is a reliable support for branches. I built it from wooden poles (pipes are also suitable) 2.5 m high and dug them along the selected area with a step of 6-7 m. Parts of the pillars that should be dug in were pre-treated with an antiseptic so that they would not rot in a few years.
Stretched wire between the supports. The first row is 30 cm from the ground, the rest with an interval of 30-40 cm. The wire is suitable galvanized, 3 mm, or with a polymer. My rows are built to a height of 1.5 m - the limiting growth of currant branches.
Two-year-old seedlings that are already branching and have reached 70 cm are best suited for the “fruit wall”. I dug holes for them 40 by 40 cm in size, half a meter apart; fertilized with soil, adding 100 g of superphosphate and potassium sulfate and mixing.
My cuttings are planted strictly vertically. The root neck is deepened by 5 cm. And do not cut the main shoot, let it stretch up!
After planting, it is necessary to water the seedlings abundantly. If planting in the fall, water 2-3 more times before the cold weather. Repeat weekly in spring.
Pruning currants on a trellis
A very important part of the work, forming the actual "wall".
To start the process of degeneration of vegetative buds into fruit buds, immediately after planting, I shorten all side shoots by 5 cm. I cut branches closer to the ground completely, so that later I don’t bend over for berries; and they get dirty in the ground. Again, I do not touch the main escape!
In the future, periodically remove the young shoots from below.
I immediately tie the branches to the lower trellis wire with twine, not tight.
In the future, the formation work looks like this:
- as they appear, root shoots and lower side shoots are cut out;
- with the help of a pruner, currants are helped to maintain a tree-like shape.
The bulk of the berries is concentrated in the upper part of the "wall", which simplifies the collection.
The difference between the method and the bush method
- To form a bush, the main stem is cut out, stimulating the growth of overgrowth. So gradually the bush grows in breadth. On the trellis, the main stem is certainly left. This is the future trunk, the whole crown will stretch up behind it.
- At the bush, the appearance of basal and lateral shoots is only welcome, because this is its development. For trellis currants, they only interfere with building up the upper part, so they are removed.
top dressing
Trellised currants are fertilized in the same way as bush currants, only the amount of top dressing is calculated per linear meter.
- From March to July, nitrogen is applied every 20 days, 30 g per m.p.
- August - the time of phosphorus, 50 g per m.p.
- In September, potassium is needed, 80 g per m.p.
Important. Trellis currant loves foliar top dressing. Spraying it with a solution of complex mineral fertilizer, you will get a significant increase in yield.
I have been friends with the "fruit wall" for several years and made sure that it does not need any special care. Unless in more watering, because, unlike a bush, the soil is not obscured by the lower branches. It is necessary to water along the perimeter of the crown, preferably at night, and then even in a dry summer the berries will be large and sweet.
Do you have trellises in your garden? And what do you grow on them? Share your experience!
Read also: We propagate strawberries by dividing the bush. Describe the method in detail
Another related article: Planting raspberries in the summer for beginner gardeners
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