Work in the autumn garden continues. What else can be done on the site in late autumn? To ensure a good harvest for the next year, attention is paid to each plant. Gooseberries are next. Many gardeners consider gooseberries to be an unpretentious plant that does not require special care. Despite its whimsical nature, caring for gooseberries in the fall is extremely important if you want to get tasty, large and juicy berries.
The need for autumn care activities
It's a common misconception among gardeners. They believe that if you collect all the berries from a bush in time, you won’t have to worry about it until spring. This is wrong. Autumn care for gooseberries is necessary, otherwise over time the berries will become small and sparse. If left untreated, fruiting may stop altogether. Agrotechnical activities are carried out in the following sequence:
- remove weeds and fallen leaves;
- carry out sanitary pruning of branches;
- treat the shrubs with fungicides and insecticides;
- dig up the soil;
- add useful fertilizers to the soil;
- carry out mulching;
- in cold regions, shrubs are covered for the winter.
Watering gooseberries
Pre-winter irrigation should be done approximately 3 to 4 weeks before the onset of frost. In order for water to penetrate as deeply as possible to the roots, it is advisable to pierce the soil in several places around each bush by about 15 cm.
Recommendation - for each gooseberry, during the last (moisture-recharging) autumn watering, about 30 liters is usually sufficient. But this does not mean that this volume needs to be poured under the bush right away. It is advisable to consume the liquid in portions; I take a break for at least an hour. This ensures that it is all absorbed into the soil, and the purpose of such an event will be achieved.
Treatment of the root zone
Caring for gooseberries in the fall begins with removing debris from the root zone. If there is too much foliage, it must be removed and burned: it may contain dangerous fungal spores and larvae of harmful insects. Gooseberries are considered an unpretentious shrub, but weeds interfere with its full growth. Forming at its roots, weeds provoke high humidity. Fungal spores actively multiply in moist environments and infect plants.
Weeds and woodlice are removed from around the roots. You need to work carefully, slowly. If weeds are quickly pulled out, the root system of the bush can be damaged. They are carefully dug up, trying not to touch the roots.
Important! Wheatgrass is a type of weed. It often grows under gooseberries and sucks all the juices out of the soil.
Shrub pruning
Pruning is an important part of caring for gooseberries in the fall. Without it, proper preparation for winter is impossible. It is necessary to remove broken, dry and diseased shoots. Branches that spread along the ground are also cut off. This helps prevent the berries from coming into contact with the soil and rotting.
Pruning is carried out every year, starting with cutting out thin and weak lashes. Leave 3 to 4 main shoots that will bear fruit. The best time for the event is mid-autumn. For manipulation you will need:
- sharp pruning shears;
- gloves made of thick fabric;
- alcohol solution;
- garden varnish or paint.
Gooseberries are very thorny, so you need to get thick gardening gloves. The pruning shears must be sharp. If it cuts the branches poorly, it causes severe discomfort to the shrub.
Attention!
The pruning shears are wiped with alcohol after cutting each branch. This helps avoid the transfer and proliferation of fungal spores.
When examining a shrub, a gardener identifies shoots that are preventing it from growing. They immediately stand out from the overall picture with their disorderly growth. After removing excess branches, cut out the broken ones and those lying on the ground. After this, the gardener begins thinning. Abundant growth, which often forms inside shrubs, should not thicken the crown. If the bush is too thick, air circulation in it is impaired. Impaired air circulation contributes to the development of fungal diseases.
The next stage of pruning is rejuvenation of the bush. In order to rejuvenate and grow lateral branches, several five-year-old stems are cut out, leaving strong, young and healthy ones. For 6-7 year old bushes, 5 to 6 stems are left, which are harmoniously arranged along the crown.
When to prune gooseberries in the fall
The best time to prune gooseberries is late autumn, when the dormant period begins. The following should be taken into account:
- unnecessary shoots are removed after harvesting or leaf fall;
- Sanitary pruning is performed before cold weather;
- Shortening pruning cannot be carried out at the beginning of autumn, as this provokes the appearance of new shoots that will not become woody before frost and will die.
Attention! The bush is pruned at the same time: either in spring or autumn. In summer, branches cannot be cut.
Disease Prevention
Autumn is the time for dangerous diseases to become active. It is important not to miss their beginnings and take timely measures. All bushes are carefully inspected for damage by fungal spores and insects. If there are no signs of disease, preventive treatment with fungicides should be carried out. If a diseased shrub is found in a planting, the gardener assesses how affected it is by the fungus.
It happens that the fungus completely affects one or more shrubs. It will not be possible to save them. They are dug up and completely burned so that they do not infect other plants. If small foci of disease appear, you can treat the gooseberries with a fungicide, after cutting off the diseased branches.
Information!
Autumn processing of gooseberries is carried out after the leaves fall.
One of the best fungicides is Bordeaux mixture. The concentration of the solution is 3%. Copper sulfate is also used in a ratio of 25 to 30 g per large bucket of water (10 l). The antifungal agent Topaz is produced in ampoules. Before use, one ampoule of Topaz is dissolved in 10 liters of water.
The drug Fitosporin is used even if the bush looks healthy. Fitosporin promotes the formation of beneficial microflora and kills harmful bacteria.
Treating gooseberries with insecticides in the fall is also important. 80 or 85 g of karbofos are dissolved in a large bucket of water. You can use the drug Actellik. The concentration of the solution is 15 ml per 10 l. To process bitoxybacillins, you need to take 100 g of the substance and dissolve it in 10 liters of water.
When processing, do not forget to water the soil around the gooseberries with the solution to destroy harmful microorganisms, larvae and spores of pathogenic fungi.
How to apply fertilizers correctly and in what quantities
Gooseberries bear fruit abundantly for more than two decades. Proper care and favorable conditions extend the fruiting period and increase the yield.
Important! Fertilizers purchased in a specialized store are diluted with water strictly according to the included instructions. To avoid burns to the roots, before using a solution with mineral fertilizers, the soil around the bushes should be watered with clean water.
Autumn fertilizing increases the frost resistance of berry crops.
- In the second year, in the fall, humus is added to each gooseberry bush, 3-5 kg (a bucket for 1 bush).
- It is useful to use slurry diluted in the proportion of 1 bucket of aged manure per 80 liters of clean water.
- Chicken manure diluted with water – 1:14.
- After autumn pruning, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers are needed. Per 1 m2 of soil 50 g of superphosphate, or 30 g of potassium sulfate. The preparations are immersed in the ground 8-10 cm.
- Potassium sulfate is applied between the rows, 15-25 g per 1 m2.
- Per square meter of soil 110 g of wood ash. Adding ash 3-4 times a year protects the area from mold, fungi, bark beetles, and caterpillars.
Superphosphate strengthens the plant. Strengthens resistance to rotting and cold. The use of autumn fertilizing allows plants to spend less time recovering in the spring. Berries form earlier. Moisture consumption is also reduced and productivity increases.
Sometimes gardeners combine fertilizers according to the following recipe:
- humus – 9-15 kg;
- potassium sulfate – 40 g.
Important! Before autumn planting, compost is mixed with soil and sand in the hole. This way the soil becomes softer and its permeability improves. The bush is planted 2 weeks after preparing the hole.
The final feeding is carried out in September. In the last numbers.
After finishing feeding, the trunks are mulched. This protects the root system from severe frosts.
We will carry out hilling and mulching
The root system will die over the winter if it is not specifically protected from frost. It is necessary to maintain porous soil and good water-air conditions. Mulching done before the first frost will help.
Useful as mulch:
- compost mixed with dry healthy leaves;
- peat crumbs;
- sawdust;
- spruce branches;
- tree bark, finely chopped.
A suitable layer of mulch is from 10 to 15 cm. In the spring, the mulch layer is removed, simultaneously killing overwintered insect larvae. Immediately, the soil should be slightly loosened, providing access to the sun's rays.
Rules for digging up bushes
Digging gooseberries in the fall is not an easy task due to the specifics of its growth and development. If the shoot consists of several bushes, they can be located close to each other. This makes digging difficult, but you can’t refuse it. The larvae and fungal spores are found in the ground and quietly infect the root system.
The earth near the tree trunk is dug up using one spade bayonet. If there are many shoots spreading along the ground, they are partially cut off. The remaining branches are tied with a rope. After digging it needs to be removed.
Features of preparing gooseberries in the Urals
In the Urals and northern regions, preparatory work begins in early autumn (September), because frosts come early here. Formative pruning here should be postponed until spring, and only sanitary pruning should be carried out.
In a harsh winter, without careful and high-quality shelter, the gooseberry will die, therefore, in addition to mulching the earth around the stems, it is also necessary to cover the branches of the bush.
To do this, the branches are firmly tied with twine, bent to the ground and secured with wooden pegs. The shoots need to be covered, for which burlap folded in 4-6 layers or a special breathable material (agrospan, spandbon, geotextile) is suitable, and secured around the perimeter.
The use of film is allowed, but only at night. During the day, the film is removed to allow the bush to breathe. In winter, you need to make sure that there is a thick layer of snow under the bush.
In the Urals and in the northern regions, special attention should be paid to the timely application of fertilizing, since a deficiency of nutrients leads to a decrease in the frost resistance of berry bushes.
Fertilizing gooseberries in the autumn season
When caring for gooseberries, you need to feed them with fertilizers on time. They are applied in spring, summer and autumn. The harvest and size of fruits in the coming summer depend on autumn fertilization. Nutrients help the bush regain strength after the summer season. Autumn fertilizers are needed to strengthen the root system and stimulate bud growth.
On a note!
They begin to feed gooseberries in August. It takes 2-3 weeks to assimilate fertilizers.
If you postpone fertilizing until September, the soil will cool down and the roots will stop absorbing the necessary components.
For autumn feeding of shrubs use:
- phosphates - strengthen roots and contain healthy carbohydrates;
- potassium - removes excess liquid from shoots and increases their resistance to cold;
- organic matter - to increase productivity (all types of manure, vegetable compost);
- wood ash - it contains minerals.
Pruning gooseberries when planting
Autumn is the most favorable time for planting shrubs. Simultaneously with rooting, it is shortened and thinned.
The gooseberries are shortened, leaving only 3-4 buds above the surface of the ground, and the shrub is rooted deep into the same amount. Thanks to such strong pruning in the fall when planting, the plant actively begins to grow in the spring and quickly forms many side shoots.
Winter shelter technique
To protect from frost, the branches are carefully bent to the soil and secured with pegs. In the southern regions, mulching is sufficient for shelter. If the winter is snowy and frosty, gooseberries are covered with the first snow. In severe frost, dry grass is thrown over the shoots and covered with cardboard or plywood shields.
The gardener’s task in the autumn season is to prepare the gooseberries for winter. Thanks to good preparation, the bush will always look well-groomed and healthy, delighting you with a harvest of sweet and ripe berries.
Top dressing
Fertilizing is the next stage of preparing gooseberries for cold weather. It is carried out after picking the berries. If you added a sufficient amount of mineral and organic fertilizers when planting, then you do not need to fertilize the bush for 2 years. It is worth feeding in the third year.
Soil preparation
- Before applying fertilizers, the soil is cleared of weeds and they are pulled out by the roots.
- The soil is being dug up. This is done carefully, to a depth of 7-10 cm, so as not to damage the roots.
- Many gardeners recommend leaving the ground around the gooseberries empty and not planting them with flowers or lawn grass.
You should not apply nitrogen-containing fertilizers in the fall; they reduce winter hardiness. They will be more useful in the spring. Fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium will better prepare gooseberries for cold weather and increase winter hardiness.
ADVICE! Some gardeners cut the weeds, chop them and leave greenery around the bush. It serves as a fertilizer and keeps the soil loose.
Fertilizer application
- Mineral fertilizers are applied to one bush as follows:
- 30 grams of superphosphate, 20 grams of potassium sulfate and 100 grams of ash. This fertilizer is used in dry or liquid form. Ash increases resistance to disease, and phosphorus and potassium increase winter hardiness.
- In stores there is a special “Autumn Fertilizer” or garden and berry mixture, which is applied up to 350 grams.
- Organic fertilizers are useful for gooseberries in preparation for winter: compost, humus, peat. Depending on the size and age, from 6 to 12 kg are applied to each bush. Do not use manure in its pure form; it can burn the roots.
It is enough to apply organic fertilizers once every two or three years.
