Caring for sea buckthorn in the fall: harvesting, pruning, watering, loosening, fertilizing, processing

The sea buckthorn harvest is harvested from the end of August to the second half of September, after which the bush must be properly cared for so that it can withstand the winter and be able to recover until the next season. As part of autumn care, you will need to prune the bush, organize a proper watering and fertilizing regime. Read about these and other plant care manipulations below.

When and how to harvest in the fall?

From the second half of August to the end of September, the harvest takes place. The exact period depends not only on the variety of sea buckthorn, but also on how the berries will be used in the future:

fresh or frozen - pick berries at the beginning of ripening, when they have a thick skin and contain the maximum amount of vitamin C;
to prepare sea buckthorn jam, juice or marmalade, collect the berries in the second half of September, when they become soft;
to prepare sea buckthorn oil, collect the berries a week after they have acquired a soft consistency, but they should not be overripe, since in this case they will burst when you try to tear them off the stalk.

In order for the bushes to remain healthy and be able to bear fruit abundantly next year, first of all, it is necessary to correctly collect the fruits, which is a rather labor-intensive process and can be done in several ways:

Hand pick the berries by cutting them from the branches using small scissors or tongs. You can first cut a whole branch and then sort the berries at home, but in this case you can damage the plant and it is unlikely that you will be able to cut off all the branches with fruits at once. This method will take a lot of time, but will allow you to collect sea buckthorn with the highest quality possible.
Cut branches with berries from the bush and freeze them. In this form, it is quite easy to tear the berries from the branches. This method is used mainly when the fruits are planned to be stored frozen.
Pick the berries from the stem with your hands, but act carefully so that the soft skin of the fruit does not break off and the juice does not leak directly onto your hands.
Place a container for juice under a bush branch and slowly run your hand along the branch from base to tip, actively crushing the berries. The method is used to obtain sea buckthorn juice directly from the bush. In an hour of work you can squeeze out up to 4 liters of juice.
With the first frost, lay a tent under the bushes and shake the plant. The method is used when ripe berries are collected extremely late to prepare sea buckthorn oil.

Prolonged contact of the skin of your hands with sea buckthorn juice can cause severe irritation, so you should definitely use rubber gloves when harvesting.

If sea buckthorn is collected in large quantities in the fall, then it is more advisable to use special devices for this purpose:

Cobra . A popular folk instrument made using a piece of wood and steel wire. A handle is made from wood, and a loop is made from wire, the outline resembling the wick of a hot candle. Using an awl, you need to attach the loop to the handle, obtaining a design that resembles a snake. With this device you can easily and quickly get berries by cutting off their stalks. They can reach even the most inaccessible places in the bush.
Scraper . It is made of steel wire covered with an aluminum sheath, about 50 cm long. In the middle of the piece of wire, make one curl like a spring. To do this, the wire can be wrapped once around the neck of a glass bottle. Align the ends of the segment and bend it to one side at an angle of 90 degrees. Using a tool like this, you can easily press the twig and peel the berries off it by simply moving the scraper down.
Tube . A tin can is used to make it. From it you need to cut a blank, which is twisted into a tube. Its optimal length and diameter are 100 mm each, so that it exceeds the size of sea buckthorn berries by about 4 mm. Wrap the resulting tube with electrical tape, leaving a little space around the edges, and attach a plastic bag to the bottom. The finished device must be brought to the stalk with the upper part and lightly pressed. The cut berry will roll down the tube and into the bag, intact.
Slingshot . You need to make a slingshot with a string from fishing line. Holding the branch with one hand, you need to cut the berries from it with the other, using a homemade slingshot.

Using such devices, you can collect up to 10-15 kg of sea buckthorn berries.

Basic mistakes when pruning

It is not uncommon for novice gardeners to make a number of mistakes when pruning sea buckthorn:

They leave branches going inward on the tree. The green crown does not receive enough light, the humidity regime is disrupted, and the fruits become smaller. These disadvantages provoke the occurrence of infectious diseases.
Side shoots are severely pruned. But in the upper part, generative buds are formed, which are responsible for the harvest.
Large sections and saw cuts are not processed. The plant may die. In autumn, diameters greater than 1 centimeter are coated with oil paint. In spring, garden pitch is used.
They leave stumps. Subsequently, they become overgrown with tops that do not bear fruit. Remove the branch under the ring.
When harvesting, young shoots are cut off. This threatens the destruction of subsequent harvests.
Use a blunt instrument. As a result, the saw tears, the pruning shears crush the bark.
Ignore trimming. The plant gets sick from lack of light and produces small fruits.

Pruning sea buckthorn in autumn

Sea buckthorn is a tall deciduous shrub that, like other fruit plants, requires proper pruning. The plant is quite sensitive to such garden manipulations, so it is extremely important to take a responsible approach to all its details - from choosing the time of work to processing the cuts after pruning.

Choosing the type of autumn pruning

Shrubs can be pruned at any time of the year, except winter, but it is better to do thorough work in early spring before the weather warms up, during the dormant period, in order to restore the plant after winter. So, in the spring season the following types of pruning are performed:

forming - the necessary shape is given to the crown of the plant;
regulating – the specified crown shape is maintained;
restorative – a neglected or damaged crown is put in order;
rejuvenating – fruiting of the old plant is restored, productivity increases.

Thanks to such regular pruning of the shoots, the branches actively grow, which in the future contributes to the formation of many flower buds on the shortened shoots.

In the autumn period, sanitary pruning of sea buckthorn is mainly carried out, which allows you to prepare the shrub for winter and prevent the development of diseases and pests. In any case, it should be noted that young seedlings do not need to be touched with pruning shears for 2 years after planting so that they can take root well and begin free growth.

How to trim?

In late autumn, when sea buckthorn enters its dormant period, it is necessary to carry out sanitary pruning of the bush, which involves removing the following branches:

broken;
sick;
dried out;
growing incorrectly;
too old (have a darker color than young ones);
growing inward.

It is extremely important to use well-sharpened sterile tools to trim branches so as not to soak or damage the bark. After such pruning, the bush will be able to grow actively, since it will not waste energy and vitality on unsuitable shoots.

After removing unnecessary branches, the cuts must be treated to prevent the plant from becoming infected with diseases and pests. In this case, you can use garden pitch or putty. For example, sections can be sprinkled with a solution of copper sulfate and dried a little.

Trimming errors

When pruning in autumn, inexperienced gardeners can make a number of mistakes:

Leave the shoots growing inside the bush. Such branches greatly thicken the crown, which negatively affects the light and humidity conditions. As a result, sea buckthorn yields deteriorate and the risk of developing fungal infections increases.
Cut off side shoots heavily. This is fraught with the fact that the yield of the bush will sharply decrease. To prevent such a mistake, it should be taken into account that the generative buds of sea buckthorn appear in the upper part of the shoots. So, when pruning, you should never get too carried away with shortening them.
Leave numerous wounds after deep pruning. In sea buckthorn, callus is formed quite slowly - cells on the wound surface of the plant in the form of suberizing tissue. Because of this, the cuts on the plant are tightened rather poorly, and if there are many of them and they are large, the bush may die altogether. To prevent this, it is also recommended to avoid the method of collecting berries by cutting branches with fruits.
Damage the root. If, after removing the root shoots, the sea buckthorn dries out, it is likely that its root was damaged during pruning. To prevent this, when removing root shoots, it should be taken into account that the shrub develops numerous long lateral roots running horizontally. In this case, it is advisable to work with pruning shears and not pull out or break branches.

How to trim sea buckthorn so that it does not stretch upward?

Low-growing varieties of sea buckthorn do not need crown reduction, but tall tree-like varieties are more demanding. Their growth needs to be monitored from the age of 5. To do this in the fall after harvesting, you will need to trim the shoots into three-year-old wood, that is, remove the growth of the last 2 years. In this case, you will need to leave a small side branch in the whorl.

Some gardeners resort to another method of forming a low, compact crown - they bend the top of a young bush to the ground and tie it to a peg. Such manipulations will not prevent the awakening of dormant buds along the entire length of the conductor, from which shoots will grow and form a spreading crown.

How to harvest sea buckthorn and trim the tree is clearly demonstrated in the following video:

Pruning goals

Sea buckthorn pruning is carried out for several purposes. First of all, the formation of the crown.

It is also carried out for:

maintaining plant health and preventing diseases;
extending the life of the bush;
increasing fruiting.

They begin to form the crown in the second year after planting. The plant is grown both as a bush and as a tree. For females (fruit bearing), the bush form is often chosen, as it is more convenient to harvest. Male ones are allowed to grow in height, removing only dry or diseased branches that thicken the crown.

Give the shape of a sea buckthorn bush as follows:

Trim the plant to a length of 20 centimeters.
After a year, leave 3–4 young shoots coming from the root.
Remove the rest at soil level.

The optimal height of the tree trunk is 30 centimeters. Leave no more than four large branches. After a year, those that have grown greatly are shortened by one third of the entire length. The upper parts of the shoots of trees that have begun to bear fruit are not cut off; this is where the flower buds are formed.

By the fourth year, the formation of the sea buckthorn crown ends. In the future, it is necessary to monitor the density of the bush or tree, not allowing it to grow.

Watering and loosening the soil

Particular attention should be paid to the plant's watering regime if the shrub was pruned in the summer season. Closer to autumn, you should increase water consumption:

for young plants - up to 4-5 buckets;
for mature plants - up to 8-10 buckets.

You need to pour water into the tree trunk as the soil dries. In the autumn, you can reduce the water rate to 2-3 buckets, depending on the age of the plant and the root system.

Sea buckthorn requires moisture-recharging winter watering, since it helps to increase the winter hardiness of the plant.

After each watering or precipitation, the soil on the site must be loosened. The fact is that after such manipulation, nodules are formed on the roots of sea buckthorn, inside which live bacteria that perform an important function:

Absorb nitrogen from the air.
They enrich the root layer of soil with nitrogen compounds that are vital for the plant.

So, the soil on the site should always be loose, but you need to act carefully, since the root system of the plant is vertical and is easily damaged. Some gardeners recommend mulching tree trunks using one of two types of organic matter:

humus;
compost from potato tops or birch and apple leaves.

Thanks to such a layer of mulch, you can reduce the frequency of loosening the soil.

Rejuvenating pruning of old sea buckthorn

Sea buckthorn formed by a tree must be tied to a strong support to avoid breaking the trunk.
Starting from the 7th year of the plant’s life, you can begin work on rejuvenating sea buckthorn. The point of rejuvenation is to replace branches that have stopped growing and laying flower buds and reduced yield with young ones.

To replace old branches, a promising side shoot is selected and growth is transferred to it. You can also use tops. No need to worry about them growing vertically. For correction, the top shoot is bent in a horizontal position, a loose loop of twine is thrown over it, and the other end is tied to a peg.

After pinching the top, the top will begin to branch and lay flower buds. There is no need to try to rejuvenate all the branches of sea buckthorn in one season. It is better to break this process into 2-3 stages.

Feeding sea buckthorn

For active development and abundant fruiting, sea buckthorn is regularly fed, starting from the age of 3. The root system of the plant independently supplies itself with nitrogen, so only potassium and phosphorus fertilizers need to be applied to a mature bush, but up to 5 years, while the root system develops.

So, a competent scheme for feeding a plant looks like this:

In the spring, sprinkle ammonium nitrate around the tree trunk at the rate of 20 g per 1 square meter. m plot. Sprinkle the fertilizer over a layer of soil.
Immediately after the leaves of an adult plant that has entered the fruiting period bloom, spray the bush with a solution of liquid potassium humate or Effecton at the rate of 1 tsp. for 10 liters of water. Carry out the same treatment 3 weeks after the first spraying.
During the period of ovary growth, when sea buckthorn is preparing to bear fruit, feed the plant with a solution of superphosphate in granules (2 tbsp.), Universal-micro nutrient mixture (2 tbsp.) and potassium sulfate (1 tbsp.). The dosage is indicated for 10 liters of water.
When digging a plot of 1 sq. m. in autumn. m add 30 g of superphosphate, 100 g of wood ash and 25 g of potassium salt. If the soil is acidic, superphosphate should be replaced with phosphate rock at the rate of 50 g per 1 square meter. m. If the soil is heavy, it is recommended to add 1/2 bucket of sand or sawdust for each plant.

Male plants do not become depleted after harvest, so they do not need feeding as much as female ones.

How to prune sea buckthorn correctly

An adult sea buckthorn tree can reach 5 m in height; this is not required in garden conditions. The optimal height of the bush will be at the level of a person’s raised hand. Female sea buckthorn plants are usually formed into bushes, while male ones form into low trees. If the plant is formed by one tree, one conductor and several skeletal branches are formed from the seedling. To form a trunk, the strongest shoot is left, the rest are removed.

Important! Some varieties of sea buckthorn have a predisposition to grow in the form of a trunk. Such plants need to be limited in growth by cutting the crown to the desired height.

After the formation of a sea buckthorn bush or tree, formative pruning will be reduced to cutting out incorrectly growing, thickening and unnecessary branches, as well as removing root shoots.

It must be cut out very carefully, digging up the soil to the point of growth and removing the shoot onto the ring.

Important! Inaccurate removal of root growth can lead to damage to surface roots and death of the plant. Therefore, you cannot cut it down with a shovel or tear it out with your hands.

Treatment against diseases and pests

As you know, it is better to prevent a problem than to fight it. So, in order to protect sea buckthorn from diseases and dangerous pests, it is necessary to carry out preventive treatment in late autumn:

remove all fallen leaves from the area;
remove the remains of flowers and fruits from the bushes;
clean the wounds on the trunks and branches, treat them with a 3% solution of copper sulfate or a special garden putty;
whiten the trunks and skeletal branches with lime to protect the bark from pests.

In late autumn, sea buckthorn should also be treated with a 7% urea solution or a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture. Such a measure will protect the plant from fungal diseases and pests. In addition, such treatment should be carried out in early spring.

During the season, when pests appear on sea buckthorn, the bushes should be treated with a solution of wood ash once a week.

How to use and prepare it

Not everyone likes the sour, characteristic taste of fresh berries. What can you do with sea buckthorn so that everyone at home loves it?

to freeze. This way the berries can be stored all year round, and after defrosting they will acquire a completely different, pleasant, sweetish taste. They can be used to make sauces and pie fillings;

cook compote. You can drink it fresh, or you can close it in tanks and sterilize them for a few minutes, then it can be stored all winter. Sea buckthorn puree or jam is prepared in the same way;

make wine. This treat has a wonderful aroma and beneficial properties for digestion; your guests and loved ones will appreciate it.

But sea buckthorn oil has truly miraculous properties. Experienced gardeners make it themselves from ripe berries. Take care of your garden, and it will certainly thank you with an abundant and healthy harvest.

Harvesting cuttings in autumn

In order to root woody sea buckthorn cuttings in the spring, you need to properly prepare the raw materials from late November to early December. To do this, you need to select 2-year-old growths, the thickness of which is at least 6 cm. They need to be cut using a sharp tool into pieces 15-20 cm long.

Cuttings cut in autumn should be prepared as follows:

Tie into a bun.
Wrap in cloth and place in a plastic bag.
Bury the bag in the hole.
Cover the hole with snow. If it has not fallen out yet, you can cover it with spruce branches or dry leaves.

Cuttings preserved in this way must be kept in water for 3 days before planting, which should be changed several times. It is advisable to add a root formation stimulator to it. After soaking, the cuttings can be planted in the ground at an angle, leaving at least 2-3 buds above the surface. By autumn, the cuttings will reach a height of up to 60 cm, and in the third year they will begin to bear fruit.

Types of pruning

There are several types of pruning - let's look at each in more detail.

Formative

To give sea buckthorn the shape of a tree or bush, from the first year of life it is subjected to formative pruning, which is done annually throughout the life of the plant.

Regulatory pruning of sea buckthorn

Carried out annually, it keeps the crown neat and includes thinning and lightening.

Rejuvenating

Anti-aging pruning is necessary to restore fruiting of an aging bush and is carried out on adult plants older than seven years. Stimulates the growth of young healthy shoots.

Old non-fruit-bearing branches are replaced with lateral shoots. Select the strongest of them, growing on the outside of the bush, and replace up to three old branches with them.

How to store the autumn harvest?

Sea buckthorn fruits collected in the fall can be prepared in several ways:

Fresh storage . Place cut sea buckthorn branches in a cool room where the air temperature does not rise above 0 degrees. It is extremely important that the room is dry, since excess moisture causes rotting processes. You can store branches with fruits in this way until spring. This method does not involve heat treatment of the fruits, so they retain maximum nutrients.
Quick freezing . Berries cut from the stalks should be placed in plastic bags, which should be thrown into the freezer.
Sea buckthorn covered with sugar . The berries need to be sorted, washed and placed on a towel to dry, and then mixed with the same amount of sugar in a large container. Divide the mixture into sterilized jars and store in the refrigerator until spring. This sea buckthorn is perfect for making compote or fruit juice.
Mashed sea buckthorn . If ripe, juicy fruits were collected in the fall, this method is recommended. The sea buckthorn needs to be sorted out, washed and dried on a towel, and then mixed with the same amount of sugar. The mixture can be ground to a mushy consistency using a meat grinder or blender. Afterwards, it must be placed in jars, which are closed with ordinary nylon lids. Keep in the refrigerator or cellar.
Storage in water . Pour cold boiling water over fresh berries and place in the refrigerator.
Sea buckthorn juice . The sorted and washed berries must be passed through a juicer and poured into jars, which must be sterilized. The rolled juice can be kept in the refrigerator or cellar. The calorie content of the finished juice is 52 kcal per 100 ml. If desired, you can add sugar, honey, other berries or fruits.

Sea buckthorn can be heat treated to make compote, jam, marmalade or butter. Of course, under the influence of high temperatures, the berries will lose some of their microelements, but they will still remain tasty and healthy.

Why sea buckthorn is useful

The yellow, oblong berries contain several times more carotene than the carrots and pumpkin praised by doctors. That’s why nutritionists and cosmetologists love sea buckthorn so much.

It is used in the manufacture of many medicinal preparations, as it has analgesic and antiseptic properties. And vitamins and healthy oils make it an ideal ingredient for anti-aging and nourishing creams, lotions and masks.

Video: how to care for sea buckthorn?

In the next video, the manager of the nursery garden will tell you how to properly prune sea buckthorn, feed it and treat it against pests:

After harvesting in late summer - early autumn, sea buckthorn needs proper care, which involves sanitary pruning of the tree, watering and loosening the soil, fertilizing with organic and phosphorus fertilizers. In addition, special attention should be paid to treating the plant from possible pests and diseases. If you follow all the rules, next year you will also be able to get a bountiful harvest of healthy and tasty fruits.

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Pruning sea buckthorn depending on the age of the trees

The first three years after planting, the plant itself is formed. During this period of time, only sanitary and formative pruning is done. After this period, the crown can be maintained in good condition using regulatory pruning. It does not allow the branches to become dense, and also promotes ventilation and good lighting of the inner space of the bush.

Starting from the age of seven, the sea buckthorn bush will need anti-aging pruning. If for some reason the tree is neglected, then it may require restoration.

Regulating pruning on sea buckthorn is usually not used. Even an abundantly fruiting shrub is not greatly depleted and can cope normally without artificial regulation of yield.

A link to a video for beginners about pruning sea buckthorn in spring is given below.

How to properly prune sea buckthorn after planting

After planting a sea buckthorn seedling in a permanent place, you need to decide how the future crop will be formed - a tree or a bush. Depending on this, the seedling will need to be carefully trimmed to a height of either 30 cm (if one trunk is formed) or 10–20 cm (if a bush). In the first case, the trunk will be the only conductor from which the skeletal branches of the tree will grow. In the second case, the plant will produce numerous basal shoots, from which an adult bush will subsequently be formed.

Pruning young sea buckthorn

In the second and third years after planting, the formation of sea buckthorn in the form of a tree or bush continues. At this stage, formative pruning is performed as follows:

If a bush is formed, then from the resulting root shoots it is necessary to leave 3-4 most developed shoots and remove the rest. To keep the crown compact, shoots are cut by 1/3 in years 2 and 3.

In sea buckthorn, which forms according to a tree-like pattern, in the second year the conductor is pinched, 4–5 buds are left under it, and all the underlying ones are blinded. In the third year, all shoots are cut to the same level. All root growth is completely removed.

A video about pruning young sea buckthorn in spring can be viewed at the link below.

Pruning old sea buckthorn in spring

For sea buckthorn trees and bushes 7 years old and older, it is recommended to carry out anti-aging pruning. This procedure aims to gradually replace branches that have reduced yield with younger shoots.

A powerful side shoot is usually chosen as a substitute, to which the growth of the tree can be transferred. Sometimes tops - vertically growing shoots - are used for this purpose. In this case, its position is corrected using twine, which is attached with one end to a bracket driven into the ground, and with the other it holds the top shoot in a horizontal position.

In some cases, it is necessary to do a complete anti-aging pruning. It consists of removing the bush or trunk completely and growing it again on the old root. This procedure can be carried out if the above-ground part of the plant was severely damaged in winter, but its roots remained alive. In this case, the entire formation cycle is repeated from scratch.

Circuits and technology

The correct technology depends on which pruning scheme is chosen.

Formative

Throughout its life, sea buckthorn forms its crown. Depending on what you want to end up with - a bush or a tree. This does not have any effect on fruiting. The main choice here is decorativeness. Up to three years, sea buckthorn grows as an unbranched shoot. Then whorls appear. The tops of their heads should be pinched.

Female specimens stretch up to 1.3 meters, males - up to 5. The branches of female trees growing upward are tied up and pulled down. Horizontally growing shoots, on the contrary, are lifted up onto supports. This strengthens the plant. Males are given a pyramidal crown. Branches that grow inward and rub against each other are removed after leaf fall or in the spring. To limit growth, the crown is trimmed.

Formative pruning is carried out in the spring. Within 4-5 years the crown is formed.

1 year. The seedling grows randomly upward.
2nd year The stem bends parallel to the ground in spring. In autumn, five vertical shoots appear.
3rd year. In spring, turn the outermost shoot parallel to the ground. In autumn there will be berries on 4 branches. Vertical shoots form on the opposite shoot. The fruiting branch is cut off along with the berries.
In the 4th year, one branch is disconnected again in the opposite direction. The procedure is repeated.