The main methods and rules of propagation of black currant

If there is a need to replace old and low-yielding currant bushes with younger ones or increase the number of plants on the site, you can easily cope with this task. To do this, you will need: your desire and knowledge of the main methods and rules for breeding blackcurrant and a few shoots from a bush that suits you with its yield, taste of fruits, and resistance to diseases and pests.

Vegetative propagation of black currant

Vegetative methods of propagation of blackcurrant provide for the formation of a new plant from a part of the mother and are optimal for most gardeners. Their main advantage is that young plants completely retain the varietal characteristics of their parents and easily take root in the new environment.

Various vegetative methods of reproduction are used:

• cuttings;
• layering;
• dividing the bush.

Each specified method has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.

Lignified cuttings

In this way, several strong seedlings are obtained from one parent branch. Efficiency, efficiency and reliability are the main advantages of reproduction by lignified cuttings.

Harvesting lignified cuttings

1. Make stocks of cuttings better in spring or autumn. In spring, it is wise to harvest the workpiece during crop pruning.
2. It is necessary to choose a healthy one-year or two-year branch with a diameter of at least 6 mm.
3. With a sharp knife or secateurs, cut a branch, remove the top, and then cut into pieces about 20 cm long. At the top of the handle, make a straight cut 1 cm above the kidney. Oblique cut to remove the part under the lower kidney.

A lignified shoot of currant is cut into pieces about 20 cm long with a straight cut at the top and an oblique cut under the lower kidney

Landing

1. On the eve of planting, it is recommended for 15 minutes to place the cuttings in water with a temperature of 45 ^aboutC for disinfection.
2. For planting cuttings, it is necessary to prepare furrows with a depth of about 15 cm with a dug up and moistened ground.
3. Plant plants under a cord 10-15 cm apart, observe aisles of 40-50 cm.
4. Fill with fertile soil. The soil must be pressed tightly against the cuttings.
5. Mulch the plantings with peat crumb, humus layer up to 5 cm (for better moisture conservation).
6. Above the surface of the soil leave two buds. One of them is located at ground level.

Currant cuttings must be planted obliquely, in the direction from north to south. This contributes to better row lighting.

Further plant care

1. In the summer months of planting, you need to regularly weed and loosen the soil.
2. The ridges must be kept in a moderately wet state. The root system of rooted cuttings is very weak, so even short-term drying can be detrimental to plants.
3. Fertilizing for developing cuttings to carry out every 10 days. From May to June, alternate fertilizing with ammonium nitrate (20-40 g per 10 l of water) and infusion of overripe mullein (1 part mullein per 10 l of water). From July, switch to feeding with wood ash. A handful of ash must be filled with 1 liter of boiling water and insisted for a week. Thanks to this preparation of fertilizer, soluble substances are extracted from the ash, which are better absorbed by plants. Also, for 1 liter of infusion, you can add 1 tablespoon of superphosphate.

Cuttings planted in spring will become full-fledged strong seedlings by autumn. They can easily transfer the transplant to a permanent place.

Useful advice: planting can be closed with a black film with holes cut out for cuttings. The film coating will protect young plants from weeds, save moisture and allow you to monitor the development of cuttings.

Green cuttings

If in early spring you did not prepare lignified cuttings, then reproduction can be carried out by green branches.

Harvesting material

1. Cuttings will be more viable if they are harvested on cloudy, cool days, and shoots that are resilient and do not break when bent are selected.
2. The stalk should be about 20 cm long with 3-5 leaflets. Leaves at the bottom are best trimmed.
3. Slices should be, as in lignified cuttings - straight at the top and oblique at the bottom.

The lower leaves of the green cuttings are best removed

Landing

1. Before planting, green cuttings are recommended to be placed in a growth stimulator suitable for blackcurrant. This will accelerate the formation of roots and increase survival.
2. You need to plant cuttings in a mixture of rotted compost and river sand (1: 1). Planting depth - 3 cm, the distance between plants - 10-15 cm.

Care

1. Green cuttings require more thorough care than lignified ones. They poorly tolerate a lack of moisture, therefore, in addition to watering, planting needs daily spraying.
2. The optimum temperature for good rooting of cuttings is 25 ^aboutC. It is advisable to cover them with a film that will protect against overdrying and provide temperature conditions. The film must be slightly shaded so that direct sunlight does not fall on the seedlings. To do this, the film can be whitened or covered with a light cloth.
3. After rooting (2-3 weeks after planting), the cuttings will not require daily spraying and watering.
4. Over the entire period of survival, the leaf plates should remain green and juicy.
5. After about four weeks, the film over the plants can be removed. It is better to do this gradually, first opening the seedlings for several hours in the afternoon.
6. After rooting the cuttings, they are fertilized with urea (1 tsp. To 5 l of water). Top dressing is carried out until mid-August once every 10 days.
7. The following spring, the seedling is transferred to a constant place of growth.

Apical cuttings

If there is a lack of planting material, then for the reproduction of currants, you can use the upper parts of the branches. The percentage of survival of such cuttings is less than lignified and green. They are more capricious, they can die when drying out. The process of caring for planted apical cuttings is the same as for green ones.

If the cuttings are rooted in a sunny place, then later on they will grow bushes that give a higher yield than seedlings grown in the shade. And berries from such bushes are much sweeter.

Propagation of plants by layering

This is a simple and reliable way to get great seedlings from your chosen bush. Almost 100% survival and a minimum of care are the main advantages of the method of propagation by layering. It can be implemented in four ways:

• arcuate layering;
• horizontal layering;
• vertical layering;
• air layering.

Arcuate

The method of breeding arcuate layering is as follows:

1. Choose 2-3 year old branches growing from the base of the bush.
2. Pre-bend the shoots to the ground and mark the places where prikop will be made. And also mark on the escape plot, which will be dug.
3. The earth is carefully loosened with a chopper. Dig a ditch about 10 cm deep.
4. Hooks are prepared to pin the branches to the ground. They can be made of wire or tree knots.
5. Using a file or a jigsaw, they scratch the lower sides of the shoots in the places to be dug. This will accelerate the rooting of layering.
6. Stack the prepared branch in the ditch and pin it with the prepared hooks. Part of the shoot should be about 30 cm long on the surface.
7. Tie the tip of the shoot with a free eight to small pegs.
8. They fill the place of prikop with a mixture of soil and humus.
9. Watered.
10. Mulch to preserve moisture.

During the summer, you need to water the cuttings as needed, weed, pour two or three times with a mixture of soil and humus.

In October, a strong root system on the lay will develop. And he can be separated from the parent bush and transplanted to a permanent place.

Two-year and three-year-old shoots of currant are bent to the ground and dug in such a way that a part of the shoot about 30 centimeters long remains on the surface

Video: a tricky way to propagate currants by layering

Horizontal

This method of reproduction differs from the previous one in that the parent branch completely fits into the prepared furrow. The branch must be cut off the top. As a result of cultivation with horizontal layers, you can get not one, but several seedlings from one dug shoot.

Use the method of propagation by horizontal layering is necessary before the leaves bloom

Vertical

This method also allows you to get a large number of seedlings from the mother bush. Its essence lies in the fact that the shoots begin to grow from buds located in the lower zone of the bush. Breeding with vertical layering includes the following steps:

1. A young, healthy bush of currant is chosen, in March or April all branches are cut off from it, leaving spikes 5-8 cm long.
2. By the end of spring, spikes appear on the spikes. When they reach a height of 15-20 cm, the shoots are covered with moistened soil to half the height. After about a month, re-adding is carried out, which will contribute to the formation of roots in the resulting growth.
3. In autumn, rooted shoots are separated from the parent bush. Strong, with powerful roots are immediately planted in a permanent place, and weaker ones are determined for growing.

Filling with fertile soil contributes to the formation of roots in the resulting growth

By air

1. For this method of breeding currants, a strong branch is selected, which can be located in any part of the plant.
2. On a branch (20-25 cm from the ground) two circular cuts are made at a distance of 5 cm from each other. The ring of bark between the cuts is cleaned to wood.
3. Then a plastic bag is put on, the lower edge of which is fixed a few centimeters below the stripped ring. The bag is tightly fixed using tape or wire.
   

   For the method of propagation by air layers, you can use plastic bottles with soil

4. Fertile soil is poured into the bag so that it completely covers the cleared area.
5. The soil in the soil is moistened, then the top of the bag is fixed on a branch.
6. Less than a month later, roots appear at the cut site.
7. The package is removed, the branch is cut from the bush and the resulting seedling can be transplanted for growing.

Shrub cultivation

The fastest way to propagate currants is by dividing the parent plant. It is used when it is necessary to transplant a currant bush to another place.

1. Spend this event in the spring or in the fall.
2. They dig a bush, trying not to damage the roots. Take into account that the currant rhizome is located 40-50 cm underground.
3. Roots free from the earth, remove damaged parts of the root system, dry branches.
4. The bush is divided into 2-4 parts. The number of parts depends on the size of the parent plant. Cut the bush with a sharp tool. Each part received must have a sufficient root system and several young shoots.
   

   The more developed the root system of the separated part of the parent plant, the better the new bush will take root

5. Before planting, the divided bushes are disinfected in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Planted bushes are planted in the standard way for this crop, and watered abundantly. After a year, the updated currant will delight you with the first harvest.

Planting seeds

Breeding blackcurrant seeds is used by experienced breeders to create new species. Seedlings obtained in this way do not always preserve the best qualities of the parent plant.

Breeding blackcurrant seeds requires patience and good luck

The method of propagation of currants by seeds is chosen by those who have a desire to experiment:

1. Take the largest, ripe berries.
2. They are washed and soaked for some time in water.
3. Carefully select the seeds, lay them out on paper and dry them.
4. Provide storage conditions until next spring.
5. In March, the seeds are prepared for sowing. To do this, soak them for a quarter of an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then dried.
6. Sow seeds in a tank filled with fertile soil. Sprinkle with earth, watered, cover with glass or film. Until seedlings appear, the container is kept in a warm, shaded place.
7. As soon as the seedlings hatch, remove the coating and rearrange the container to the light.
8. The pick is made in separate pots when the seedlings reach 10-15 cm.
9. In the second half of May, seedlings are planted on the site in the planting pits (40x40 cm) at a distance of about one meter seedling from the seedling. Particular attention is paid to thoroughly watering seedlings.

Suitable time for breeding currants

Currant farming can be productively practiced throughout the year.

Table: Currant propagation methods at different times of the year

Features of winter breeding

In winter, when the gardener has almost no business, you can do the cultivation of currants with lignified cuttings.

1. Cutting cuttings begin in December. For harvesting, one-year-old shoots are used, on which there are well-developed buds. Shoots cut off from the ground. Put the cuttings in a jar of water. It is better to choose a glass container. Water is slightly sweetened: on a half-liter can of water - 1 tsp. sugar or honey.
2. Capacities are placed in a bright, warm place. If they are standing on a windowsill, it is better to put, for example, polystyrene under the bottom of the can. Such a substrate will provide warmer, more comfortable conditions for cuttings.
3. After a month, the first roots begin to appear.
   

   When the roots reach a length of 5 cm, cuttings can be dived

4. Dive cuttings with overgrown roots in a container with a mixture of compost and earth. Drainage (from expanded clay, clay shards) is necessarily laid at the bottom of the pots.
   

   After 3 months, the currant seedling will have a strong root system and green leaves.

5. In February, the buds will swell on the seedlings, and by the time of transplantation - May the month, the seedling will have strong roots and green leaves. Inflorescences that appear on the seedling are cut off so that they do not interfere with the plant's gaining strength. With standard care the next year, currants will thank you with delicious, large berries.

If it is not possible to plant the seedlings immediately, then the plants should be dug in some shaded place and water abundantly. In this form, a currant seedling can lie for up to a week, the main thing is to have time to plant before the buds open.

N. Khromov, candidate of biological sciences gazetasadovod.ru

Video: the best way to breed currants in spring

Any method of currant propagation chosen by you will certainly be successful under conditions of proper care of seedlings: timely watering, proper top dressing, cultivation and weeding. And the black pearl of your garden will give you tasty and healthy fruits!