Why currants do not bear fruit
Content:
Starting the business of a gardener or gardener, we all believe that our harvest will be large, in large quantities, juicy and tasty. After a certain period of time and having come to the moment of fruiting, sometimes you can be disappointed not having received the expected currant. This result is very unexpected, because the bushes in the absence of a crop are outwardly in excellent condition. So why doesn't the currant bear fruit?
The lack of berries can be, even if the bush has passed the flowering period. Periodically, currants give purple inflorescences, and berries are not formed on them. In addition, the bush can give buds, but of a distorted shape, outwardly similar to a head of cabbage and larger in comparison with the usual size.
Currants do not bear fruit for various, but very specific reasons. The main ones are: inconsistency in the weather conditions for growing a plant due to climatic features, improper care of the bush or its improper planting, diseases and dominance of pests.
Let's take a closer look at these and other reasons in more detail.
Why currants do not bear fruit. Agrotechnics
Everything is important in the growing process, so you can make a mistake even in the first manipulations with the plant. It is not difficult to avoid the consequences leading to the infertility of the bush, here are the recommendations:
- Carefully study the information about the variety you have chosen. It should match the climatic conditions of your region.
- Determine the correct planting site for black currants.
- Avoid thickening the bush. This rule applies to most shrubs.
- Prune the bush at the beginning of each season in the spring.
- Remember to clear the soil of weeds and loosen it as needed. On average, this procedure is performed up to seven times per season.
- Follow the schedule and scheme of watering the plant. This is a very important point in caring for currants and its violation can completely deprive it of berries.
- All kinds of pests and various diseases can provoke a lack of fruit.
- Track the age of the bushes. The older, the more chances that this will be the reason for the lack of a crop.
Taking into account the above factors, the gardener can do everything necessary to avoid a lack of yield.
Pick-up location
Black currant is a finicky "girl" in terms of the permanent place of growth you have chosen for her. When preparing a planting scheme and arrangement of plants on your site, take into account the characteristics and characteristics of the selected variety.
Soil moisture
Blackcurrant varieties prefer well-moisturized soil and not very dry climates. Ideal for her cultivation in the central region of Russia. In the south of the country, the bushes are determined on areas with frequent independent or machine irrigation, choosing lower areas of the terrain, necessarily, excluding swampy soil.
Sunny or shady side
Black currants do not need a lot of direct sunlight. Partial shade is quite suitable for her. When choosing a planting site, gardeners and gardeners often prefer areas near houses or fences. There is both shade and enough space for currants.
An important point - the plant is not planted tightly to fences or walls made of concrete or corrugated board. Since in this case, your bushes can get burns from overheating.
Although some gardeners believe that with this arrangement, you will get an advantage in the cold season, as your plants will be sheltered from frost and winds.
Bad seedling
Whether or not your blackcurrant will bear fruit depends on many factors. And the rules of agricultural technology alone are not enough here. A very important role for seedlings, the yield of the bush can also suffer from their quality. Only those seedlings are suitable for planting:
- The root system has already reached twenty centimeters in length, has many branches and is generally developed.
- Good seedlings have no leaves. Their presence is an indicator that your young plant was harvested ahead of time. That, in turn, did not allow the seedling to gain strength and would lead either to frequent and prolonged diseases, or to complete freezing and death in the winter period of the year.
- Shoots should be about half a meter.
Before transferring the seedling to a permanent place of growth, the root system is treated. Secateurs remove pieces damaged during excavation. If you see that the soil and the roots themselves have begun to dry out, then place them in water for twelve hours before starting planting.
Black currant does not bear fruit. Incorrect fit
In agriculture, everything is important, and in relation to black currants. Having examined the above several reasons for the lack of harvest and fruiting of the crop, let's move on to one more reason. Namely, to a wrong landing. Here are the most common violations:
- The pit is not prepared in a suitable size. Here you can make a mistake both up and down.
- A young seedling must be placed in a prepared hole five centimeters below the soil level of its planting in the nursery.
- The root system is straightened and lowered into the hole and straightened along the perimeter of the deepening of the earth, preventing them from twisting or bending upwards.
- Covering the roots with earth, it should be crushed for good density and better contact with the root system of the plant.
- Do not feed the roots directly. That is, do not apply mineral fertilizers directly to the fresh planting site, you can harm the root system.
- Densely planted blackcurrant bushes can also produce low yields. Having passed a long-term path of development in vegetable gardens and having accumulated vast experience, gardeners argue that the ideal distance between the bushes can be considered one and a half meters with a small error in a larger direction, but not less. And when choosing a permanent place of growth in the area near the fence, lay the distance from it to the bush of about one or two meters.
Soil composition
Immediately, we note that all types of black currant have a negative attitude towards acidic soils. These include floodplain lands, with their complex composition and high biogenicity. The easiest way to determine the composition of the soil in your area is to visually inspect the plants growing on it.
Growing plantain or horse sorrel will serve as an indicator of the high acidity of the earth. This soil is ideal for them. Having found these plants in your garden, you will need to correct the composition of the soil for planting black currant seedlings.
Lime will help you. There is no need to choose slaked or not slaked, both options will do. Wood ash is also used. Six kilograms of organic fertilizer are taken and spread over ten square meters of soil. When processing light soils, the portion of ash is less, and correspondingly more on loamy soils.
Remember that ash is used throughout the year, but lime is only used in the fall.
The currant does not bear fruit. The reason is climatic conditions
At the very beginning of the article, we already indicated that when choosing black currants for your site, always study the zoning of varieties.Planting currants with low frost resistance in the cold and middle regions of our country, you run the risk that in the winter season the buds will simply freeze out, and you will be left without berries.
Such varieties of currants can be damaged both in the first frost and at the beginning of the summer season, and at the end. So if, nevertheless, you decide to plant currants on the site of the north-western region, oriented in their characteristics for the southern region, do not be surprised that the plant may begin to wither and, as a result, not bear fruit.
In such bushes, buds are formed earlier, which is why, in inappropriate climatic conditions, they freeze and, accordingly, do not produce berries.
Inappropriate care
Anyone can violate the rules of care, and the result will again be a lack of fruit.
There are three main points here:
- Poor watering and soil moisture, not meeting the needs of the plant.
- Lack of nutrients in the soil.
- Ignoring and not doing the annual pruning of the bush. By skipping this procedure, the currants will become thickened. And the yield will first decrease, and in the future the plant will cease to bear fruit.
We will consider a few more sub-points on mistakes in caring for black currants below.
Lack of pollinators
Some time ago, black currant was considered a self-fertile plant. At the moment, the variety of varieties has expanded, the characteristics have improved, and the yield has increased. There are also varieties that require cross-pollination for fruiting.
Without the help of insects performing this function, the set can reach zero. Planting self-fertile flowering bushes of the same black currant, but of a different variety, will help you next to the currant bushes in need of pollination.
This method will attract worker bees and improve ovary formation rates by thirty percent.
Considering all of the above, one of the reasons for the lack of fruits can be attributed to the incorrect transplantation of the bush in the spring time or the absence of bushes or pollinating plants in the neighborhood.
Watering
Black currants love water, and therefore, a well-moisturized soil. This can be achieved by following simple rules and irrigation schemes. The root system of the culture described today is fibrous and goes into the ground at a distance ranging from 10 to 60 cm.
With insufficient watering, you will notice that the growth and development of the shoots stalls or slows down. They do not reach the required level of development and leave weakened for the winter period. As a result, the buds do not withstand cold weather and do not bear fruit.
But do not forget that the measure should be in everything. And too much water will not give you positive results either. During periods of extreme heat and dry weather, currants are watered every ten days, fifty liters of water per bush.
Incorrect selection of fertilizer is the reason that currants do not bear fruit
The correct choice of fertilizer promotes the fruiting of black currants.
Nitrogen-containing fertilizers are used most often in the spring, but also in the autumn. In autumn, the soil is fertilized no later than the last days of August and the first of September. Violating these terms, you will get too intensive growth of a young bush.
They contribute to the growth of vegetative mass, namely, foliage, inflorescences and buds.
Phosphorus and potassium are added during the period of fruit formation and ripening. After harvesting, feed the plant with saltpeter to give strength to the bush to form flower buds.
Black currant does not bear fruit. Causes - disease
The following diseases lead to the lack of fruits in currants:
- Powdery mildew - These are microscopic pests that cover the entire vegetative system of the plant with a corresponding coating. As a result, the growth of the bush stops, and the foliage dries up and falls off.
- Anthracnose and chlorosis also lead to drying and weakening of the bushes.But unlike powdery mildew, it is a fungal disease.
- White spot leaves is expressed in the appearance of white spots on the leaves, which gradually increase in size and provoke drying of the leaves. As a result, fruiting by the next season decreases or stops altogether.
- Reversal or terry - the most dangerous disease for currants. The very beginning of the disease is expressed in the absence of a corresponding currant smell in the whole plant, from leaves to branches. Further, the shape of the leaves becomes three-lobed with sharp ends. The flowers turn purple, there are no berries. Such an infection cannot be treated, the affected bushes are uprooted and burned.
Pests
Black currant bushes are prone to pest infestation. Unpleasant inhabitants inhibit the ripening of shoots, reduce and completely stop fruiting. The following insects are most dangerous:
- Kidney mite lives in currant buds that are just beginning to develop, eating their contents. If you notice that the buds of the plant are larger and rounder than the rest, be sure that the insect is in them. With a small number of affected kidneys, they are removed with a secateurs. Otherwise, the bush is uprooted and burned.
- Glass-maker - these are caterpillars affecting young shoots of currants. On bushes, they emerge from eggs laid by glass butterflies. The transition time from egg to caterpillar is ten days. In the fight against the pest, the affected branches are cut and burned.
- Ants. They not only contribute to the colonization of aphids, but also destroy the interior of the flower. As a result, ovary does not occur. They eat the top of young shoots, which leads to their drying out. The fight against this pest is difficult and takes place in several stages. Both folk and chemical methods of struggle are used.
Errors of inexperienced gardeners
We are all people and mistakes are made not only by beginners in the gardening business, but also by experienced gardeners. So, let's list the main ones:
- Frequent feeding of currants with fresh manure. With this method of fertilization, you activate the vegetative mass, but on fruiting this will be reflected in the direction of decrease.
- They rarely inspect or do not inspect the bushes at all for the presence of pests or the detection of an incipient disease. That does not lead to the prevention of damage, but to the fight against the consequences.
- Young bushes are planted close to the fence. The side of the bush that will face the wall will either not bear fruit, or there will be incredibly few of them.
- Currant varieties that do not correspond to the region are planted on their site.
- They buy seedlings in non-specialized places.
- Planting in unsuitable soil.
conclusions
This culture is very common in our country. You will have to try hard to find a vegetable garden where there are no currants. Let's still highlight several reasons for the lack of a crop on your beautiful bushes.
- Violation of agricultural techniques and plant planting rules.
- Incorrect selection of a seedling according to the zoning of the variety.
- Improper care. Violation of the irrigation scheme. Poor quality and unsuitable fertilizers. Failure to perform annual pruning.
- Dominance of currants by pests and parasites.
- Infection with diseases such as powdery mildew, etc.