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Spreading gooseberry bushes with fragrant berries and rich green foliage have been taking pride of place in private gardens for many decades. Breeders continue to work intensively on the creation of more promising varieties in terms of yield. Gooseberry Green rain is a new, hybrid variety that many experienced gardeners do not yet know about, but whose popularity is getting higher every year.
Description of the gooseberry variety Green rain
Powerful, large, but compact and neat bush with upright shoots has dense foliage and medium spreading. The variety is distinguished by low thorniness: the main part of rare and small thorns is concentrated near the base of the branches.
Very large, weighing up to 7 – 8 g, gooseberry berries of the Green Rain variety have an oval, pear-shaped shape, unusual for such species. When ripe, light green fruits acquire a yellowish color, and a clarified, large veining is clearly visible through the skin. Long stalks make it easy to pick the berry from the bush. The variety is suitable for cultivation in the North-Western regions of Our Country, Siberia and the Far East. The plant does not require support.
Drought resistance, frost resistance
Gooseberry Green rain does not need shelter for the winter, as it has high frost resistance. Even in the zone of risky farming in the most severe winters, the plants do not freeze. They are not afraid of thaws in the winter, after which many “tender” shrubs cannot recover, and young shoots freeze completely.
It tolerates the gooseberry variety Green rain and drought. But for abundant fruiting, he needs periodic watering in the dry season.
fruiting, productivity
Green rain gooseberry fruits in late July-early August with fragrant, sweet berries with a honey flavor. The late-ripening variety is not prone to shedding, but overexposure of fruits on branches can lead to cracking of their thin skin.
Young gooseberry seedlings of the Green Rain variety begin to bear fruit already in the 2nd year after planting, which indicates the precocity of the culture. Abundant harvests can be obtained a little later – on the 4th – 6th year of cultivation. Large berries are densely arranged along the branches, hanging in huge, green clusters. From one bush, you can easily get up to 4-5 kg of sweet berries, which can be consumed fresh or for the preparation of canned berries. Large, strong berries are not baked in the sun, and fruits harvested on time can easily tolerate transportation.
Advantages and disadvantages
Gooseberry Green Rain, as is clear from the description of the variety and the visual photo below, has undeniable advantages, which allows it to be widely used for growing in summer cottages. Some of the main advantages are:
- good productivity;
- resistance to drought, frost, winter thaws;
- unpretentiousness to growing conditions;
- resistance to diseases and pests;
- excellent taste of berries and the versatility of their use;
- early fruiting.
There were no obvious shortcomings in this gooseberry variety. The only relative minus can be considered the late ripening of berries.
Features of reproduction
A lot of planting material can be obtained by propagating gooseberries Green rain by cuttings. They are prepared from shoots that grow at the base of the bush of this variety. You can cut off only the upper part of the shoots by lowering the cuttings into a root-stimulating solution. After the roots appear, they are placed in a light, peaty soil. Seedlings are regularly watered, weeded and loosened. For the winter, a bed warmed in advance is covered with material. Strengthened cuttings can be planted in a permanent place in the second year after cuttings, in the fall.
As practice has shown, the most productive and effective way to breed Green Rain gooseberries is to propagate by layering. For this, one-year-old basal shoots are chosen on 3-4-year-old bushes for laying in a specially dug trench. These shoots are bent to the trench and laid to a depth of 10 cm, sprinkled with soil. The soil in the furrows must be kept moist and loosened regularly. By autumn, rooted layers reach a height of 17 – 20 cm and become sufficiently developed for independent growth. However, for the winter it is better to leave them near the mother plant.
Planting and care
Gooseberries will give the harvest to the fullest. Green rain will be in a well-lit area, protected from wind and drafts. A light-loving plant is best planted in slightly acidic or neutral, loose and fertile soils with deep groundwater. Their level should be at least 1,5 m. Previously, 15-20 days before planting seedlings of this variety, the entire area is dug up with the removal of weeds, roots and other vegetation. River sand must be added to dense soil, and lime must be added to acidic soil. Gooseberries can be planted in spring or early autumn. When planting, it is worth making sure that the root neck deepens by about 5-6 cm. This measure will stimulate the formation and growth of new shoots.
Gooseberry care Green rain comes down to watering, fertilizing and spring pruning. Despite the fact that the plant is considered drought-resistant, it needs four times watering during the growing season. It is necessary to shed the bushes abundantly in the middle of spring, when growing green mass, as well as during flowering and fruit formation. Watering is stopped about half a month before harvesting, so that the berries do not become watery. Top dressing gooseberries Green rain come down to the spring application of nitrogen, summer and autumn – mineral fertilizers. In the spring, nitrogen top dressing will allow the plant to gain green mass, then gooseberries are fed with superphosphate 3-4 times during the growing season. Spring sanitary pruning is carried out to remove damaged, dry branches.
Growing rules
In order for the harvest of honey, sweet berries to please with its stunning amount, certain growing rules should be followed:
- landing pits should have a size of 50/50 cm, with a distance from each other of 80 – 100 cm;
- when digging holes, the top fertile layer of the earth is removed and mixed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers;
- a small amount of nutrient substrate is poured into the hole, followed by the spreading of the root system, a seedling is installed, the planting hole is covered with fertile soil with fertilizers;
- in spring, the trunk circle is loosened and mulched with foliage, sawdust, and rotted manure, which will retain moisture and additionally fertilize the plant.
The video clearly demonstrates the rules for caring for gooseberries and how to propagate them:
Pests and diseases
A promising gooseberry variety Green Rain has good resistance to pests and dangerous diseases. Sferoteka and antroknosis are not terrible for him. But, improper agricultural technology does not exclude the risk of development:
- white spotting;
- rust;
- mosaics.
With white spotting and rust, the bushes are treated with fungicides. Mosaic is practically not treated. However, preventive measures will not allow the development of diseases. In the spring, before the buds swell, and closer to autumn, after harvesting, the plants are treated with 1% Bordeaux liquid. Copper-containing preparations prevent the development of dangerous, incurable diseases, which guarantees good yields of Green Rain gooseberries.
Conclusion
Gooseberry Green Rain will delight with stable, large yields for many years, if you perform easy care activities. The popularity of gooseberries as a berry crop continues to grow, because its fruits are a source of vitamins and useful trace elements. Well, breeders continue to delight gardeners with new, more and more promising and unpretentious varieties in care.