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Top dressing of berry bushes, including gooseberries. is an important part of caring for them. Abundant fruiting greatly depletes the soil, and its fertility can only be increased by applying the necessary fertilizers. In a word, if you do not feed the gooseberries in the fall, then the berry harvest for next year may be significantly lower than expected.
Do I need to feed gooseberries
The unequivocal answer to this question is yes. Gooseberries need to be fed, and in spring, and in summer, and in autumn. This shrub has a fairly extensive root system, so it absorbs nutrients very intensively. On poor soils, the harvest without fertilization can be very poor. Even when grown on fertile soil, the supply of nutrients in it is quickly depleted, so periodic feeding is necessary. They not only make up for the deficiency of certain nutrients in the soil, but also contribute to the normal growth and development of young shoots.
Timely application of dressings significantly strengthens the immunity of the shrub, favorably affects the resistance of the plant to adverse weather conditions, improves the taste of berries and increases the overall yield. However, you need to fertilize the soil moderately. Do not forget that an excess of fresh organic matter, as well as an excessive amount, for example, of nitrogen fertilizers, is a risk factor for the appearance of a disease such as powdery mildew on the bushes. The bushes of this plant overfed with fertilizers are more likely to be invaded by pests, their immunity decreases, they endure winter worse.
What top dressing does gooseberry like
When planting young gooseberry bushes, a fairly large amount of nutrients are introduced into the soil of the planting pit, so top dressing is not required for the first few years. In this case, they begin to fertilize only from 3, and sometimes from 4 years. The following types of fertilizers are usually used for top dressing.
- Organic (compost, rotted manure, humus).
- Mineral (one-component). They contain one of the main nutrients, nitrogen, potassium or phosphorus.
- Complex (mineral, multicomponent). This includes all other mineral fertilizers, which include two or more nutrients in digestible form.
Often, folk remedies are used to feed gooseberries. As a rule, these are various infusions that enrich the soil with microelements. All top dressings can be applied both root and foliar.
How to properly fertilize gooseberries
The timing and procedure for applying fertilizing for gooseberries depends on the type of soil on which the bushes grow. For dense clay soils, it is more expedient to fertilize in the fall. If the soil is light and loose, then you can get by with only spring top dressing. However, it is more correct to make all top dressing according to the calendar or a specific schedule. This is how the plants will receive the most balanced nutrition.
For fertilization it is necessary to choose cloudy warm days. When applying fertilizer by the root method, the soil must be moistened in advance. All work must be carried out either in the early morning or in the evening. All fertilizers must be applied strictly in the indicated dosages, exceeding the concentration can lead to burns of the roots and will harm the gooseberry rather than help in development, and with a strong excess concentration, the shrub may simply die.
Top dressing gooseberries when planting
Before planting, the soil in the area for gooseberries must be dug up with the simultaneous application of fertilizers. When digging in autumn, 1-2 buckets of rotted manure or compost are usually added, 4 tbsp. l. phosphate fertilizers and 2 tbsp. l. potash per 1 sq. m. Additionally, it is recommended to add 0,5 kg or a little more (but not more than 1 kg) of wood ash to the same area.
During spring planting, organic matter is not added before digging. At this time, only complex phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are used at the rate of 0,1 kg per 1 sq. m. They are embedded in the ground immediately before planting gooseberries.
Many gardeners prefer not to dig up the soil before planting, but to prepare planting pits in advance, preparing special nutrient soil for filling them after planting gooseberries. It consists of humus, river sand and sod land in equal proportions. Additionally, a glass of wood ash, 2 tbsp. l. superphosphate and 1 tbsp. l. potassium sulfate.
How to fertilize gooseberries in spring
Feeding gooseberries in the spring is very important for getting a good harvest, as well as for the fastest recovery after the winter period. It is usually carried out in several stages. Here is an approximate scheme of annual feeding of gooseberries in the spring.
How to feed gooseberries in the spring before flowering
The first spring feeding of gooseberries is carried out before the start of the growing season, while the buds have not yet blossomed on the bushes. At this time, nitrogen is important for this berry bush, it contributes to the rapid restoration of the bush, the set of green mass and the growth of shoots. For feeding at this time, rotted manure is used, laying it out in a layer along the projection of the crown. Additionally, urea, simple or double superphosphate, and also potassium salt are used. This fertilizer is simply scattered evenly under the bushes.
Then the soil is loosened, planting fertilizers to a shallow depth, after which the root zone of the bushes is abundantly watered with water and mulched with peat.
How to feed gooseberries during flowering
Top dressing during flowering increases the number of ovaries, contributing to an increase in yield. As a fertilizer for gooseberries during this period of spring, rotted manure is used at the rate of 5 kg per 1 bush, as well as any nitrogen fertilizer (nitrophoska, azofoska) in accordance with the recommended doses.
How to fertilize gooseberries in spring for a better harvest
It is best to feed the gooseberries in the spring, during the budding period, with ammonium sulfate or carbamide (urea). This measure has a beneficial effect on the quantity and quality of flower buds. And this has a direct impact on productivity. Such top dressing is carried out foliarly, spraying the shrub with a solution of fertilizer in a small concentration.
Fertilizing gooseberries in the spring can also be done with folk remedies. Most often, potato peelings are used for this purpose. To prepare the infusion, brew 1 kg of purifications in 10 liters of boiling water. After 3 days, the infusion can be used for feeding. In addition to nutritional value, the infusion of potato peels remarkably enriches the soil with microelements. A more exotic feeding option is an infusion of banana skins. Usually, 10 banana peels are added to 5 liters of water, after which they are infused for several days. This infusion is an excellent source of potassium.
How to feed gooseberries in summer
On each adult fruit-bearing gooseberry bush, up to 10 kg of berries can ripen per season. Simultaneously with the setting and ripening of berries in the summer, an intensive growth of the root system occurs, the number of suction roots increases significantly. At the same time, plants intensively absorb nutrients from the soil. To make up for them, in the summer, the bushes are fed with both organic and mineral fertilizers.
Top dressing of gooseberries in the summer during the formation of fruits
During the period of intensive fruit ripening, it is very important to provide gooseberries with all the necessary elements for normal nutrition. You can make up for the lack of nutrients during this period with the help of the following fertilizers.
- Fertilizer slurry. To prepare a concentrate for a 200 l barrel, put 2 buckets of fresh manure, half a bucket of compost and fill it with water. A few days the mixture should be infused. After about 1,5-2 weeks, the concentrate is diluted with clean water in a ratio of 1:10 and gooseberries are fed. To do this, a shallow groove is made around the bush in the direct projection of the crown, into which the solution is carefully poured. Then the groove is covered with earth and mulched with peat. This procedure can be done twice during the summer, while the berries ripen. After the final harvest, such top dressing cannot be used.
- Mineral supplements. In summer, I feed the bushes only with potash and phosphorus fertilizers. For this, it is best to use superphosphate and potassium sulfate, introducing them into the soil in accordance with the recommended doses.
How to feed gooseberries after picking berries
Fruiting, especially plentiful, rather depletes the berry bush. To help him quickly regain strength, as well as to lay fruit buds, which will become the basis of the next year’s crop, the bushes are fed with the following fertilizers.
- Superphosphate 50 g.
- Ammonium sulfate 25 g.
- Potassium sulfate 25 g.
If the bushes bore fruit abundantly, then the rate of fertilization for feeding gooseberries after harvest can be doubled. Additionally, to improve the nutritional value of the soil, rotted manure is used at the rate of 2-3 kg for each adult berry bush. All fertilizers are embedded in the soil to a shallow depth, while simultaneously loosening the root zone.
How to fertilize gooseberries in the fall
The main purpose of gooseberry fertilizer in the fall is to prepare the shrub for winter. At this time, it is necessary to completely exclude the use of nitrogen fertilizers, as well as fresh manure and chicken manure, which contain this nutrient in large quantities. Otherwise, this will continue to stimulate the growth of young shoots, which by winter will not have time to become woody and are guaranteed to freeze.
The main fertilizers used in the autumn feeding of gooseberries include elements such as phosphorus and potassium. The standard dose of fertilizer for 1 bush is 20 g of superphosphate and 30 g of potassium sulfate. An additional top dressing for gooseberries in the fall is humus mulch, which covers the root zone of the shrub for the winter. If humus is not included in the composition of the mulch, then it is separately introduced into the soil, embedded in the aisles when digging the earth.
Gooseberry care after feeding
The root method of feeding involves the incorporation of fertilizers into the soil, therefore, immediately after application, the root zone is loosened, after which the soil is watered abundantly, and then mulched with humus or peat. Irrigation is very important for gooseberries, with a lack of moisture, fertilizer in the ground will decompose for a very long time, and its absorption by gooseberry roots will slow down greatly.
Foliar top dressings are more effective, but they must be carried out very carefully. Under no circumstances should the indicated dosages of the active substance be exceeded, as this may cause plant burns. All foliar feeding should be carried out only in the evening, in dry, cool weather, so that the nutrient solution remains on the leaves for as long as possible and does not dry out. It is not necessary to water the bushes with sprinkling at this time.
A video about feeding gooseberries can be viewed at the link below.
Conclusion
To feed gooseberries in autumn, spring and summer, large financial costs are not needed. The amount of fertilizers that are applied under this shrub is very small, but without them you should not expect a good harvest. Timely top dressing is not only a guarantee of abundant fruiting, but also a long life of gooseberries, and in combination with other agrotechnical measures, they give a wonderful result.