Gooseberries, along with strawberries, raspberries and currants, are one of the main berry crops in the Non-Black Earth Zone. For a very long time, and not by chance, it has been called the grape of the north. Indeed, the berries of the best varieties of gooseberries are as diverse in shape and color (white, green, yellow, red, black with their many shades) as grape berries. This purely external similarity between gooseberries and grapes becomes even greater if we take into account the excellent taste of the berries of the best dessert varieties and their chemical composition (Table 33). Gooseberries contain a fairly large amount of sugars, iron salts, copper, phosphorus, as well as potassium - 170 mg/100 g, calcium - 22 mg/100 g, magnesium - 9 mg/100 g.
The berries of many modern zoned gooseberry varieties, such as Russian, Smena, Pioneer, Yubileiny, Rozovy, etc., harmoniously combine sugars with organic acids, most of which are citric and malic.
Gooseberries contain a large amount of vitamin C - up to 55 mg/100 g, carotene - 0.1 mg/100 g, B1 - 0.004 mg/100 g, B2 - 0.002 mg/100 g and PP - 0.006 mg/100 g. According In terms of vitamin content, gooseberries are second only to black currants and are on a par with strawberries.
Gooseberries at technical ripeness, especially dark-colored varieties, contain a significant amount of pectin and help improve metabolism, have diuretic and choleretic properties. Due to their valuable chemical composition, ripe gooseberries are useful for fresh consumption as a dietary product, recommended by doctors not only for preventive, but also for medicinal purposes. Ripe gooseberries are especially useful for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, metabolic disorders, especially with excessive obesity. It is recommended to be consumed for diseases of the kidneys and bladder, for anemia, to strengthen blood vessels, for some skin diseases and vitamin deficiency. However, gooseberries are contraindicated for people with diabetes due to their relatively high sugar content. Of all the numerous berry crops, gooseberries are the most high-calorie.
Gooseberries produce stable, and against a high agrotechnical background, the highest yields among berry crops. At the Leninsky state variety plot of the Moscow region, the average gooseberry yield over a 16-year period of study by variety was (t/ha): Kolkhozny - 20.4; Change - 17.9 (highest 25.0); Moscow red - 12.6 (highest 21.9); Venus - 16.3 (highest 31.6); Russian - 14.0 (highest 29.1); English yellow - 14.0 (highest 33.4); Date - 16.7 (highest 28.0).
A serious advantage of gooseberries over other berry crops is the ability to use its berries at different stages of ripeness. High-quality jams, compotes, juices with pulp are prepared from them. For compotes and juices with pulp, only green-fruited and yellow-fruited varieties are recommended. The highest quality wine is made from gooseberry juice, which cannot be competed with by wines made from the fruits of other berry crops. Dark-colored juice is a valuable natural coloring agent for confectionery products. In terms of nectar production (60 kg of sugar per 1 ha), gooseberries take 2nd place among all berry crops, second only to raspberries.
Despite the advantages of gooseberries, in recent years the trend has continued to replace them with other berry crops or to reduce the area under their plantings.
There are several reasons for this phenomenon. The most serious of them is the high labor intensity of cultivating gooseberries, which is complicated by the thorny branches, high shoot-forming ability and poor resistance to powdery mildew of many of its varieties. In addition, it is of great importance that gooseberries are often sold to the public in the phase of incomplete, but technical ripeness, when they are an excellent raw material for making preserves and jams. This has given this valuable crop a bad name. Some consumers began to judge the taste of gooseberries by completely inedible berries intended for processing. Unfortunately, many city residents are also unfamiliar with the real taste of fully ripened berries of dessert gooseberry varieties. This misconception about gooseberries, based on lack of public awareness, can be eliminated by widespread and well-thought-out advertising. A more serious reason hindering the growth of areas under gooseberries is the high labor intensity of cultivating this crop and especially picking berries.
Currently, berries are collected mainly by hand at enormous costs, reaching 250-400 person-days per 1 hectare. If we add to this that picking gooseberries involves injury to the picker’s hands due to thorns, the complexity of the issue becomes clear.
The critical state of the gooseberry crop, however, is temporary. Planting sphere-resistant thornless or slightly thorny large-fruited varieties, the use of herbicides to suppress weeds in plant rows, machines for cutting out numerous extra branches in bushes and berry harvesting machines will dramatically reduce the cost of manual labor and create the prerequisites for mass production of gooseberries at a relatively low price.
Main types and cultural history
Gooseberry belongs to the family. Saxifragaceae (Saxifragaceae L.), genus Gooseberry (Grossularia Mill.), which has 52 species. Wild gooseberry species are quite widespread in Europe; Asia, North and South America and North Africa. On the territory of the Soviet Union, 2 types of gooseberries grow wild: Bureinsky, or Far Eastern (G. burejensis Tr. Schm.), and needle-bearing (G. acicularis Spach.).
Gooseberries began to be grown in Russia before their culture arose in Western Europe and America. The first information about the plantings, the appearance of the berries of the cultivated varieties and their use appeared in records dating back to the 11th century. From the monastery gardens, where gooseberries were first cultivated, they later began to penetrate into the gardens of the royal family and boyars.
In the 15th century Gooseberries were already grown in noticeable quantities near Moscow. At a later time (XVI-XVIII centuries), gooseberry culture in Russia gradually improved, a number of domestic varieties appeared with the laconic names “simple”, “shaggy”, “red”.
In Europe, gooseberries were first mentioned in literary sources of the 13th century. Significant steps in improving its varieties were made in the 16th-17th centuries. in France, Germany, England and Italy. The greatest successes in gooseberry culture date back, however, to the 19th century, when, as a result of many years of mass selection in England, a large number of large-fruited varieties were bred and the gooseberry became the favorite national berry of the British. Selection for large-fruited gooseberries in England gave amazing results. For some gooseberry varieties, the weight of one berry reached 47-58 g. Large-fruited gooseberry varieties of Western European selection were brought to Russia in the 19th century and gradually began to replace less productive local varieties.
1 European and 5 American species took part in the origin of cultivated gooseberry varieties.
European gooseberry(G. reclinata Mill.) is a shrub up to 1.5 m high. The shoots are straight or curved, with numerous simple or complex thorns at the nodes. The leaves are in most cases small or medium-sized, 3-5 lobed. Few-flowered brush (2-3 flowers). The fruits are round or oblong, weighing from 2 to 50 g, from green to dark-colored (from red to dark red), the taste is good. Plants are affected by spheroteca and freeze in severe winters and winters with prolonged thaws. This group includes such well-known varieties as English Yellow, Venus, Green Bottle, Avenarius, Moscow Red, Kolkhozny, Date, etc.
American gooseberry represented by the following species: weak-thorned (G. hirtella Spach.), rose-thorned (G. cynosbati Mill.), Missouri (G. missouriensis Nutt.), sharp-thorned (G. divaricata Diugl.), etc. All these species are resistant to powdery mildew. When developing new spherote-resistant, weakly thorny and thornless varieties, weakly thorny gooseberries are most often used as the initial form. It has spreading bushes up to 1 m high. The shoots are weakly thorny. Raceme with 2-4 flowers. Leaves are 5-lobed. The fruits are small, purple or black in color. The varieties of this group are quite winter-hardy, drought-resistant, early-bearing and resistant to powdery mildew. These include Houghton, Pearl, Jocelyn, American Mountain and a number of others.
Further progress of gooseberry culture in European countries was delayed for a long time by the widespread spread of American powdery mildew (spheroteca). This disease, which penetrated at the beginning of the 20th century. to Russia from Ireland, began to severely infect plants and fruits of large-fruited varieties and seriously reduced the effectiveness of the crop. The lack of means to combat spheroteca and large-fruited varieties resistant to this disease has led to a sharp reduction in the area under gooseberries. Only shortly before the First World War, measures were developed to combat powdery mildew, the implementation of which made it possible to sharply reduce its harmfulness.
All modern spherote-resistant large-fruited varieties are the result of hybridization of European gooseberries with American spherote-resistant species. They are characterized by high winter hardiness, sphere resistance and early entry into industrial fruiting. Representatives of this group of varieties are Russian, Smena, Record, Pioneer, Malachite, Yubileiny, etc.
A peculiarity of gooseberry cultivation in Russia was the concentration of its plantings near a few large cities. It was cultivated on a significant scale around Moscow, where the English Yellow, English Green, Varshavsky, Brazilian, and Bottle varieties were especially popular. The second area of mass culture, gooseberry, was the suburb of Petrograd (the villages of Pokrovskoye, Antropshino). Much credit for the spread of gooseberries in the North-West belongs to the Krasnoslavyansk school of gardening, where gooseberry varieties such as Avenarius, Skorospelka, English yellow, Venus, and Date were propagated in large quantities.
The third area of industrial gooseberry culture was the Lyskovsky district of the Gorky region, where one of the most popular gooseberry varieties, Date, was grown.
Currently, in connection with advances in gooseberry breeding, new spherote-resistant large-fruited varieties are being grown in all areas of industrial fruit growing, which are gradually replacing less resistant and less economically profitable old varieties. The All-Union Research Institute of Horticulture named after. I. V. Michurina and NIZISNP.
According to the zoning of fruit and berry crops in 1974, gooseberries are given a prominent place (from 10 to 35% depending on the region or republic) in the berry plantings of the Non-Black Earth Zone. The largest areas for gooseberry plantings are planned in the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Novgorod, Yaroslavl and Kaliningrad regions (up to 25-35% of the area of berry plantings).
Biological features
Bush structure
Gooseberry is a perennial shrub that, in particularly favorable conditions, can grow and bear fruit for up to 30-40 years. Thus, in 1967, on the educational farm of the Leningrad Agricultural Institute, gooseberry bushes planted in 1932, which grew as compactors for an apple orchard, were uprooted. At the same time, the gooseberry bushes were quite healthy (varieties Finik, Hansa, Venus, Avenarius, etc.) and produced high yields of berries. The planting was eliminated because it interfered with mechanized cultivation of the garden and spraying of trees with pesticides.
Despite the significant life expectancy of the gooseberry bush, the highest yield of high-quality berries was observed in plants up to 15 years of age. To obtain maximum income from a plantation and replace good varieties with better ones, it is considered advisable to limit the operation of an industrial plantation to 8-10 years.
Depending on the characteristics of the varieties and soil-climatic conditions, the height of the gooseberry bush varies from 0.5 to 2 m. The shape of the bush can be from highly spreading (Scania, Smena) to almost erect (Russian, Pioneer, Moscow Emerald, etc.). From the point of view of mechanized berry harvesting, the erect form of the bush is preferable to others. The shape of the bush is mainly determined by the angle of departure and deviation of the branches from the main axis and the position of the upper part of the shoots. Sometimes the spreading nature of a bush is created not so much by the large angles of branches, but by their strong arched bend. Gooseberries do not form root shoots.
In gooseberries, both the above-ground part and the root system are reproduced from the part of the stem that is immersed in the soil and is conventionally called the root collar. In contrast to the real root collar of seedlings, the conditional root collar here is up to 30 cm long and reaches a thickness of up to 5 cm. Dormant and adventitious buds that appear on the conditional root collar provide the appearance of more or less numerous basal shoots, which over time turn into basal branches .
The number of basal branches and the degree of their branching depend on the biological characteristics of the variety. In the year of emergence, the basal shoot grows most intensively. In the 2nd year, first-order branches appear on it, on which flower buds are laid.
In the 3rd year, 2nd order branches are formed on growths of the 1st order, and the branch begins to bear fruit. In subsequent years, the following branching orders appear from vegetative or mixed buds. With increasing branching orders, the magnitude of the increments decreases. Gooseberry branches of 3, 4 and 5 years of age are characterized by the greatest productivity. With high agricultural technology and a limited number of branches in the bush (up to 10), the branches are capable of producing a high yield even at the age of 10-15 years. The longevity of gooseberry branches depends on their shoot production ability.
In a number of gooseberry varieties, due to an insufficient degree of branching, skeletal branches and fruit formations rather age and are replaced by basal shoots. In the varieties Houghton, Smena and some others belonging to this series, a rapid change of skeletal parts occurs due to their good shoot recovery ability, i.e. the appearance of a mass of zero shoots from the conditional root collar of the bush.
Along with this, there are often varieties with a pronounced shoot-producing ability (Date, Green Bottle, Venus, Hansa, etc.), i.e. with a high degree of branching of each skeletal branch and its increased durability.
The high shoot-producing ability of varieties is closely related to their relatively moderate shoot-restorative ability. A small number of annually formed basal shoots (zero order) thicken the bush less, and thereby create more favorable conditions for aerial and root nutrition of the main skeletal branches.
Gooseberry shoots may have more or fewer thorns. The spines are located at the base of the buds and can be single, 2-, 3-, or even 4-partite. In some varieties, the entire internode is covered with spines. The spikes can be from 4 to 18 mm long, of varying thickness, shape and color. Their direction in relation to the escape is also different. In addition to diagnostic value, the number and nature of thorns serve as an important economic feature that affects labor productivity during pruning and especially when picking gooseberries.
There are varieties with powerful thorns (Harvest Stern) or thin and brittle (Scania), which can only be collected manually using leather gloves. At the same time, there are varieties (Russian, Finik, Avenarius, etc.) in which in the 2nd year of shoot growth, up to half of the total number of thorns is observed.
Many years of work by domestic breeders to develop low-thorn and thornless varieties have led to significant progress in this important matter. The greatest practical achievements were obtained by the All-Russian Research Institute of Horticulture named after. I. V. Michurina during interspecific crossings of weakly thorny American species with European varieties. Since the thornless trait turned out to be associated with resistance to powdery mildew, the resulting weakly thorny forms turned out to be immune to this disease.
Currently, K. D. Sergeeva has developed a number of weakly thorny and thornless varieties, including Slaboshipovaty No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, Besshipny 2, Besshipny 3, Besshipny 8-13. All of them are characterized by good yield and high resistance to powdery mildew. Thus, the variety Slaboshipovaty No. 3, recommended for wide production testing, has a vigorous bush with an average number of branches on which thorns are absent or rarely found. The berries are large, with an average weight of 4 g, yellow-green in color. The taste is good. sweet and sour. The ripening period is average. Resistant to powdery mildew.
Like many other species, gooseberry leaves vary quite greatly in the shape of the leaf blade depending on the type of shoot on which they are located. The leaves of vegetative shoots are larger and longer. On fruit formations, the leaves are smaller and much shorter. The leaves of different varieties vary greatly in all main characteristics (length, width, color, consistency, wrinkles, pubescence, etc.) and are a characteristic varietal feature. Gooseberries have 3- or 5-lobed leaf blades.
Selected seedling Besshipny 8-13 is characterized by medium vigor, slightly spreading bush and good yield. The number of shoots is average (15), without thorns. The berries are large, green, sweet. The seedling is highly resistant to powdery mildew.
It is estimated that only when thinning gooseberries, which have sharp thorns, it takes from 7 to 10 minutes per bush; the same work on weakly thorny and thornless varieties is completed in 4 minutes. Labor costs for thinning 1 hectare of thorny gooseberries are 41 man-days, weakly thorny or thornless gooseberries - 24 man-days. Thus, breeders have created real prerequisites for the introduction of thornless gooseberry varieties into industrial culture in the near future.
Types of shoots
All shoots that arise in the bush are divided into vegetative and reproductive. Vegetative ones have a length of more than 50 cm. These usually include basal shoots (zero order), i.e. shoots arising from dormant buds in the lower part of the skeletal branch. All buds of such shoots are vegetative.
The fruit shoots of gooseberries include mixed shoots, ringlets and bouquet branches. Mixed shoots are the most productive part of the gooseberry fruit wood. They have a length from 12 to 35 cm. Lateral and apical buds can be either vegetative or reproductive; Most reproductive buds of gooseberries are mixed, since, in addition to fruits, they form a fruit bag with several replacement shoots.
Reproductive shoots have different life spans. In varieties belonging to the European gooseberry species, they are more durable and, under favorable conditions, can bear fruit for up to 4-6 years. Varieties obtained from crossing European gooseberries with American ones, as a rule, have short-lived fruits that die off after 2-3 years or form growth shoots.
Flowering and fruiting
Gooseberry ringlets are 3 cm long. They form 2-3 buds and characteristic ring-shaped scars that remain after the scales and leaves fall off. Since the ringlets have mixed buds, over time they branch and form bouquet branches up to 5 cm long, on which the fruit buds are located close together. The upper bud of a bouquet branch can form either a short shoot of the ringlet type, or a longer type of mixed shoot.
Bouquet gooseberry branches, depending on the variety, bush formation and agrotechnical care, can live from 2 to 10 and even 15 years. They are less branched in large-fruited varieties and more complex in structure in small-fruited ones.
On the basal and mixed branches of gooseberries there are vegetative buds, from which leaf-bearing shoots are formed when they bloom. These buds are more pointed and smaller in size than mixed flower buds (vegetative-generative).
Gooseberry flower buds are concentrated on last year's strong growths (up to 50 cm long) and ringlets. The development of the gooseberry flower bud follows the same sequence as in all berry crops: first the sepals begin to form, then the petals, stamens and pistils. By the dormant period, the generative-vegetative bud of the gooseberry contains rudiments of leaves and flowers.
According to some researchers, gooseberry bud growth continues even in winter at temperatures not lower than -10 °C. With the onset of spring weather, pollen and embryo sacs are formed. Gooseberries are plants of a very early growing season. In the middle fruit-growing zone, gooseberry buds begin to swell at the end of April at temperatures from 0 to 10 °C. From the beginning of the growing season to the beginning of flowering it usually takes about 20-25 days.
Leaves first develop from mixed gooseberry buds; inflorescences appear only when rosettes of leaves are formed. It should be noted that the gooseberry buds develop at a very fast pace: thus, after the bud scales begin to move apart, the green cone phase begins in just 2-3 days, separation ends after 8-10 days. It takes only 2-3 days from the appearance of cloves to the formation of normal leaves.
Flowering begins in mid-May at air temperatures from 7 to 18 ° C and lasts from 3 to 12 days.
Gooseberries have few-flowered racemes - with 1, 2 or 3 flowers. The color of the sepals ranges from green to red, the petals are green, white or pink. The flower shape is bell-shaped, with 5 sepals, 5 stamens and 1 pistil. The ovary is unilocular, multi-seeded. The calyx does not fall off.
Almost all gooseberry varieties are self-fertile to a greater or lesser extent, but require pollinating insects; When self-pollinating, most gooseberry varieties produce berries that are less equal in size, and a significant number of them are small. Therefore, when establishing the self-fertility of a variety, in addition to the high percentage of berry set and ripening, it is necessary to take into account the quality of the berries (evenness in size). And only after this can it be recommended to grow the variety in large single-varietal plantings. A direct dependence of the number of set berries and their quality on temperature, air humidity and the activity of pollinating insects has been established.
In cold, rainy weather with high air humidity and in hot, windy weather, the conditions for pollination and fertilization of flowers sharply worsen: in the first case, due to poor pollen ripening; in the second - due to drying of the pestles. Under these conditions, the flight of gooseberry pollinators, bees, is also greatly hampered. Spring frosts are especially destructive for gooseberries with their very early flowering.
The most favorable days for flowering and fertilization of gooseberries should be considered fairly warm days with a temperature of 15-20 C, an average relative humidity of 60-65% and a wind force of no more than 1-3 m/s.
At the All-Russian Research Institute of Horticulture. I. V. Michurina during 1977-1979. studied the self-fertility of 28 released and promising gooseberry varieties (Table 34).
Very convincing results were obtained in 1978 in a cold and rainy spring with strong winds. Gooseberry flowering lasted from May 5 to May 23. During the flowering period, 6 days were rainy, and the average monthly temperature was 1.7 C lower than the long-term one. Pollination was hampered by the almost complete absence of bees, which died en masse in the winter of 1977 due to varroatosis. Under these conditions, different gooseberry varieties showed a sharp difference in the degree of self-fertility.
The results of the experiment indicate the need to take into account the degree of self-fertility of varieties when planting industrial gooseberry plantations. It is advisable to plant no more than three varieties of gooseberries in a quarter that pollinate each other well. Russian is recommended as one of the good pollinators.
After the end of the flowering phase, 1.5-2 months pass before the gooseberries reach consumer ripeness. The weight of gooseberries increases more or less evenly throughout the entire growth period until they are fully ripe. This is evidenced by the author’s experience at the Leningrad Agricultural Institute (Table 35).
The table shows that when picking berries in the technical maturity phase, farms are missing from 25 to 40% of the gooseberry harvest. Therefore, selling berries at the technical ripeness stage is justified only if the increased price for them can compensate for the shortfall in harvest.
Root system
Gooseberries, depending on the soil and climatic conditions of growth, form a superficially located or deeply penetrating root system. In general, it is characterized by a powerful root system, more compressed and deeply located compared to the root system of black currant.
In the middle and southern parts of the Non-Chernozem zone, in young gooseberry bushes more than 80% of all roots are located in a soil layer of up to 25 cm, and in fruit-bearing ones they penetrate to a depth of 60 cm.
In the North-Western region (Leningrad region), the main mass of the gooseberry root system lies at a depth of 10-40 cm and extends to the sides of the bush by 50-60 cm. According to the Forestry Forestry Institute, on carbonate loamy soils the main part of the root system of gooseberry bushes at the age of 12 years was located in a soil layer from 0 to 60 cm, and individual vertical roots penetrated to a depth of 1 m or more. The extent of horizontal roots towards row spacing was significant - up to 2-2.5 m. Observations of the root system showed that active gooseberry roots can persist throughout the winter, provided that the temperature of a given soil layer does not fall below 1 °C. In early spring, at minimal positive temperatures, they begin to grow much earlier than the above-ground parts.
The most favorable temperature for the life of the root system is up to 20-25°C. It has been noticed that at higher temperatures and a decrease in soil moisture, root growth weakens, and at 28-30 C it stops completely. Using the direct freezing method, slight damage to active gooseberry roots was established at a temperature of -1.9 °C, severe damage at -2.5 °C and complete death at -3.2 °C (I. A. Muromtsev).
The development of the upper and lower layers of roots, which is quite common, allows the root system to more fully utilize soil nutrients from the entire root layer and, as stated above, helps plants react less painfully to damage or cutting of horizontal roots when cultivating row spacing.
Productivity
The economic importance of berry crops, including gooseberries, is ultimately determined by the area of plantings and yield. The average gooseberry yield on specialized state farms in the Non-Chernozem Zone of the European part of the RSFSR is only about 3.0 t/ha. The main reasons for the low yield of gooseberries should be pointed out, first of all, to the insufficiently high level of agricultural technology and the unsatisfactory implementation of measures to combat pests, diseases and weeds on the plantations of this crop. Under such conditions, even planting new, more productive varieties does not provide a significant increase in yield.
Numerous data from state variety plots show that with normal agrotechnical care, gooseberries produce the highest yields compared to any other berries. Of great interest are the data from a 16-year trial of gooseberry varieties conducted in the Moscow region at the Leninsky state variety site. The productivity of a large collection of gooseberries is traced here (Table 36).
The highest gooseberry yield obtained in particularly favorable years, as can be seen from the table data, reaches 20-30 t/ha.
Thus, the yield of gooseberries in many horticultural farms of the Non-Black Earth Zone of the RSFSR does not reflect the average capabilities of this crop, which, due to its biological characteristics, is capable of producing average yields of 8-10 t/ha, and with high agricultural technology and cultivation of the best domestic and foreign varieties - 10-15 t/ha.
Drought resistance
The non-chernozem zone, with its moderate temperatures during the growing season and sufficient soil moisture, is favorable for the gooseberry crop. Since gooseberries have a root system that penetrates deeply into the soil, they tolerate temporary lack of moisture somewhat better than currants and raspberries. Given this feature, its plantings are placed higher on the slope than other berry gardens. But in dry years, gooseberry berries do not reach the size characteristic of this variety.
As experience in the zone of excess moisture has shown, gooseberries react sharply negatively to temporary waterlogging of the soil and at the same time grow well and bear fruit in soils with good drainage.
Winter hardiness
This most important trait is determined by a large number of factors, however, it largely depends on the hereditary properties of the variety.
Based on data from gooseberry variety testing in the Moscow region, A.P. Nitochkina divides its varieties according to the degree of winter hardiness into the following groups: winter-hardy - Venera, Kolkhozny, Moscow Red, Fertile, Smena and Date; medium winter hardy - English yellow, Russian.
Although some high-yielding varieties freeze to a fairly strong degree in some winters, most of them not only restore the above-ground system well, but 1-2 years after freezing again produce good yields due to their inherent high shoot-restorative ability. Most American varieties and varieties obtained as a result of crossing the latter with European ones have this ability to the greatest extent.
Some old varieties of European origin (Victoria, Industry, etc.) after freezing poorly restore bushes and yield. According to our observations, the degree of winter damage to the above-ground part of the gooseberry increases especially noticeably with repeated deep thaws in the second half of winter in combination with severe or moderate frosts (below -30 ° C).
Disease resistance
The achievements of selection for the development of gooseberry varieties immune to spheroteca and anthracnose in our country are well known, which creates one of the prerequisites for breeding this crop on an industrial basis. Long-term observations carried out at state variety testing sites made it possible to more accurately characterize the modern gooseberry assortment from the point of view of immunological assessment.
The most common gooseberry varieties are divided into 3 groups according to their resistance to spheroteca: resistant, medium- and low-resistant.
Resistant varieties include Mysovsky 37, Pioneer, Russky, Smena, Houghton; medium-resistant - Venus, Malachite, Moscow Red, Mysovsky 17, Date; for weakly resistant ones - English yellow, Kolkhoz. The degree of damage by spheroteca depends on the specific conditions of the year and is always greater in years with high humidity and low temperatures during the growing season.
Anthracnose and leaf rust are serious threats to gooseberries. Their strong spread leads to premature leaf fall and weakening of plants. The varieties Houghton, Russian and others have the greatest resistance to these fungal diseases. The Smena variety is not resistant to anthracnose and rust.
Technological features of berries
Berries of dessert varieties (Russian, English yellow, Moscow red) are large or medium in size, attractive in appearance (mostly brightly colored), with thin skin, fleshy, juicy, with small seeds, pleasant taste, with a harmonious combination of sugars and acids, without noticeable predominance acids. They are harvested at the stage of full ripeness. Fully ripe gooseberries are used to make wine.
For other types of technical processing (making jam, making jelly), the berries are removed at technical ripeness, when the seeds have not yet become hard. High-quality jam is obtained from berries that have a fleshy and dense consistency, with thin skin that can withstand the cooking process well.
To prepare jelly, berries of varieties with a high content of pectin substances, but also with sufficient acidity, are used.
Berries of zoned dessert varieties, picked in a timely manner (not overripe), can withstand transportation without any damage over a distance of 100-200 km.
Unlike all other berry crops, gooseberries are able to remain fresh for much longer after harvest (at temperatures close to 0°C, up to 7-10 days). In addition, they tend to ripen and improve color during a short storage period. This property is used when forced to harvest berries prematurely in wet weather in order to avoid loss of part of the harvest due to cracking.
The berries of the best industrial varieties of gooseberries, such as Russian, Smena, Rozovy, Yubileiny, are used with equal success both in fresh and processed forms.
Zoned varieties
A significant number of new gooseberry varieties have been developed in our country, which in terms of the sum of economic and biological characteristics are not inferior to the most famous varieties English Yellow, Houghton, Date. Domestic varieties are characterized by high resistance to spheroteca, sufficient winter hardiness and versatility of use.
In the Non-Black Earth zone of the European part of the RSFSR, 19 varieties are recommended for cultivation. Of this number, 16 varieties are of domestic selection and 3 are foreign (Table 37).
The most common are 3 varieties: Russian, Smena and Date. They occupy this position due to their high economic efficiency. Highly productive varieties such as English Yellow, Kolkhozny, Moscow Red, Pioneer, Seyanets Lefora and Houghton are somewhat less common. The remaining 10 varieties are of local importance and are accepted into the zoned assortment by only 1-2 regions or autonomous republics.
Limiting the assortment of industrial gooseberry varieties makes it possible to obtain large masses of homogeneous commercial products and contributes to the development of varietal agricultural technology for this crop.
English yellow. One of the few old varieties that has not yet lost its industrial significance. The bush is medium-sized, slightly spreading, with numerous basal shoots. The shoots are straight and directed obliquely upward. Fruits on. last year's growth and ringlets. The thorns are single, less often 2-3-separated, thin, long and located quite often along the length of the entire branch. The variety is self-fertile. Medium-sized berries (average weight 3-4 g). When fully ripe, the berries are yellow in color. The berries have no pubescence, the veins on the fruit are highly branched, and there are numerous respiratory spots. The pulp is juicy, sweet and sour, with a good ratio of sugar and acid. The taste of the berries is pleasant. The fruits contain sugars 8-9%, vitamin C - 39-41 mg/100 g, acids - 1.5-1.6%. The variety is productive. The berry ripening time is average. The berries can stay on the bush for a long time without overripening, but in wet weather they often crack. Disadvantages: cracking of berries in wet weather and instability to sphere library.
Kolkhoz. Bred by M. A. Pavlova. The bush is tall and upright. The spines are single, but there are double and triple ones, thin and straight. The leaves are medium sized, bright green, smooth, slightly concave. The berries are usually of medium size, 3.6-4.2 g, elongated-ovate, dark red, without pubescence, very attractive. They contain sugars from 7.1 to 11.4%, vitamin C - 16 mg/100 g, acids - about 2.1%. The pulp is juicy, with a good ratio of sugars and acids. Ripening time is medium late. The productivity of the variety is high. Disadvantage: weak resistance to sphere library.
Moscow red. The variety was bred by M. A. Pavlova. The bush is tall, with moderate foliage. The shape of the bush is slightly spreading. The shoots are straight, thick, numerous. Spikes are 1-, 2- and 3-part. sparse and short, located mainly on last year's wood. From older branches they fall off along with the dying bark. The berries are medium in size, from 2.8 to 4.4 g, oval-round, without pubescence. The color of the berries is dark red. The berries contain up to 13.5% sugars and 1.8% acids. The pulp is juicy, aromatic, very tasty, pink in color. The ripening period is mid-early. Ripe berries can hang on the bush for a long time without losing their excellent qualities and without cracking during rainy weather. Winter hardiness is good. Disadvantage: severely affected by the sphere library.
Malachite. Bred by K. D. Sergeeva (Black Negus x Date). The bush is tall, slightly spreading; shoots are erect and numerous. The spines are sparse, strong, located throughout the shoot, 1-, 2- and 3-partite. Extra internodes have spines. The berries are quite large - from 3.6 to 5.3 g, round in shape, pubescent. The color is green, the surface of the berries is covered with a waxy coating. The veins are clearly visible and weakly branched. The berries are arranged in pairs or 3. The skin is thin and transparent. The pulp is juicy and tender. The taste is good. The berries contain 8-9% sugars, 39-40 mg/100 g vitamin C, and 1-2% acids. The berries ripen mid-early. The variety is high-yielding. It is distinguished by its high resistance to spheroteca and the ability to propagate by cuttings. Winter-hardy. Disadvantage: significant number of thorns.
Pioneer. The variety was bred by K. D. Sergeeva (from pollination of the Bochonochny variety with a mixture of pollen from the Houghton, Oregon, Shtambovy and Curry varieties). The bush is strong, compact, there are numerous shoots. The thorns on the shoots are single, double and triple. The lower internodes of the shoots are covered with spines. The berries are medium-sized (2.5-3.7 g), dark red, round or round-ovoid in shape. The berries are covered with a faint waxy coating. The taste is good. The fruits contain 9.5% sugars and 1.25% acids. The berries ripen early. The variety is high-yielding, sphere-resistant and winter-hardy. Disadvantage: rather strong thorny shoots.
Russian. A variety outstanding in its merits, bred by K. D. Sergeeva (from pollination of the Bochonochny variety with a mixture of pollen from the Curry, Oregon, Stambovy and Houghton varieties). The bush is vigorous, slightly spreading, with numerous shoots with hanging tops. The spines are mostly single, rather long, located more on the lower part of the shoot. The berries are quite large, average weight 3.5-4.7 g, dark red, with a waxy coating, oval or elliptical in shape. The veins are pink. The skin is thin. The pulp of the berries is juicy, tender, with a good sweet and sour taste. Contains 10% sugars, 1.9% acids. The variety is characterized by high and stable yield, high sphere resistance, winter hardiness and the ability to propagate by woody cuttings. Disadvantage: thorny shoots.
Lefort seedling. Bred by V.V. Spirin (from sowing gooseberry seeds of the E. Lefort variety). The bushes are strong, tall, with spreading branches. The berries are small or medium-sized, oval-shaped. The color is red, with a strong waxy coating. The skin is thin. The pulp is green, very tasty, with aroma. The taste is dessert. The berries do not fall off after ripening and retain their quality for a long time. The ripening period is mid-early. Productivity is high and annual. The variety is relatively resistant to spheroteca. Winter hardiness is good. Disadvantage: small fruit.
Change. The variety was obtained by M. N. Simonova (Houghton x Green Bottle). Widely distributed in the Non-Chernozem zone. Bushes of medium height, spreading form. The shoots are numerous, thin, arched. The thorns are sparsely located, thin, weak, there are no thorns on perennial branches. The size of the berries ranges from 1.6 to 3.5 g. The shape of the berries is round-oval or round, less often pear-shaped. The surface of the berries is without pubescence, with a thick waxy coating, color red. The veins are poorly visible, the respiratory spots are numerous, white. The pulp is sweet and sour. The taste is good. The berries contain 10% sugars, vitamin C - 26-27 mg/100 g, acids - 1.9-2%. Ripening time is average. The berries stay on the bush for a long time without losing their taste or cracking. The variety begins to bear fruit early and bears fruit abundantly. The variety is spherote-resistant, winter-hardy and propagates well by woody cuttings. Disadvantage: relatively small fruits.
Date fruit. An old variety of unknown origin. Its synonyms are Green Date, Goliath. One of the most popular and widespread varieties of gooseberries in our country. The bush is powerful, spreading, with arcuate hanging branches, with an average number of basal shoots. The spines are of medium length and thickness, single, rarely double, absent at the top of the shoots. The berries are large, average weight 6.3 g. The shape is pear-shaped, sometimes round. There is no pubescence. The skin is of medium thickness, the veins are highly branched. Breath spots are numerous and large. The color is uneven, dark red, dull (on the sunny side there are dark spots on the fruits). The pulp is green, sweet and sour taste. The berries contain sugars 7.2-10%, vitamin C - 23-27 mg/100 g, acids - 1.2-1.8%. They represent a very valuable raw material for technical processing. Ripening time is later. The berries hold well on the bushes, but in rainy weather they crack. A variety of outstanding yield, unpretentious, average winter hardiness. Disadvantages: spreading form of the bush, affected by spheroteca.
Growing planting material
When propagating by layering, as well as by all other methods, industrial nurseries must have mother plantations, which are planted with two-year-old elite seedlings according to the 3x1.5 m pattern. The requirements for choosing a location and preparing the soil for the mother plant are the same as for black currants. Unlike the currant mother plantation, the gooseberry mother plantation lasts much longer - up to 8 years.
All gooseberry varieties are propagated by layering, combined and green cuttings. Varieties of American origin and new varieties from crossing European and American species (Smena, Russian, Yubileiny, etc.) can also be propagated by lignified cuttings.
A very promising method for propagating gooseberries is green cuttings. According to the Oryol Fruit and Berry Experimental Station (Yu. V. Osipov), the best results are obtained when rooting green cuttings of the short shoot type “with a heel”. For cuttings, shoots of the current year that have reached 6-8 cm are used. The duration of cuttings from the moment of the first cutting is 20-25 days. Such cuttings are first harvested from older plants and somewhat later from young ones.
During the decay phase of intensive shoot growth, better rooting is observed in cuttings from the shoot tips. Both “heeled” cuttings and ordinary green cuttings are rooted using the technology described earlier for currants.
Gooseberries can be successfully propagated by both horizontal layering (see section) and vertical layering. Reproduction by vertical layering, although it does not provide a high reproduction rate, has the undoubted advantage that almost all work associated with the cultivation and separation of layering can be mechanized. In early spring, the above-ground part of the mother bushes is cut off at soil level. When the shoots grow to 15 cm, they are hilled up to half. After 12-15 days, they hill up a second time - to a height of 15 cm. Caring for the plantation consists of removing weeds and maintaining humidity at 75-80% PVP. In the fall, cuttings are separated from the mother bushes and planted in a nursery for growing. In the following years, the technology for obtaining vertical layering is the same.
Agricultural technology
Choosing a Plantation Location
When choosing a location for an industrial plantation, it should be taken into account that gooseberries are among the most drought-resistant berry crops and at the same time less winter-hardy than black and red currants. In the Non-Chernozem Zone, it works better on higher relief and warmer slopes - southern, southwestern and southeastern. Planting gooseberries on a flat surface in the middle and southern parts of the Non-Chernozem Zone also fully meets the cultural requirements. The groundwater level should not be closer than 1.5 m to the soil surface.
To protect gooseberry plantings from cold winds, retain snow and distribute it evenly over the area, good natural or artificial garden protective plantings are needed, especially from the prevailing winds.
Large industrial gooseberry plantations with an area of 30-50 hectares are planted in a special crop rotation with 10-12 fields. The fields are divided into blocks of 4-8 hectares. The organization of the territory, the laying of roads, the procedure for developing cultural circulation and the planting of protective plantings are carried out in the same way as is done for black currants.
Preparing the soil for planting
Preparing the soil for planting gooseberries is based on the general principles outlined above (see). It is only appropriate to add the following here. A year before planting, in the fall after harvesting the predecessors, the soil is first cultivated or disced, and then plowed to the depth of the arable horizon with loosening of the subsoil layer to a depth of 10-15 cm. In the spring, 100-120 g/ha of organic, up to 200 kg/ha are added phosphorus and up to 300 kg/ha of potassium, plowing them to a depth of 20-22 cm.
If it is impossible to apply the specified fertilizer rates to the entire area of the plantation being planted, as shown by many years of experience at the Department of Fruit Growing of the Leningrad Agricultural Institute, it is advisable to apply pre-planting fertilizer to the trenches along the line of future rows.
To destroy rhizomatous cereal weeds, sodium trichloroacetate is used, which is applied to the soil twice at intervals of 10-12 days at a rate of 30-40 kg/ha no later than 3 months before planting. After application, the soil is cultivated.
Landing
Landing dates. Since gooseberries are a plant of extremely early growing season, it is best to plant them in the fall (October). Gooseberries can be planted in spring, but always at the earliest possible date.
Ways to place plants. Planting density plays a decisive role in obtaining high gooseberry yields. In production, the distance between rows of gooseberries is often 2.5-3 m. This allows the use of general-purpose tractors with an appropriate set of tillage implements for cultivating row spacing. As for the placement of bushes in rows, for industrial plantations a denser planting is now recommended than before - 0.7-1 m. Research conducted in the Latvian SSR, Moscow, Leningrad and other regions shows that with an increase in the number of plants by 1 hectare can be obtained from young plantations with fairly high yields.
LSHI, when studying dense plantings of gooseberries in comparison with sparse ones (varieties Smena, Izumrud Moskovsky and Krasnaya Zarya), when placing them according to the scheme 3x1.2 and 3x0.6 m in the first 2 years of fruiting in dense plantings of the Smena variety, a higher yield was obtained (in on average 3.2 t/ha) than with sparse planting (2.5 t/ha). True, in the 3rd year of fruiting (plantation age 5 years), a higher yield was obtained in the variant with sparse plant placement (4.5 t/ha) and slightly less in the variant with dense plant placement (3.9 t/ha ). This phenomenon can be explained by the biological characteristics of the Smena variety - its great shoot-regenerative ability and plant thickening, as well as its very early entry into industrial fruiting.
The advantage of thickened placement until the 5th year of fruiting was retained in Izumrud moscow and Red Dawn, which have an average degree of shoot regeneration ability.
Landing technique. The most perfect way is to plant gooseberry seedlings with a school planter SSHN-3, mounted on the MTZ-80/82 tractor. The SSHN-3 planter allows you to place berry crops at a row spacing of up to 3 m in a row at a distance of 0.2 to 1.5 m from each other. The machine ensures high quality planting (without gaps, at a given depth, with good root compression) and straightness of the rows. During the first pass, the tractor driver guides the unit along the poles, and during subsequent passes, along the track of the marker. In one pass, the machine plants 2 rows at once. The MPS-1 machine also ensures good quality of planting berry bushes.
When planting by hand, gooseberries are planted in furrows cut with a plow without moldboards or the body of a PRVN-2.5 plow.
For planting, 1-2 year old seedlings with 2-3 well-developed branches and 3-4 roots no shorter than 20 cm are used. The quality of gooseberry planting material is crucial for the early start of fruiting of the plantation, so planting with non-standard seedlings should not be allowed.
Gooseberry bushes are planted 5-7 cm deeper than they grew in the nursery. When the base of the branches is deepened, additional roots are formed on them, which enhance the nutrition of the bush.
Planted gooseberry bushes are watered at the rate of 2-3 liters of water per plant. For irrigation in industrial conditions, a liquid spreader RZHU-3.6 is used. To protect gooseberry bushes from bulging in winter (during autumn planting), the soil along the planted rows is mulched with manure, peat or other materials. As a last resort, light hilling with soil is performed. Post-planting mulching is also very useful when planting gooseberries in spring. After planting, all branches of the bush are shortened, leaving 4-5 buds.
Care
Plantation soil care and herbicide application. After planting the gooseberries, a set of measures is carried out to promote the normal development of the bushes and their rapid entry into industrial fruiting. The 2.5-3 m wide row spacing adopted in production allows the use of mechanized processing throughout the life of the plantation.
The yield of gooseberries depends critically both on the choice of the most productive varieties and on good care, ensuring strong annual growth.
Based on the location of the root system and its regenerative ability, soil loosening should be done to a depth of 4-5 cm at the base of the bushes and up to 10-12 cm between rows. A protective strip for young plantings is up to 20 cm, for fruit-bearing ones - up to 50 cm. To maintain the soil in a loose and weed-free state, it is loosened up to 5-6 times during the season, using a disc harrow BDN-1,ZA, a ripper PRVN-2, 5, FPSh-200 milling machine or KMK-2.6 cultivator.
Everyone who is familiar with the gooseberry crop knows how difficult it is to maintain proper cleanliness of the soil in its rows, since any manual cultivation (hoeing and especially weeding) is associated with great difficulties due to thorniness. For systematic and effective control of weeds in gooseberry plantations, along with agrotechnical measures, the chemical control method is becoming increasingly important.
The thorniness of the branches, as well as the high shoot-regenerating ability of most gooseberry varieties, favor the appearance inside the bush of difficult-to-eradicate perennial weeds, and primarily creeping wheatgrass. Herbicides are used to control weeds in gooseberry rows. On gooseberry plantations, simazine is applied every other year in early spring before buds open. If the plantations are heavily overgrown with wheatgrass, then dalapon is used to destroy it for two years in a row.
Simazine does not inhibit biological processes in the soil and, if application rates are observed, does not reduce shoot growth and berry yield, which is a very valuable property (Table 38).
It is very important that herbicides do not damage gooseberry bushes and do not have a negative effect on the yield and quality of the berries (content of sugars, acids, vitamins). Simazine does not accumulate in both green and ripe gooseberries.
Fertilizer. Research by NIZISNP has established that it is advisable to apply both organic, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers to gooseberry plantations every other year, and nitrogen fertilizers annually. Organic fertilizers are applied at 30-60 t/ha, mineral fertilizers N90-120P100-120K200-240. Nitrogen fertilizers are applied in the spring, and phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are applied in the fall. Fertilizers are applied with a cultivator to a depth of 10-12 cm. The specified norms are indicative and are subject to adjustment in specific farm conditions.
Irrigation. Gooseberries, compared to other berry crops, are more resistant to temporary drought. However, annual high yields can be obtained only if the lower limit of soil moisture is not less than 70-75% of the PVP. For the conditions of the Non-Black Earth zone of the European part of the RSFSR, the following sequence of irrigation is recommended.
It is advisable to carry out the first watering at a humidity less than the specified norm after flowering during the period of growth of berries and shoots; the second (in excessively dry weather) - in the green ovary phase; the third (autumn moisture recharging) - after harvesting to enhance root growth and improve the conditions for overwintering of plants. Irrigation rate is 450-500 m3/ha. To irrigate gooseberries, it is recommended to use sprinkler systems DDN-70 and others.
Moisture is well preserved when mulching the soil under gooseberry bushes. In addition to humus, decomposed peat and TMAU are good mulching materials, the use of which can be mechanized. In late autumn or early spring, a continuous bite strip up to 1 m wide, with a layer of 4-6 cm, is covered with mulching materials; they are covered during autumn tillage (September). When using mulch from peat and simazine together, if this leads to a sharp suppression of weeds, the incorporation of mulch materials into the soil can be postponed to the autumn of the next growing season.
Formation and pruning of plants
The main task of pruning during the formation of gooseberries is to create a bush with well-spaced branches. Depending on the biological characteristics of the varieties, soil and climatic conditions and harvesting techniques, a gooseberry bush can have from 15 to 25 branches, which should be placed on average at a distance of 10 cm from one another.
Caring for fully formed bushes involves systematically pruning to maintain a more or less uniform ratio of branches of different ages and to eliminate the possibility of excessive thickening of the plantings with annually growing annual basal shoots.
A feature of gooseberries in the first years of life is the strong growth of annual and biennial branches and the predominance of vegetative buds on them over flowering ones. From the 3-4th year the situation changes - the number of flower buds increases sharply and the branch begins to bear fruit.
When forming gooseberry bushes, the average life expectancy and fruiting of the branches is taken into account. Observations show that in the Date and Brazilian varieties the skeletal branches begin to lose their productivity at the age of 9-10 years, and in the Smena and Houghton varieties - by the 5-7th year.
The greatest yield comes from strong growths of the 1st and 2nd orders of branching, located on branches of the 3rd, 4th, 5th year of life, and sometimes even older ones. Thus, according to the author, 5-year-old Smena gooseberry bushes had an average of 1260 fruit buds, of which 10.6% were on 3-year-old branches, 31% on 4-year-old branches and 58.4% on 5-year-old branches .
Research carried out by E.K. Kirtbaya showed that for one fruiting gooseberry bush at the age of 8-9 years there is an average of 200 to 250 annual growths. In addition to them, the bushes have from 300 to 600 ringlets. The largest mass of the harvest is formed on last year's growths of branches of various ages (from 60 to 80%). Two-year-old ringlets provide from 9 to 40% of the total bush yield, three-year-old - 5-10% and four-year-old - about 1%. It is interesting to note that the older the ringlets, the less fruitful they are. Thus, 65-100% of 2-year-old ringlets yield a harvest, 25-75% of 3-year-old ones, 17-20% of 4-year-old ones. The given biological patterns allow a differentiated approach to the formation and pruning of gooseberries.
Depending on the shoot-producing ability (branching) and life expectancy of the ringlets, the varieties are divided into 2 groups. The first group includes mainly varieties obtained from crossing European gooseberries with American ones, such as Houghton, Smena, Russian, etc. The characteristic features of these varieties are increased shoot production ability and a short lifespan of ringlets (1-2 years) and skeletal branches . The formation of bushes in this group of varieties occurs quickly, and the plantation enters commercial fruiting earlier. After planting, the plants are heavily pruned in order to obtain 4-6 annual shoots by autumn. In subsequent years, the same number of well-spaced annual shoots is annually left in the bush and all unnecessary shoots are cut out. According to our records, gooseberry bushes of the Houghton variety, growing without annual thinning, already at the age of 3 had from 56 to 75 branches and were extremely thick.
The optimal distance between shoots in a bush is 10 cm. Until recently, they tried to create bushes and strips with a base of 50-60 cm, which ensured better placement of branches in the bush. With the advent of berry harvesting machines, the need arose to form narrower bushes or strip plantings with a base diameter towards row spacing of up to 20 cm. By the end of the 4th year of formation, the gooseberry bush should have an average of 20, maximum 25 branches of different ages. Starting from the 5th year, annually or every other year, 3-4 skeletal branches should be cut out from among the broken, stopped growing and diseased ones, and instead of them, 4-6 strong and well-placed annual shoots should be left. In some cases, it is more profitable not to cut some 4-5-year-old branches, but to shorten them to a strong lateral branch.
A slightly different approach should be taken when forming and pruning gooseberry varieties of the second group, i.e. European species, which have more durable ringlets (5-6 years or more) and weak shoot-productive ability. Some varieties of this group (Fenik, Kolkhozny, etc.) also have a very low shoot regeneration ability, which complicates the rapid formation of bushes.
European gooseberry bushes form with fewer skeletal branches. Gardeners' experience Vargans of the Gorky region and the Riga seaside indicate that the presence of Date, Tukumsky pink, English yellow and other similar varieties in gooseberry bushes with 10-15 strong perennial branches ensures a gooseberry yield of 10 t/ha or more. Plants are pruned in the year of planting in the same way as seedlings of the first group of varieties. In subsequent years, with good care, it is possible to introduce 1-3 annual shoots into the bush. When the bush is formed, its thinning is carried out mainly by cutting out annual basal shoots.
From 6-8 years of age, they begin to annually cut out the weakest branches and leave 3-4 basal annual shoots instead. Simultaneously with cutting out branches that are losing economic value, you can practice rejuvenating pruning (i.e., shortening to viable lateral branches) parts of the remaining branches. When pruning gooseberry bushes, sometimes you have to deviate from the principles outlined, leaving older productive branches and removing younger, but worse located ones.
Pruning of gooseberry bushes is done with a PAV-8 unit with pneumatic pruning shears or manually with pruning shears with long handles.
Harvest
Unlike all other berry crops, gooseberries are harvested at full and technical maturity. Technical ripeness of berries occurs 10-15 days earlier than full (consumer) ripeness. Gooseberry fruits in the technical ripeness phase have a firm consistency and begin to acquire the color characteristic of the variety. Such berries are good raw materials for all kinds of technical processing.
In the phase of consumer ripeness, the berries have the most fully expressed taste and appearance inherent in this variety. They are intended mainly for fresh consumption or for making wine.
Both for technical purposes and for fresh consumption, the berries are removed from the bushes in one go. Gooseberry berries are collected manually on farms that still do not have berry harvesting machines. Labor costs for a good gooseberry harvest (up to 20 t/ha) reach 260-400 man-days. One picker per working day can collect 50-75 kg of large-fruited varieties (Date type), 30-40 kg of medium-sized fruit varieties (English Yellow, Russian) and small-fruited varieties (Houghton, Smena) - 20-30 kg. To avoid injury to your hands from gooseberry thorns when picking berries, it is recommended to work with leather gloves or wear a canvas mitten on your left hand. Ripe berries should be torn off along with the stalk.
In years with frequent precipitation, for varieties with brightly colored fruits, it is recommended to remove the berries when they turn pink (to avoid losses from cracking). After 1-2 days of storage, the berries acquire a beautiful appearance and are suitable for sale.
Dessert varieties of berries at consumer ripeness should be collected in baskets with a capacity of 2-3 kg. When collecting berries for technical processing, containers of larger capacity are used.
The manual method of harvesting gooseberries, although it provides high quality work, is characterized by very low labor productivity and a high need for labor. Currently, in a number of gardening farms, gooseberries are harvested using an EYAM-200-8 berry harvester with manual vibrators.
When machine harvesting requires leveled soil at the base of the bushes and the absence of weeds on the plantation. EYAM-200-8 works successfully in plantations with row spacing of 2.5-3 m and a bush base width of 25-30 cm.
In the coming years, the KBB-8 berry harvesting unit, developed according to the EYAM-200-8 type, will begin to arrive in our country from the Hungarian People's Republic. A sharp increase in gooseberry harvesting productivity will be provided by the domestic berry harvester MPYA-1, which our industry has begun to produce.
Hello, dear readers!
The yield of gooseberry bushes can be increased by applying mineral and organic fertilizers at all stages of the growing season. The fact is that the nutritional components added to the planting holes of young seedlings are consumed during the first two years of the plant’s life.
Further, during fruiting, the bushes consume many chemical elements from the soil, without replenishing which the yield falls from year to year. Root fertilizing with organic matter and mineral components, which is carried out from the third year of plant life, allows you to increase the fertility of the soil in the berry garden.
First feeding of gooseberries
At the very beginning of the growing season, the bushes especially need, from which 
the development of the leaf apparatus of seedlings depends. When the first leaves bloom on the gooseberry, it is spilled with a solution of nitroammophoska and ammonium nitrate. For each bucket of water, take 2 and 1 tablespoon of fertilizer, respectively. The consumption rate is 20 liters for each adult bush and 10 liters for each young bush.
Second feeding of gooseberries
During the period of ovary formation, berry crops need additional potassium supplies. The combination of complex azophoska and potassium humate has proven itself well, 1 and 2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water, respectively. In addition to this composition, experts advise adding plant ash or soot, sprinkling ash on the loosened soil in the gooseberry tree trunk at the rate of 1.5 cups for each bush. After adding the ashes, the plants are watered with a prepared solution of mineral products.
Third feeding of gooseberries
To strengthen the root system of the bushes, prepare them for a dormant period and provide additional energy for laying fruit buds for the next season, cover up humus or peat manure compost (1/2 bucket for each bush), mixed with double superphosphate (2 dessert spoons) and potassium sulfate ( 4 tablespoons). Fresh manure from farm animals and bird droppings are not plowed under the crop, since the urea in this type of organic matter can burn the roots, and nitrogen at the end of the growing season is contraindicated for gooseberries.
Other measures to increase gooseberry yields
In addition to regular feeding increase gooseberry yield thinning helps (sanitary and formative pruning in spring and autumn), pinching annual growths after the end of fruiting, abundant watering of bushes at the beginning of the growing season (perform once at the end of spring, the second at the end of June), loosening the soil to improve oxygen access to the roots and timely removing plant debris from under bushes.
Happy berry harvest to you!
Gooseberry bushes are characterized by high productivity, regardless of the variety. From one plant you can collect from 10 to 15 kg of berries. To do this, it is necessary to properly care for the gooseberries, timely feeding and treatment against pests.
Gooseberry bushes. The illustration for the article is used under a standard license ©siteThe climatic conditions in which the crop grows have a strong influence on the growth and productivity of plantings. At the same time, timely pruning of branches and appropriate formation of the crown make it possible to obtain a high yield even in cloudy and rainy summers. Every year the gooseberry shoots appear. For the development of a bush, 5-6 pieces are enough. The rest should be removed by cutting off the branches near the ground.
You need to ensure that the shoots are evenly spaced on all sides. Frozen, sick,
branches that are damaged or have signs of decay are also removed.
On adult bushes, all branches that are older than 6-7 years are cut out annually. As they age, they bear less fruit. At the same time, the berries become small. In addition, older branches are more susceptible to various diseases. The soil under gooseberries needs to be loosened 2-3 times a month. This will remove
the earthen crust formed due to rains, remove weeds, and ensure sufficient air supply to the root system. If for adult plants constant loosening does not play a big role, then for young bushes it is simply necessary.
During the procedure, you cannot deepen the garden tool more than 10-12 cm. Otherwise, there is a risk of damage to the roots. If you don’t have time to constantly plow the soil, you can place mulch around the gooseberries. The use of peat or other organic compounds is allowed. Cross-shaped cuts should be made in the film for air intake, watering and fertilization. For the winter, the covering should be removed and the soil within the radius of the crown should be loosened.
Mulch for gooseberries. The illustration for the article is used under a standard license ©site Gooseberries do not like excess moisture, but can easily tolerate drought if it is not too long. In a dry year, it is enough to water the bushes periodically: during the formation of ovaries, when pouring berries and preparing for the winter. The first humidification occurs at the end of May, the second - in the second decade of June, the third - in September-October.
At a distance from the outline of the crown, you need to dig a shallow trench in a circle and pour 30 liters of settled water into it. You can use rainwater. If a sufficient amount of fertilizer was added to the soil when planting the plant, the gooseberry does not need additional feeding for the first 2 years of growth. Starting from the third year in the fall, it is recommended to add organic matter, potassium and
phosphorus compounds. For 1 sq. m of area will need 50 g of mineral fertilizers. Organic matter is needed much more - 5-6 kg for the same volume of plantings.
In the fall, it is recommended to add organic matter. The illustration for the article is used under a standard license ©site To increase the gooseberry yield, you need to fertilize, combined with watering, during the formation of the ovaries and the filling of the berries. For this purpose, use diluted mullein in an amount of 10 liters per bush or ready-made nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium preparations.
15 kg of gooseberries per bush? No problem!
Gooseberries have a high yield. Under favorable conditions and proper care, you can collect 10–15 kg of berries from one bush.
Every year, from the emerging root shoots, the best 3–5 are left, evenly spaced, the rest are cut out to the soil level. It is also necessary to remove heavily frozen, diseased and damaged branches. On adult plants, branches older than 6–8 years of age are cut out - they no longer bear fruit as abundantly, and the berries on them become smaller.
The soil is loosened once every 2–3 weeks to prevent the formation of a soil crust, stop the growth of weeds, retain moisture and provide air access to the roots. It is especially important to maintain the soil in this condition for the first 2–3 years after planting. The depth of loosening is no more than 10–12 cm, otherwise the root system can be damaged. Or you can simply mulch the soil around - at the rate of one bucket of peat (or other organic matter) per bush. When mulching with black film, you need to make cross-shaped cuts for fertilizer and watering. In the fall, the film is removed and the soil within the radius of the crown is dug up.
Gooseberries do not like excess moisture and tolerate drought easily.- if it is not too long. But during a long drought, especially during critical periods of growth, it needs to be watered. The first watering is during the period of ovary formation (second half of May - first ten days of June). The second - during the formation and filling of berries (second-third decades of June). To enhance root growth and prepare for winter, so-called moisture-recharging irrigation is necessary (third ten days of September - first ten days of October). Gooseberries should not be watered with a watering can or hose.– the soil is washed away from the base of the bush, and the root collar becomes soaked. You need to dig a bush circle-depression in the so-called “rainfall” zone, that is, where the crown of the bush ends, and supply water into it - 30 liters per bush.
If the planting pits were well filled with a nutrient mixture, then in the first two years, fertilizing may not be necessary. Starting from the third year, in the fall, fertilizers are applied for digging at the rate of 1 square meter. m: organic - 4–6 kg, phosphorus - 30 g, potassium - 20 g. Fertilizing works well in the first or second decade of June - it helps the growth of shoots and the filling of berries. Usually it is combined with watering. Mullein is diluted in 3-4 volumes of water and the plants are watered with this suspension - 1 bucket per bush. Mineral fertilizing is done as follows: for 1 bush - 10 liters of water, in which 10 g of nitrogen, 15 g of potassium and 20 g of phosphorus fertilizers are dissolved.
By following all these “tricks”, you will easily pick a bucket of berries from one gooseberry bush.
