Today we will talk about white currants. We will tell you how to plant white currant in the spring, choose a place for planting and suitable soil. After reading this article, you will have enough knowledge to grow healthy and fruiting currants.
Did you know? Currant refers to the order of Camouflaged. This order also includes peonies, Badan and money tree.
The best varieties of white currant
First you need to figure out what makes white currant different from black or red.
White currant besides color has other features: it is suitable for older people more than black and red, due to its ability to prevent diseases that are associated with increased blood clotting.
Also, white currant has less ascorbic acid in its composition, which is why it is more appreciated by people with high acidity of the stomach. Choose the most valuable varieties of currants.
Versailles. The most common variety of white currant. This is a mid-season variety that has a sprawling low bush. The Versailles currant gives large berries (diameter - 1.1 cm, weight - 0.7 g). The plant is moderately resistant, yields an average yield (about 8 tons per hectare).
Important! This grade of a white currant is steady against mealy dew.
White Potapenko - mid-early variety, which is highly resistant to cold, very tasty berries and early maturity. Bush in this variety of semi-sprawling, medium height. The berries have a mass of 0.5 g, the yield per hectare is about 5.8 tons. The main advantages of this variety are annual fruiting and high resistance to frost (as the variety was bred for the temperature conditions of Siberia).
Belyana. This variety was also bred in Siberia. Belyana has an average ripening period. Bushes of this variety are small, half spread. Berries can reach a weight of 1.5 g, which is different from the berries of previous varieties. Mature at the same time (but have a low transportability). Belyan variety has immunity to powdery mildew. The main advantages of the variety - self-fertility and good annual yield. The disadvantages include the fact that the plant is subjected to anthracnose.
Dutch White. This variety is winter hardy, has a medium early ripening of berries. Dutch white gives a good harvest; berries are quite large, rounded. Bush in this variety of irregular shape, low. The advantages of the Dutch White - resistance to defeat by anthracnose, self-fertility and easy reproduction by cuttings.
Primus Mid-season variety, which was bred in the Czech Republic. Primus produces large berries weighing 1 g (about 10 kg of berries are obtained from a bush). The plant is resistant to frost, anthracnose, powdery mildew and gall.
All varieties of white currant have both pros and cons. Some give a big crop, but have low resistance to diseases. Others - do not get sick, but also bear less fruit. Of course, there are varieties that combine disease resistance and yield, but they are not so easy to find.
The main thing when choosing a currant is to buy what you need. Therefore, carefully inspect the seedlings when buying.
Proper planting of white currant
After you have looked after the desired variety, we proceed to the correct selection of seedlings, a place for planting and preparing the ground.
How to choose a sapling
When buying a seedling, it is difficult to determine its variety, condition and presence of diseases. Therefore, you should pay attention to the following:
- Roots. If the seedling completely cut off the root system, then it immediately disappears. Ideally, it should have two main roots (with a minimum length of 40 cm) and many small adventitious roots. It is better to take a seedling with wet roots, which are placed in a container with water or a special mineralized mixture.
- Branch of escape. If you have a sapling without shoots and shoots, then you should definitely refuse from such a purchase. Choose well-branched saplings with whole branches.
- The presence of diseases or sleeping parasites. So that you do not sell the diseased plant, ask to make a small cut on the shoot. If inside you see blackness, the plant is hit by a glass case and you cannot buy it. If you notice strange eggs of larvae, rot or mold, then you should also refuse to buy seedlings.
Important! Carefully inspect the branches of the sapling. If it seems to you that they are dry or semi-dry - give up the purchase.
How to choose a landing site
For landing you need to choose a sunny place that is weakly blown by the winds. If possible, choose a place where the groundwater lies at a depth of about 2 m.
Do not plant currants in the lowlands, where moisture will accumulate in the spring. In such places, the plant will be covered with lichens and will wither.
Important! Currant gives maximum yields when pollinated by pollen of other varieties.
Soil preparation and fertilization
If we talk about the soil for white currants, then it is unpretentious to the substrate in which it is planted. It will wither and wither only in salt marshes or in overmoistened soil.
However, for maximum yield and healthy seedlings for seedlings currants should be planted in a more fertile soil.
White currant planting is carried out both in autumn and in spring (after the earth warms up). Loamy soil is excellent for a plant, which is dug up before planting and cleared of weeds.
When planted in the fall, the pits are dug in advance in order to settle the ground. Their depth should be about 40 cm and 50 cm wide.
Important! When digging a hole, the upper fertile layer should be set aside separately. The bottom layer is mixed with mineral fertilizers.When planting, the roots are distributed over the entire groove and filled first with a mixture with mineral fertilizers (peat, humus, superphosphate), and then with earth from the upper layer. It is important not to overdo it with fertilizers, otherwise you will burn currant roots.
The plant should be planted at an angle of 40-45˚, so that it has formed a strong root system. When planting several bushes next to maintain a distance of 1 m, so that the plants do not overwhelm each other.
Growing and caring for white currants
You planted a bush, and he caught on. Now the main thing is to properly care for the plant, fertilize it in time and carry out pruning.
How to care for the soil
When the first buds begin to swell in a plant, it should be watered from time to time with hot water (temperature up to 70 ° C). Thus you save it from possible pests that sleep in the ground.
It is necessary to break through the soil and feed the white currants. Loosening should also be carried out if the soil near the currant is stiff (the roots of the plant must breathe).
After treating the soil, the ground near the bush can be covered with rotted leaves or other organic matter. So you feed a young plant, save it from pests, drying out and overcooling the roots.
Do not forget about watering. It should be carried out more often on hot sunny days. But it is worth refusing to moisten the soil with a sharp drop in temperature or strong wind, as the roots can freeze.
Thus, white currant does not require specific care and expensive fertilizing. With proper care, the seedling will quickly take root and give a good harvest.
Proper pruning and formation of white currant bush
Pruning currants is an integral part of plant care. Each extra branch is the spent strength and energy of the plant.
In addition to healthy branches, the bush spends energy on the sick, who do not produce crops. That is why don't miss this part of white currant care.
Did you know? Unripe currant berries contain 4 times more vitamin C than ripe. When ripe, the amount of vitamins is reduced. Their minimum is contained in the overripe berry.
Pruning currants for the first time carried out immediately after planting. At the same time remove the tops of all the shoots, leaving 3 buds on each. Thus, the crown of a new bush is formed. 
White currant pruning, unlike black currant, is carried out not in autumn, but in spring (sometimes in summer, after harvesting). Pruning is to remove old branches (which are at least 7 years old), extra zero shoots (shown in the picture below), broken, diseased and frozen branches. 
The correct bush should consist of 20 branches, whose age does not exceed 8 years.
If you follow the instructions, you will get a bush with a well-developed crown and a large number of small fruit branches.
Harvesting
It is necessary to collect currants in warm dry weather. So you get a product that will be stored as long as possible. Tear down the berries with brushes, gently, so as not to mash. For the collection, you can use wide baskets or another container with a wide bottom.
Important!If the berry is to be transported, then it is harvested to full maturity.If the berries of your white currant variety ripen at the same time, then you need to harvest the entire crop in time, so that it does not overripe and crumble. If the currant does not go for processing, then it is placed on the day of collection in the refrigerator and stored there.
It is also worth knowing that if there is dew on the currant opal, then it should be dried in the fresh air and only then put in plastic bags and stored in a cold place.
The main thing when collecting currants is not to press the berries and not to put them in storage wet to avoid rotting.
Ways of reproduction of white currant
The most simple and popular breeding method is grafting.
Cuttings are taken only from annual shoots, while the shoot must be healthy and whole. The cutting is cut about 25-30 cm long. After cutting, it should be dipped in paraffin so that the future seedling does not lose moisture. In this form, the seedling can be stored in the refrigerator before planting.
Before planting paraffin cut with a sharp knife. Planted cuttings so that no more than 2 buds remain on the surface (and under the ground - no less than 4). After planting, soil is fertilized with peat or humus. The main thing at this moment - as much as possible to keep moisture in the handle.
The second method of reproduction - horizontal layering. To do this, in the spring under the mother bushes make grooves up to 10 cm deep. Developed two-year shoots are laid in them, pinned with hooks, and the middle of the shoot is covered with earth.
During the summer, the layers are mulched and watered abundantly. When autumn comes, rooted shoots are separated from the uterine bush and transplanted to another location. Those layers, which are poorly rooted, are left for the next year, not separated from the mother bush.
White currants at home are not propagated by seeds, as this is very time consuming work, and the percentage of yield of young plants is very small.
Useful properties and culinary advantages of white currant
White currant berries contain a large amount of vitamins, sugars and organic acids. The advantage of white currant over black or red is the richness of pectin substances that give processed products jelly-like form.
Vitamin A, which is contained in currants, improves immunity, improves vision and stimulates cellular metabolism. Vitamin P cleans and normalizes the blood. The concentration of this vitamin in currants is higher than in other berries.
Vitamin E, which is rich in white currants, slows the aging process, has anti-sclerotic effect, improves reproductive function and reduces the likelihood of cataracts.
Important! If you use frozen currants, then make sure that in this form it was no more than 2 months. Since with longer storage you will not get any benefit from frozen currants, while the taste will remain at the same level.
When used in cooking, one more positive quality of white currant opens - It does not cause allergies in young children.
White currant is used to prepare marinades and meat dishes, as it does not drown out the taste of meat and fish products and provides the necessary acid for marinating.
Also with white currants canned cucumbers and tomatoes. At the same time, there is enough natural berry acid, and no vinegar is added.
Thus, white currant is not inferior to black and red. Berry is used in the preparation of a variety of dishes that become not only tastier, but also healthier.
Did you know? Currant removes radioisotopes from the human body. Therefore, it is recommended to use it to people who work in hazardous industries (including with radiation).
Contraindications to the use of white currant
White currant, like most berries and fruits, also has contraindications to use.
Unfortunately, people with gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, high acidity and allergies will have to give up eating berries.
Since the berry contains acid, even in small quantities it irritates the mucous membrane of the stomach and other organs, aggravating the disease.
Important! Contraindications to use include both the berry itself and the juice, jelly and other dishes, which include white currant.
As you can see, white currant is not only a tasty fruit, but also a source of many vitamins and minerals. Plant this plant in your plots and be able to combine the good with the pleasant.
