Gooseberry fruit - description and characteristics

Gooseberry pleases with a plentiful harvest of aromatic and tasty berries, from which preserves, jams, compotes are usually made. In the countries of Western Europe, gooseberry fruits have found wider application in cooking. For example, in England they love wine made from berries, and in France they are used to prepare sauces, soups, syrups, and side dishes for game.

To get a harvest for such delicacies, you should carefully consider planting and caring for the plant, and also study some of the nuances of its development. In the article, we will consider for what year after planting gooseberries bear fruit, the life expectancy of the shrub, as well as its yield.

Botanical description of the gooseberry fruit

Gooseberry is a shrub fruit plant, which is commonly cultivated in garden plots. It often runs wild and spreads in forests.

Reference. Interesting names of the culture in different countries are fat man, northern grapes, goose berry.

The gooseberry fruit, depending on the plant variety, has different characteristics.:

1. The shape is oval, round, almost spherical.
2. The color is green, yellow, red, purple (up to almost black).
3. The surface of the berry is smooth or pubescent. Veins are clearly visible.
4. Weight from 2 g (for small-fruited varieties) to 20 g (for large-fruited).
5. Length up to 12 mm, large-fruited varieties have berries of 30-40 mm.
6. The taste is sweet, sweet and sour, sweet and sour. Depending on the variety, the taste can be honeyed (Green rain), blackcurrant (African).

The plant blooms in May. Fruits ripen in 2-2.5 months - in July-August.

The berries ripen at the same time, but the harvest can be harvested within a month... The fruits do not crumble, even when they reach biological maturity.

In what year after planting gooseberries bear fruit

Time frames, when the gooseberry begins to bear fruit depends on several factors:

• plant varieties, for example, the beginning of fruiting American and hybrid thornless varieties (North Captain, Malachite, African) occurs as early as possible - already in the second year after planting the seedlings;
• growing conditions (climate, soil, lighting);
• care (correct planting, pruning, plant feeding);
• situational weather conditions (drought, frost).

If we take the average value, then the bush begins to give berries 3-4 years after planting.... The fruiting period with high yields begins at 6-8 years of plant life.

How many years gooseberries live and bear fruit

How many gooseberries live depends on growing conditions and adherence to agricultural technology... With a favorable climate, good soil, proper care, the life of a plant is about 30 years.

An important role in this is played by pruning old black branches under the root of the bushstarting at 7 years of age. Old branches are replaced with new shoots, resulting in a rejuvenation of the plant.

Shrub bears fruit throughout life... However, at the same time, a good yield remains up to 15-20 years, after which it gradually decreases.

Gooseberry yield from a bush

Among berry crops, gooseberry has a high yield.... However, how many kg a bush gives is influenced by soil and climatic conditions, care, age of the plant.

Reference. On average, about 6-8 kg are harvested from one bush, under favorable conditions - 10-15 kg.

Productivity also depends on the varietal characteristics of the shrub.... The table shows the average indicators of different varieties:

Is it possible to somehow increase the yield

To increase the yield of gooseberries, the following activities are regularly carried out:

1. They loosen the soil to saturate the roots with oxygen, moisture and fertilizers throughout the season, including in autumn. When loosening under a bush, it is permissible to touch the top layer of the soil - up to 7 cm. A deeper loosening is carried out around the bush.
2. Remove weeds. The plant has a superficial root system, so it needs to clean the near-trunk area from weeds. Otherwise, due to untimely removed weeds, the moisture level in the lower part of the bush will increase, and this is an ideal breeding ground for pests.
3. Complex fertilizers are introduced. To obtain a good harvest, the plant needs abundant feeding... The procedure is carried out 2 times during the year. The first top dressing is after flowering, which will contribute to the development of new shoots and an increase in yield, the second - after picking berries. Its goal is to prepare the bush for the laying of flower buds for the next year.
4. Carry out pruning... The procedure is extremely important for increasing the yield. It is performed in early spring before the start of sap flow. Sick, frozen, old branches are removed, since fruit buds are not formed on them. Then, young branches are cut, which grow inside the bush and thicken it.
5. Process from diseases and pests... The plant is susceptible to infection with powdery mildew, aphids, fireflies, sawflies. All this can reduce the yield up to the complete death of the fruit. To protect against pests, in the spring, plants are treated with biological products, karbofos or ash infusion (1 kg of wood ash per 3 liters of water). For powdery mildew, solutions of baking soda (5 g per 1 liter of water) or ferrous sulfate (3 g per 1 liter of water) are effective.

Despite the fact that most varieties of the plant are self-fertile (25-60% of berries are tied as a result of self-pollination), planting several gooseberry bushes next to each other different varieties increases productivity by 2 times and increases the size of the fruits themselves.

Conclusion

Gooseberry is a perennial shrub plant. Due to its unpretentiousness and high yield, it is especially popular among gardeners. A wide variety of varieties allows you to choose a plant for every taste.

To get a good early harvest, it is important to create favorable conditions for the culture and follow the rules of agricultural technology (cut, loosen the soil, apply fertilizers, treat pests). With proper care, the plant begins to bear fruit 3-4 years after planting. Moreover, the average yield from one shrub is 6-8 kg.