Red currant has long been a regular in our gardens and summer cottages. Berries are loved for longevity and less whimsical care compared to a black relative. Today in the article a detailed acquaintance with the Ural souvenir variety: description, the subtleties of growing and caring for the plant.

Grade description

The medium-sized bush of the Ural souvenir is formed by slightly curved, bare, medium-thick shoots. Its height is 1–1.5 m. Currant leaves are a five-lobed plate, dark green, wrinkled, shiny. The plant blooms in mid-May with whitish, small flowers collected in a brush.

Selection history

Ural souvenir variety was developed by scientists of the Agrarian Scientific Research Center of the Academy of Sciences in Yekaterinburg in 1985. The authorship belongs to V.S. Ilyin and A.P. Gubenko. After testing, the variety was included in the register of breeding achievements of the Russian Federation and since 2000 it has been recommended for cultivation in Western Siberia.

Appearance and characteristics of berries

Winter-hardy, and most importantly resistant to return frosts, the variety bears fruit with a sweet and sour taste. Fruits weighing 0.6 g contain 8.7% sugar and 1.9% acid. Bright red berries have a thin skin, a pleasant berry aroma. According to the description given by the authors, a gardener can collect from 2.1 kg to 7 kg of crop from one plant.

Did you know? Currant is one of the record holders among fruit crops for the content of pectin (natural thickener). Therefore, jelly and marmalade from berries do not need additional gelatin.

The self-fertility of the plant makes it easier for the farmer to care for him, without requiring artificial pollination. The Ural souvenir has immunity against powdery mildew, was weakly affected by a fire-mill and a sawfly.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

• Among the advantages of the variety, the following qualities should be noted:
• unpretentiousness in cultivation;
• winter hardiness -35 ° C;
• dessert flavor;
• resistance to pests (sawfly, fire-bomb), powdery mildew;
• high productivity;
• self-fertility.

The disadvantage is not considered too large berries.

Agricultural technology

Since the variety is recommended for cultivation in the cold climate of Siberia, it is better to plant it in the fall until the first frosts. September planting will allow the plant to take root and calmly winter. If the bush is planted in the spring, it will not have time to adapt before flowering and, most likely, will die.

Seat selection

The ideal place for planting currants is a draft protected from the draft, illuminated most of the day, the southern part of the garden. It is not advisable to plant a plant in a lowland where rainfall accumulates. The depth of underground sources is at least 2 m from the surface of the earth. The plant bears fruit well on nutritious black soils or well-fertilized loams.

Important! It is not advisable to plant currants next to raspberries and cherries; their root shoots can penetrate into the near-trunk circle of culture, oppressing it.

The acid reaction of the soil is either neutral or slightly acidic. Onions and garlic will be excellent neighbors for berries, which repel harmful insects with their phytoncides.

Landing pattern

A healthy seedling has a developed root system of 20 cm in length. Before planting, the plant is lowered into a bucket of water for 2-3 hours to moisten the roots. 3 weeks before the proposed procedure, you need to prepare a hole up to 40 cm deep and 60 cm in diameter.

Important! When planting several bushes, the distance between them should be 1.5 - 2 m.

Half of the extracted soil is mixed with fertilizers:

• 8-10 kg of peat;
• 200 g of superphosphate;
• 40 g of potassium sulfate.

The nutrient half of the soil is placed on the bottom of the hole, the other half is left nearby.

After about two weeks, the soil in the pit will settle and you can start planting:

1. The seedling is placed on the bottom of the hole under a slight slope, spreading the roots.
2. The root neck is buried no more than 6 cm from the surface of the pit.
3. Covering the soil with a plant, the earth is compacted so that air voids do not form.
4. After you need to make a furrow in the near-stem circle for irrigation. Water the bush in several steps, spending 15 liters of water.
5. As soon as moisture is absorbed, the soil is mulched with any organic material (peat, straw).

Leaving (features of watering and top dressing)

Caring for the Ural souvenir consists of standard procedures: watering, fertilizing and trimming, as well as cleaning the soil from weeds. Immediately after planting, the plant needs frequent and plentiful watering - 2 times a week for 10-15 liters of water per bush. Ural souvenir is a variety of early ripening; therefore, good watering in June - July is especially important when the berries begin to pour in juice.

Read also about how to care for red currants.

An adult plant in the spring-summer period when watering must receive up to 30 liters of water. The soil in the planting of red currants needs to be moistened 30–40 cm inland from the surface. After irrigation, the soil is loosened to a depth of 12 cm.

During the season, the plant needs 3-4 feeds:

• April - application of urea to the soil 15 g / m²;
• June - root liquid top dressing with mullein infusion 1:10, 1.5 liters per bush;
• July - according to a leaf composition of boric acid (2.5 g), manganese sulfate and zinc (5 g each) and copper sulfate (2 g). All components are dissolved in 10 l of water;
• October - in the near-stem circle 10 kg of humus or compost, 100 g of superphosphate and 50 g of potassium sulfate.

Pest and Disease Control

In early spring, bushes are still being processed on sleeping buds to prevent insect attacks. The main enemies of culture are a fire-mill and a sawfly. Before flowering, it is advisable to spray the bushes with insecticides: Actellik, Aktara. The same drugs are used to kill insects if they appear.

Did you know? Despite the abundance of varieties of currants, it is in the red culture that oxycoumarin is present. This is a substance that helps to normalize blood coagulation and prevents heart attack.

For spraying, prepare an aqueous solution in the proportion:

• "Actellik" - 2 ml / 2 l of water;
• "Aktara" - 6 ml / 1 liter of water.

For the prevention and control of diseases (powdery mildew, septoria, terry), a wide spectrum of drugs is used: a solution of copper sulfate, Gamair. To spray the plants, copper sulfate powder is diluted 1:10 with water.

Use the drug only before flowering and fruiting, because it accumulates in the tissues of the plant. “Gamair” is a biological agent; it is safe at all stages of cultural development. For use, 2 tablets are dissolved in 10 l of water, spraying is carried out.

Trimming and shaping a bush

The variety has good growth power, so every year it needs to be inspected and cut shoots thickening the crown. Pruning is carried out either in the early spring, until the plant wakes up, or after harvesting.

Cropping Technology:

1. Year old bush . All shoots are shortened by half, to form a spherical crown. The branches growing inside the bush, weak shoots are removed.
2. Bush from 3 to 7 years. Leave no more than 15–20 branches, removing hopeless, broken, weak branches. Shorten by 1/3 the shoots that are out of shape.
3. The plant is over 8 years old. Here you need to remove all old shoots, sick and weak. As the bush grows, young branches will grow.

Fig. 1. Currant pruning: a - annual seedling; b - a biennial bush; c, d - shortening of shoots. Fig. 2. Currant bush before anti-aging pruning (a), after it (b) and pruning of a neglected bush (c).

Wintering

After harvesting, currant bushes need to be prepared for winter. According to expert gardeners, the culture does not freeze, but needs protection from rodents. First, pruning weak, elongated from the crown of the branches and competing with the main fruit-bearing shoots. Then the bush trunk is spudded and wrapped with spruce branches.

Harvesting and transportation

Harvest time is July. Harvesting is carried out by picking off the fruits with a brush in order to preserve them longer during transportation. The difference between the red-fruited culture and the black cousin is the uniform ripening of berries. And at the edge of the brush, and at its top, the fruits are sweet, poured with juice and you can collect them in one step.

Find out what the benefits and harms of red currants are.

You can store fresh berries at zero temperature in the refrigerator for up to 1.5 months. A good way to save for the winter is freezing. The advantage of currants is that it does not lose vitamins under the influence of low temperatures.

The Ural souvenir is worthy of attention and love of gardeners, thanks to a delicious harvest and unpretentiousness. The culture has good immunity and winter hardiness, which facilitates the care of it.