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How to treat currants against pests and diseases immediately after the snow melts
19.02.2023 05:30
Updated: 14.04.2023 04:01
To ensure that currant bushes remain healthy throughout the season and are not affected by pathogenic infections or attacks by harmful insects, they should be treated with chemicals or folk remedies in early spring.
You can’t rush with such treatments, but you shouldn’t hesitate either, since after the young foliage appears, many preparations can no longer be used.
Treatment of currants in spring against diseases
Many gardeners say that this berry bush should be treated against diseases and harmful insects already in March, then you can be sure that the currant is protected. However, this statement is not always true.
When winter still reigns in the region where the bush is grown in the first month of spring, there is a thick layer of snow everywhere, and there are severe frosts at night, it is still too early to treat currant bushes. After all, all pathogenic microorganisms and pests are still under the snow, where chemicals and folk remedies will not penetrate.
When choosing the time for processing, you should focus on the weather conditions in your region and the condition of the currants themselves. If the buds have just begun to swell, and the snow has already melted, but the ground has not yet warmed up everywhere - it's time to start processing the plants.
Main diseases of currant bushes
Currants are one of the most common berry crops among gardeners. This bush can be found in almost any garden. There are not so many diseases that these cultivated plants can be susceptible to, but they are quite dangerous. And if you do not start fighting them in time, you can lose the harvest, and sometimes even the currants themselves.
Currants can suffer from:
- anthracnose;
- striped mosaic;
- reversions (terryness);
- rust;
- septoria (white spot);
- gray rot;
- sphaerotheca (American powdery mildew).
To carry out the correct treatment, it is necessary to determine exactly what this berry crop is suffering from.
How to treat currants
For quite a long time, very serious preparations were used to combat diseases that appear on currants. Of course, they quickly and effectively cope with all pathogenic infections, but they can be deposited in the fruits and in the soil, which negatively affects the condition of the plants.
Therefore, in recent decades, gentle means have been used in private farmsteads and large fields; most often, gardeners treat currants with the following preparations:
- 3% solution of copper sulfate;
- 5% solution of ferrous sulfate;
- 1% Bordeaux mixture;
- ash infusion, which is prepared as follows: dissolve 100 g of ash in a liter of water, leave for 3 days, filter and add 3 liters of water;
- "Topaz".
This berry bush is processed during the season according to the following scheme:
- after the snow melts, all remaining vegetation and fallen leaves are removed from the root zone, the top layer of soil is carefully loosened, and the bushes are treated with a solution of copper or iron sulfate;
- during the period of active bud formation, the bushes are sprayed with Bordeaux mixture (3%);
- After flowering and after harvesting, currants are treated with Bordeaux mixture (1%).
Currant treatment against pests
But it is not only pathogenic microorganisms that can damage currant bushes. There are a number of pests that have taken a liking to foliage and shoots, as well as roots and flowers. As a result, the bushes wither, and if harmful insects are not fought, these berry bushes may die.
Main pests
Most often, gardeners have to fight the following harmful insects:
- kidney mites;
- bud moth;
- fireflies;
- glass jars;
- currant aphid;
- currant jewelweed;
- sawflies;
- currant gall midge.
Means for treating currants in the spring from harmful insects
Pests can be controlled with chemicals, as well as with folk remedies. Folk remedies are usually used as a preventive measure to prevent pests from appearing on currants. And when there are too many harmful insects, folk remedies will no longer help, and it is necessary to use special chemicals.
Those gardeners who strive to grow environmentally friendly products try not to use chemicals to combat pests. Therefore, they constantly inspect currant bushes and carry out regular preventive treatments with folk remedies.
Typically, the following are used for such treatments:
- Frozen soil and unopened buds are treated with boiling water to get rid of kidney mites;
- soap solution;
- Once every 20-30 days, currant bushes are treated from the moment the buds open until harvest with an infusion of tobacco, celandine, onion peel, nightshade, and dandelion.
If insects have already appeared on the currant bushes, then treatments are carried out with more serious preparations:
- "Aktaroy";
- "Alatar";
- "Alioltom";
- "Biotlin";
- "Inta-C-M";
- "Spark";
- "Carmocin";
- "Kinmiksom";
- "Fufanon-Nova".
How to treat currants against pests and diseases
When treating berry bushes against pests, you need to follow certain rules so as not to harm your body.
Before carrying out the spraying procedure, it is necessary to remove all dried and damaged shoots, clear the tree trunk circles of plant debris and fallen leaves, and loosen them.
Spray in early spring, before the buds have swollen.
In addition to the crown, the soil around the tree trunk is also treated.
From the beginning of the preparation of the solution until the end of the work, wear a protective suit, rubber gloves, a headdress and a respirator.
The treatment is carried out early in the morning or in the evening in dry, windless weather, when no rain is expected for the next few days.
The product is diluted strictly according to the instructions.
During the work and for the following 24 hours, there should be no children or pets on the site.
The remaining solution is disposed of immediately after completion of the work.
Since currant bushes bud very quickly - a few sunny days are enough, therefore, there is no need to be late with the first spring treatment.
