Black currant can rightfully be considered the most beloved bush among summer residents, producing aromatic berries.
The culture comes to life as soon as the snow melts, right after the gooseberries.
But sometimes gardeners still have to fight for a large currant harvest.
The main thing in this matter is to give the bushes quality care. Therefore, it is not at all superfluous to find out: why the harvest is meager.
1. Delay in pruning
It is too late to trim the bushes when the buds have already blossomed. These measures are carried out exclusively before the sap begins to flow and the buds begin to swell.
It is important to know that currants are one of the first among garden crops to open their leaves, even ahead of gooseberries. And if you prune the bushes at the end of spring when the leaves have fully unfolded, this threatens to lose a significant part of the harvest.
2. Insufficient watering
The level of soil moisture under the bushes is a fundamental nuance for currants. The development of the crop with perpetually dry soil will be very modest.
A moisture deficit will not allow the bushes to build up their strength normally. And if drought in the spring cannot cause any serious harm to red currants, then black currants will not give up a good part of their berries due to under-watering.
This is serious business – a water shortage this season could not only affect this year’s harvest, but will also lead to poor harvests next summer.
3. Nutritional requirements
Poor soil under currants is an unacceptable picture. This leads to the same modest harvests. We must accept as a given that bushes that have been growing in the same places for more than ten years will not be covered with an abundance of berries.
During this time, plants have already “pulled” all possible nutrition from the surrounding soil more than once.
To improve the situation, the gardener should annually saturate the trunk circles of the bushes with the necessary substances, including compost and microelements. And spring is the best time to lay a good dose of fertilizers.
