Gooseberries are often called northern grapes, this name has deservedly earned a fruitful bush not only by a similar appearance, but also by a wonderful set of useful substances in its composition. In countries with a temperate climate, today you can count more than a hundred varieties. Berries perfectly tolerate transportation, are suitable for all kinds of preservation and preparation of confectionery delights, even medicine did not bypass its attention: the fruits are effectively used as a diuretic and choleretic. One of the popular gooseberry varieties is the intriguing name Malachite.
Description of the gooseberry variety Malachite: all the pros and cons
Like a stone from Bazhov's tales, gooseberries with the name Malachite are also not as simple as they seem. When you get acquainted with reviews about him, you come across both highly laudatory and simply devastating ones.
Malachite is a long-lived variety. He appeared in the All-Russian Research Institute of Horticulture. I. Michurin as a result of the crossing of Date and the Black Negus in 1959. Despite the fact that many new varieties have appeared since then, many to this day decorate their gardens with a time-tested shrub.
Features of Malachite:
- the shrub is medium-sized (reaches about 1.5 m in height), grows widely and has an average spike compared to other varieties;
- round-shaped berries of light green color with pronounced wax coating. The skin is thin with a large number of veins. The average weight of the fruit is about 5-6 g;
- berries are sour to taste, but very fragrant;
- the bush brings an early harvest and bears fruit for a long time;
- from one bush you can collect up to 4 kg of berries;
- the variety is winter-hardy and not afraid of temperature extremes;
- easily transfers transportation;
- not afraid of powdery mildew;
- technical purpose.
Malachite berries are large and have a rich waxy sheen.
Table: main pros and cons
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Planting and care: as easy as shelling pears
This shrub grows beautifully throughout our country, with the exception of only wetlands.
Landing time
If you decide to plant a bush in the spring, then you have to catch the right moment: when the ground has thawed, and the buds on the trees have not yet appeared. It can be difficult to do if the climate is unstable and moody, so it’s better to plant gooseberries in the fall, about a week before the alleged frosts.
Seat preparation
For planting, you need to dig a hole at least 50 cm in diameter and 60 cm deep. Keep in mind that the less processed the soil, the deeper and wider the hole should be. Land should be prepared in advance, a week before planting. Humus at the rate of 0.5 buckets per bush is mixed with ash (100 g), superphosphate (80 g) and potassium sulfide (40 g).
You need to choose a seedling wisely. A developed root and 3-4 flexible and moderately thick branches are what you should pay attention to. A shoot height of 30 cm is considered the norm.
The right seedling is the key to a healthy and plentiful crop
Before planting, remove dry roots and branches from the seedling. After placing in the hole, properly compact the ground, exclude the formation of unwanted voids in the ground. Then water the young bush abundantly.
Remember that gooseberries are very photophilous, so the distance between the bushes should not be less than 2 m. This is especially important for Malachite, which grows quite widely.
Care Features
Gooseberry bush care can be divided into several stages:
- Loosening and weeding. Gooseberries require regular loosening. Remember that the root system of the bush is not deep, so you need to loosen the earth carefully. Also, you need to carefully consider the weeding both inside the hole and around it.
- Fertilizer and watering. Watering should be regular, especially in dry times and during flowering. As for fertilizer: with proper care, the bush can bear fruit for decades. Two years after planting, you can begin to fertilize regularly, on average, fertilizing should be done twice a year: after spring flowering (80 g of ammonium nitrate per bush) and after the August harvest (10 kg of compost, 40 g of saltpeter, 20 g of potassium chloride and 80 g of superphosphate). If, in the first year of planting, the leaves of the bush are bright light in color, then it is recommended to apply liquid nitrogen fertilizer in July (7 g of ammonium nitrate per 0.5 bucket of water).
- Pruning. Malachite grows very quickly, so it needs regular pruning. It should be produced in the spring before the swelling of the kidneys or in the fall after leaf fall.
Sometimes gardeners prune the upper part of the shoots in summer, which has a beneficial effect on the number and size of berries.
A properly formed bush has 10-15 skeletal branches. It is also recommended to make a backup for the bush, which will raise branches from the ground.
The first pruning is done immediately after planting
There are many ways to build props for fruit bushes with your own hands. As a rule, they are made of wood, plastic or metal structures.
Video: plastic support for the bush
Prevention required
Caring for gooseberries does not require special knowledge and skills; it is rather unpretentious. However, if precautions are not taken in time, your crop can be compromised. We are talking about pests and diseases that can threaten the bush.
Preventive measures:
- the earth in the hole in the spring and autumn should be sprinkled with the following composition: 300 g of ash, 1 tbsp. l mustard, 1 tbsp. l pepper, 200 g of tobacco dust (3 tbsp. l. mixture for each bush);
- before flowering and after harvesting, it is necessary to process the bushes using Karbofos (30 g per 10 liters of water). Spraying should be done twice with an interval of 10 days;
- obligatory treatment during budding will protect against pests (sawfly, aphids and gall midges): dilute 75 g of Karbofos and 10 Rovikurt in 10 l of water. After flowering, treatment with Karbofos in the same proportion is also recommended;
- a mite can be driven away by spraying the plant with a solution of colloidal sulfur (40 g per 10 liters of water).
Photo Gallery: Common Pests
- A spider mite appears in early spring, wrapping cobwebs on the underside of leaves
- Firefly lays eggs inside blooming flowers
- Shoot aphid feeds on the juice of young shoots
- Moth eats leaves, leaving only petioles
- Zlatka affects branches and sharply reduces bush productivity
- In a couple of days, sawfly larvae are able to eat all the leaves
- Glass caterpillars make moves right in the middle of the branches
Deserved Reward: Harvest
Two years after planting, Malachite will give a harvest, and two years later, he will have a period of active fruiting. Berry picking usually takes place at the end of July. The advantages of this variety include the fact that the fruits do not crumble, but keep perfectly on the branches.
Harvested in rainy weather is not subject to storage.
Ripe berries are stored in a cool room for up to 5 days, and unripe - 10 days. You can freeze the berries by first holding them in the refrigerator. The shelf life, the possibility of transportation, the hardness of the berries and the tart sour taste - all this makes the Malachite variety perfectly suitable for all kinds of preservation.
Gooseberries are good for a variety of workpieces.
Believe the experience: gardeners reviews
My Malachite is growing, even two. The berries are really large, sweet-sour taste, pretty, a little transparent. But the bush itself is prickly. I lifted a branch with my gloved hand and still suffered from my own plant. I was not offended by Malachite and I will love him further.
Lilith. Moscow//www.forumhouse.ru/threads/14888/page-7
I believe that Malachite is not inferior in taste to many varieties, just its taste is for an amateur and I am an amateur. But I didn’t have any problems with this bush for five years, although I almost didn’t take care of it, only half it.
Evgeny//www.forumhouse.ru/threads/14888/page-2
Of course, they don’t argue about tastes. But I note that the taste of the berry determines not only (I would say not so much) the presence of sugars, but a complex of sugars, acids and aromatic substances. The variety Malachite has a technical purpose. Already this alone speaks eloquently of its taste advantages.
ABBA//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=5061
In the Poltava region, a variety stands out by the fact that it can hang for a very long time on a bush without overriding. At the same time, the longer it hangs, the more sugar it accumulates. Therefore, it is universal, both for jam (grade No. 1) for early harvesting, and dessert for late harvesting. Obviously, in Michurinsk it does not have such properties, because nowhere in the pomological reference books is this mentioned. By the sum of the positive characteristics, this far from new variety deserves much attention. One drawback is that the thorns are quite aggressive.
Old Man Garden//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=5061
You know, all the same, Malachite is a technical variety, I would say it is sour and also very spicy and with medium berries. Yes, and the resistance to powdery mildew he has so-so.
Annie//dacha.wcb.ru/index.php?showtopic=60857&st=40
Malachite may well claim its place under the sun of your site. And let, like a precious stone, fruit bushes delight you and guests with beauty and taste.
