Gooseberry Captivator

This stunning mid-late gooseberry variety Captivator, under certain conditions, has a large crop of large and sweet bright red fruits. Gooseberry lovers celebrate this variety not only for its taste and aesthetic characteristics. First, it endures winter cold, powdery mildew and other diseases; secondly, the Captivator gooseberry, which has an average growth energy, is not whimsical to care for, and picking its large beautiful berries is a pleasure, since its bushes are devoid of thorns. In this article, we will tell you more about this interesting gooseberry variety, about the rules for planting and leaving it.

Gooseberry Captivator: photo of the variety

From the history of selection

About the gooseberry variety Captivator or Captivator, this European-American hybrid is well known in Canada, where it was created. More specifically, the birthplace of the Captivator gooseberry variety is Ottawa, Canadian Department of Agriculture. The variety was registered in the summer of 1984 at the National Laboratory for the Conservation of Genetic Resources. Gooseberry Captivator was made by crossing two varieties - Spinefree and Clark. And the goal of the Canadian specialists was achieved: a variety with large beautiful berries turned out, which actively resists powdery mildew and other berry diseases, and feels great in extreme winter cold.

Gooseberry Captivator: variety description

The average height of the Kaptivator gooseberry bush is more than one and a half meters. Since the berries are large, the branches with berries can bend over a lot. It is best to use a string to keep them off the ground. As a last resort, spread straw on the ground to prevent the gooseberries from coming into contact with the soil.

In spring, the branches of the Captivator gooseberry can be said to be decorated with juvenile thorns. But by the middle of summer they will be gone.

This variety is resistant to fungal diseases, it is not afraid of powdery and downy mildew.

Gooseberry Captivator, like other gooseberry varieties, bears fruit in the third year after planting. And the maximum harvest will be in another three years. For the rest of their life, gooseberry bushes will give a stable harvest of berries.

Use gooseberry berries - fresh, frozen, canned. The color of the peel is dark red or darker, the fruit is sweet and sour to taste. The berries are medium in size, weight -4-6 grams. They resemble a tear in shape.

The self-pollinated gooseberry variety Kaptivator is quite winter-hardy, with high immunity to diseases of powdery mildew and rust.

Of the special properties is stable fruiting, including in climatic anomalies.

Gooseberry Captivator: photo of the variety

About drought and cold resistance of the variety

As mentioned above, the Captivator gooseberry perfectly tolerates the cold climate, it is not for nothing that it was born in Canada. This means that the variety is perfect for most regions of our country, including Western and Eastern Siberia. Numerous facts about the drought resistance of the variety have not been registered, but it is worth remembering about this.As well as the fact that the berry of the gooseberry variety Captivator consists of two-thirds of water, so in case of a lack of moisture, the fruits will decrease in size and that's it!

Gooseberry Captivator: photo of the variety

About the yield and fruiting of the variety

The maximum number of fruits from a bush, gooseberry variety Captivator, can be harvested - 3 kg.

The bushes bloom in May, like other gooseberry varieties. The color of the berries will change from pale green to dark ruby.

The pink berry, until it reaches its maximum color, is used in baked goods, in compotes, and for pickling. Ripe dark berries have a slightly honey taste with tart notes. Such berries are eaten raw or ground with sugar and stored in the refrigerator.

Gooseberry bushes Captivator bear fruit from 15 to 30 July, the timing is tied to the climate and weather conditions of a particular region.

About planting gooseberries Captivator

Gooseberry Captivator feels great in slightly acidic, moist, well-drained fertile soil. The landing site should be open and sunny, maybe a little shaded. The main thing is that frosty air does not stagnate there, and there is no strong wind.

The bushes are planted one and a half meters apart, and the rows should be no closer than two meters. They make holes about twice the size of the rhizome. The roots of the bushes are placed in water for two hours before planting.

Before planting the gooseberry variety Captivator, one of the organic fertilizers is introduced into the soil; humus is suitable for this purpose (mix 1 bucket with humus and the soil from the hole). After planting, pour water at the rate of 1-2 buckets per 1 bush.

About the timing of planting

Gooseberry bushes Kaptivator are planted in autumn in October or in spring in March. It is best to plant in autumn as the root system develops better in autumn temperatures. By winter, the culture will take root perfectly, and under the spring sun it will start to grow actively.

If you still have to plant in the spring, then choose a temperature regime of + 5 + 10 degrees, that is, around the beginning of March (for the Middle Lane).

About choosing a landing site

Gooseberry variety Captivator should be planted in an open and sunny area, protected from strong winds. This Canadian culture is very hardy, but still should not be placed in low-lying areas, where it is damp and cold, or in places with stagnant water.

On the selection and preparation of planting material

When choosing a planting material, you should know that there are 2 types of gooseberry seedlings: the first has an open root system, the second has a closed one. Seedlings with an open root system are easy to buy in markets, flower markets from small entrepreneurs. The correct plant should have a well-developed fibrous root system, three central shoots (up to 0.4 m in height), and the buds should be lively and resilient. The second type of seedlings has a container or plastic wrap. The buyer does not see the roots, and therefore the plant is selected by the shoots. They must be level and lively. Consider seedlings carefully before purchasing.

And before planting, you should carefully remove dried or damaged roots and branches.

About the landing pattern

It will be possible to think about the planting scheme of the Captivator gooseberry variety only after a decision has been made to use the plant. If this is a decorative hedge, then it is better to plant the bushes 80-150 cm apart. Yes, the plant will serve as a wonderful hedge, but the harvest will not be so good due to the dense planting. A typical fit implies a distance of 150 cm to 210 cm.

When planting, it should be borne in mind that the Captivator gooseberry against the background of frost resistance (it will stand at -34 ° C) is not friendly with the heat (with difficulty - up to + 31 ° C). That is, in regions with hot summers, this plant should be planted in the shade.

Let's talk about planting the gooseberry variety Captivator step by step:

• Select a location in accordance with the above requirements.
• Dig up the soil and remove the weeds.
• Pits are prepared to a depth of 0.6 m and a width of up to 0.4 m.
• The top layer of soil from one hole is mixed with a bucket of organic fertilizers. Superphosphate (200 g), ash (1 glass) or potassium sulfate (60 g) are also added here. Part of this mixture is poured into the hole.
• A seedling is installed in each hole. He should stand up straight without bending over. The rest of the soil is poured so that the soil sprinkles the root collar of the seedling to the level when the plant was purchased.
• Next, watering is carried out (a bucket of water per seedling).
• Fill up the soil.
• The near-trunk part is mulched with a layer of up to 3-4 cm of pine needles, straw, wood chips, etc.

About the features of seasonal care

Features of seasonal care for the Captivator gooseberry variety as a whole consist of 8 points:

• fertilization;
• spring spraying for diseases;
• watering;
• weed removal;
• harvesting;
• summer feeding and spraying;
• autumn preparation for winter;
• winter pruning.

About soil care

For the Captivator gooseberry, one watering every ten days is enough. It will survive dry times normally without frequent watering. The most preferred irrigation for this crop is drip. In this case, the root zone of the plant is well saturated with water.

Water temperature during irrigation can be from +10 to + 20 ° С. With drip irrigation, due to the small pressure, a gentle amount of cold water falls on the roots. The plant receives less stress than a jet of water.

After a day, the soil should be loosened and weeds removed. The roots will receive the long-awaited air, and the root system will develop more intensively. Loosening is carried out to a depth of 10 cm.

Mulching also has a beneficial effect on the development of the plant. If there is mulch, then loosening is not required, since under the mulch the soil remains loose and not compressed. Mulch also prevents weeds from growing.

About preventive treatment

Spring is the time for preventive treatment of gooseberry bushes from harmful insects and diseases. At the time of bud break, the bushes are sprayed with half percent copper sulfate or one percent Bordeaux liquid. This will be enough, because the Captivator is immune to powdery mildew and rust.

Before spraying, it is good to treat the soil with boiling water. This is done in March to destroy the larvae that have overwintered in the soil. One bucket of boiling water is enough for one bush. They also pour boiling water over the trunks to kill insect pests that usually hibernate in the bark. For convenience, use a watering can. Act boldly, because boiling water cannot harm a plant. True, it will not solve all the problems.

Spraying a "bare tree" from harmful insects is simply necessary in the spring, moreover, with a solution with a concentration of active substances twice as much as usual.

For example, Bitoxibacillin (0.1 kg per 10 liters of water) copes with the gooseberry sawfly. Such processing can be carried out at any time as needed, but not during flowering (so as not to lose the insects that pollinate the flowers).

After flowering, they begin to fight the scab. To do this, take ammonium nitrate (5 tablespoons) and dilute it with water (10 liters). It turns out a solution for spraying plants.

About dressings

Top dressing of gooseberry bushes is necessary for a good harvest, and is associated with the consumption of nutrients from the soil, and as a result, with its depletion.

Start by assessing the appearance of the bush. A healthy plant with powerful shoots and dense foliage does not need fertilizer. If the picture is opposite to you, then the plant lacks nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. In this case, use organic fertilizers in the form of manure and compost.

Also, preparations from gardening stores are suitable: in ammonium nitrate and urea - nitrogen; in superphosphate - phosphorus; in potassium sulfate - potassium.

In the spring, fertilizing is carried out with the help of organic fertilizers. Rotted manure (1 bucket), compost or bird droppings (one third of a bucket), diluted in water, is applied under each plant.

You can also use inorganic fertilizers (ammonium nitrate - 40 grams, ammonium sulfate - 70 grams), preparing them for each bush. Such fertilizers are either dug into the soil, or diluted in water and watered the near-stem zone of the bush.

During flowering, urea (20 grams) is added, diluted with a bucket of water. Such fertilization will feed the plant with nitrogen, which will support the growing season and the formation of ovaries.

You can also use regular grass for feeding. Having steamed a bucket of herbs in boiling water, make an infusion for several days, then dilute 1:10 with water, and the gooseberry feeding is ready!

In the summer, the bushes are usually not fed, especially if they were fertilized in the spring. Otherwise, they are fed with superphosphate (70 grams) and potassium sulfate (50 grams).

Autumn feeding is associated with harvesting leaves and pruning dry branches. As soon as these works are carried out, the plant is fed with ash (1 l) and superphosphate (120 g). They are either dug into the soil or diluted in water.

About supports and pruning

The gooseberry variety Captivator reaches a height of up to 1.6 meters. In principle, he does not need support. But still they are used to limit the size of the bush and for the neatness of the site. A bush holder is installed by gardeners, or the plant is tied with twine.

In addition to supports, competent gooseberry care includes pruning. It stimulates the growth of shoots, improves the light transmission and air circulation of the bushes, thereby minimizing the occurrence of diseases and works to increase the yield.

What is important to know about pruning. In March, weakened and small branches that form thickets are cut off. All three-year-old shoots are also removed, freeing up space for young growth.

It should be remembered, that gooseberry Captivator bears fruit on one-year branches, therefore, there is no expediency in old branches. They also get rid of damaged and broken shoots in winter.

Harvesting and storage

The first harvest of the Captivator gooseberry can be said only in the third year from the moment of planting. And after another three years you will get the maximum yield for a particular bush. The month of collection is July.

How to check if the berry is ripe? Gently squeeze the berry between your fingers. If it is soft, it means that it is ripe. But it is better to pick the gooseberry fruit a little unripe, since in this variety the stalk is weakly fixed. Ripe gooseberries crumble with lightning speed.

It is better to pick berries in the morning, before the sun has touched them. It is the cool morning temperature that will positively affect the preservation of the crop. This period may increase by 7 days with a morning collection.

Small plastic containers are suitable for collection. Chilled berries are perfectly kept cool for about 30 days.

About preparing for winter

After harvesting and shedding the leaves, it is worth thinking about preparing for the winter. First, they are engaged in the removal and burning of foliage and weeds, then - pruning branches and digging up the soil. Next, they are engaged in basal holes: in case of accumulation of water, they must be smoothed out in order to avoid the accumulation of autumn rainfall.

The bushes must be entangled with wire so that the snow does not break the branches. The end result is something like an oval design or a bud.

After pruning the inclined shoots that are close to the soil surface, they are taken to trim thin and weak branches, and at the end - hook-shaped upper branches.

Don't miss the moment (after harvest, but before the leaves fall) to treat the gooseberry bushes with a 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid.

About breeding methods

In the middle of autumn they begin harvesting cuttings gooseberry captivator. To do this, take healthy stems up to 25 cm in length and cut them off from the parent plants. Next, they carefully get rid of the side shoots, with the exception of the 3 upper ones. Remove each bud under the leaf.

Then prepare a container with nutrient soil, having previously treated it with a weak solution of manganese or boiling water.Having installed each stalk in the ground about 5 centimeters deep, they compact the soil around.

The next stage is watering, after which the cuttings are transferred to a cool place until spring. As soon as the spring sun warms up, buds can be seen on the branches. This means that the plants are rooted and it is time to plant them in open ground.

About diseases and pests

Each plant has an initial defense potential against diseases and harmful insects. For the strongest and most powerful, moreover, well-fertilized bushes, it is not a problem to cope with adverse conditions or attacks of certain insects. And they do it without harming the harvest.

If we talk about the Captivator gooseberry variety, then it was originally bred with strong immunity from powdery mildew, downy mildew and rust. That is, it is not worth taking any preventive measures against these diseases. Instead, it is better to once again crush the weeds, thin out the crown, providing the plant with sufficient sunlight.

In the spring, however, it is not bad to spray the plant with preparations with copper as a preventive measure.

It is useful for any gardener to know about plant diseases and their causes. Let's talk about the most common in gooseberries.

• About powdery mildew. Powdery white spots on young leaves and stems indicate a powdery mildew infection. Spotted lesions increase in volume, while the leaves curl and fall off. The causes of this disease lie in the cool, humid and rainy environment in early spring or fall. Preventive measures: reduce moisture, remove weeds.
• About anthracnose. Manifestation - black spots on the leaves. The spots gradually increase in size, while the leaves begin to fall off. Treatment: spraying with copper oxychloride, the drug "Fitosporin", "Ridomil", "Oxychoma".
• About gray rot. Manifestation - gray bloom on fruits and leaves. The causes of the disease lie in humidity and poor air circulation. Preventive measures: removing all organic residues from the garden to avoid the appearance of fungal spores; avoid thickening of the bushes.
• About leaf spot. It resembles anthracnose disease, but its central part of the lesions is lighter. High humidity provokes the disease. Treatment: preparations with copper.
• About rust. Manifestation: yellow and brown spots on the leaves. On the plaque, you can consider the spores of the pathogen fungi. Treatment: Bordeaux liquid.

Basically, insects from the Captivator gooseberry variety do not have any special problems, but nevertheless, some of them may cause problems. Let's talk about the main serious pests for the Captivator gooseberry variety and the possibilities for their control.

• About aphids. It looks like eggs, hibernates on plant stems. In the spring, it hatches and begins to feed on the juices of the plant, secreting plaque (this is where the sooty fungus develops). Manifestation: plant lag in development. How to deal with: to the aid of gardeners can come natural controllers of aphids - ladybug, some small wasps. If the aphid has multiplied strongly, then it is worth spraying the plants with insecticidal soap.
• About currant glass. Outwardly, this parasite is in the form of a small purple wasp-like moth. The danger lies in its larvae, which damage the shoots. In winter they sit in a shoot, and in the spring they begin their "activity". Manifestation: leaves turn yellow. Treatment: cut and destroy diseased branches, the sooner the better. If the larvae penetrate inside, not a single chemical will work.
• About the gooseberry sawfly. It is worth knowing about this most dangerous pest of gooseberry that two generations of these harmful insects can appear in one season. Manifestation: foliage eaten by larvae, damaged leaves and fruits. How to deal with: for preventive purposes, dig up the ground in the autumn months, thus, part of the larvae will be destroyed. During the season, process the bushes with an infusion of wormwood (4 kg of wormwood per 10 liters of water).
• About gooseberry fire. The moth pupae hibernate in the soil. And in March, during the period of leaf blooming, they lay eggs in flowers. As the larvae develop, all ovaries and berries are destroyed. How to deal with: you should fight this pest in the same way as with a sawfly: on autumn days, they dig up the soil, treat it with boiling water or an insecticide. As a preventive measure, so as not to miss the moth at an early stage, they make traps and carefully examine the undersides of the leaves. If pests are found, the plant is treated with insecticides.

Conclusion

The gooseberry variety Kaptivator is perfect for planting on personal plots of any region of Russia. It is unpretentious, resistant to many diseases, and its delicious red berries will regularly delight you with a pleasant taste and good yield. It should be added that there are practically no allergies from gooseberry Captivator, therefore it is considered safe for children and pregnant women.

Gooseberry Captivator: video about the variety

Gooseberry Captivator: reviews of gardeners

From the numerous reviews about the Captivator gooseberry, one can say about the contradictory attitude of gardeners towards it. Some recognize it as the best studless gooseberry, while others, in their reviews of the Captivator gooseberry variety, emphasize its low yields, and therefore low profitability, if we talk about growing for sale. And yet - this is a terrific gooseberry option for a backyard.

Advantages of gooseberry Captivator consist of beautiful bright berries, original taste, undemanding care, stable yield, resistance to various diseases, cold climatic conditions, self-fertility and absence of thorns.

The disadvantages of the variety are few, and they are mainly concentrated in low productivity, in the ability to grow only in heavy and dense soils (it does not grow at all in light soil).