Honeysuckle is a berry shrub that grows to 1.5 m in height. Honeysuckle berries are healthy and tasty, ripen even earlier than strawberries. But for a good harvest, honeysuckle must be fertilized.
Do I need to feed honeysuckle
Like many berry bushes, honeysuckle is quite unpretentious. For good fruiting, she needs light and a neighborhood with honeysuckle bushes of other varieties. In hot areas, additional watering will be useful.
Do not forget to plant several honeysuckle bushes nearby - without cross-pollination, the berries will not be able to set
Many gardeners, after planting berry bushes, leave them alone for several years, believing that the bush itself will find food. From such withdrawal, especially in arid areas, almost all plants only fight for survival, and do not work for the crop.
Since the root system of the honeysuckle is superficial and shallow, it must be fertilized regularly for good growth and fruiting. Therefore, gardeners who want to get up to 6 kg of useful berries from a bush, need to make it a rule to feed the plants at least three times during the growing season.
When is it better to fertilize
Honeysuckle growth begins in early spring: buds bloom, buds bloom. And with the advent of the first green leaves, it is necessary to fertilize with nitrogen-containing drugs.
After flowering, the honeysuckle is watered with the infusion of vermicompost, after the collection of berries it is fed with ash. The last time fertilizers are applied in late autumn.
Use dry or liquid vermicompost
How to feed honeysuckle
Many gardeners are afraid to use mineral fertilizers and use only organic fertilizing: manure, compost, herbal infusions, ash. Organics improve the structure of the soil, decomposing, it releases carbon dioxide into the air, necessary for the growth and nutrition of plants. Mineral fertilizers are concentrated and fast-acting, it is important to observe measure and caution when applying them.
Nitrogen-containing fertilizers help honeysuckle grow faster, increase the length of the annual growth of shoots, the number of leaves and their size. But the introduction of such drugs in the summer and early autumn can be detrimental to the bush - the shoots will not ripen in the cold, the plant will not prepare for winter and may freeze.
Phosphorus fertilizers are very important for the development of a strong and powerful root system.
Phosphorus fertilizers improve root system development
Potash fertilizers are needed for the formation of flower buds and to increase resistance to various diseases.
Potash fertilizers help plants plant more flower buds
The easiest honeysuckle fertilizer scheme
In order not to calculate the grams of mineral fertilizers, you can use the following scheme for feeding organic berry bushes:
- the first top dressing - in the spring, during the period of budding: add 0.5 buckets of compost and 5 granules of the dry preparation HB-101;
HB-101 helps the plant survive stresses associated with adverse weather conditions
- second feeding - during flowering: dilute 1 liter of dry vermicompost in a bucket of water and leave for 24 hours. You can use a biohumus liquid solution from a bottle, the consumption rate is 1 glass per bucket, apply immediately;
Gumistar - a liquid solution of vermicompost, can be used without infusion in water
- the third top dressing - in August: pour 0.5-1 l of ash under each bush;
Honeysuckle is very fond of feeding with ash
- fourth feeding - in late autumn, before persistent frosts: pour 0.5 buckets of compost, a handful of horse manure or bird droppings. It is important to introduce such organic matter before the snow lays, so that the earth is already slightly frozen and nutrients do not penetrate the roots. With snow melting in spring, nitrogen fertilizing will penetrate deeper and give a powerful impetus to the growth of young shoots.
Chicken droppings should be introduced in late autumn, when the soil is already frozen
It is advisable to keep the soil mulched under shrubs throughout the summer so as not to loosen it again and damage nearby roots. In addition, a thick layer of mulch will prevent weeds from germinating and keep the soil from drying out.
The scheme of application of mineral top dressing
Mineral fertilizers are widely used by gardeners: they are inexpensive, they are not needed very much, and the effect is visible almost immediately.
The first top dressing is in the spring, immediately after the snow melts, usually in the second half of April. Honeysuckle needs nitrogen fertilizers, contributing to the rapid growth of shoots, flowers and ovaries. Under each bush, pour 1 bucket of water with 1 tbsp. Diluted in it. l urea.
Try to apply this fertilizer in early spring so that by May all nitrogen is distributed in the soil, later application of urea can provoke awakening of the buds, which subsequently thicken the bush.
The second top dressing is carried out after flowering and during the period of growth of berries: 1 tbsp. l potassium sulfate or 2 tbsp. l nitrophosk diluted in a bucket of water. Young bushes are given 5 liters of such a solution, and adults - 20 liters.
The third top dressing is autumn, carried out in September: 3 tbsp. Are bred in a bucket of water. l superphosphate and 1 tbsp. l potassium sulfate.
Photo Gallery: Mineral Fertilizers
- Urea - a high-performance fertilizer containing nitrogen
- Nitrofoska is necessary during fruit setting
- Superphosphate - the main fertilizer applied in autumn under honeysuckle bushes
Fertilizing after pruning
Since honeysuckle bears fruit on the shoots that have just grown from the buds, it is rare to trim the bush. By the age of 6, it grows very much and from this age requires rejuvenation. As a rule, honeysuckle is cut every 3-4 years, almost cutting out all the old branches. After such an operation, the bush needs to be given enhanced nutrition, consisting of:
- 50-70 g of ammonium nitrate;
- 35-50 g of superphosphate;
- 40-50 g of potassium salt.
Feed with mineral fertilizers only on moist soil, after heavy rain or preliminary watering.
Video: honeysuckle top dressing in spring
When honeysuckle is provided with mineral or organic fertilizing, it grows and develops with a powerful bush that can produce up to 6 kg of berries per season.
