Features of planting and caring for the Canadian Irga

Irga Canadian is a very interesting fruit and ornamental crop. Deciduous shrub with a height of 1.5 to 8 meters is beautiful at any time of the year. In spring, the irga looks attractive during bud opening, when it seems to be shrouded in silvery-white frost.

Later, during flowering, it is strewn with clusters of fragrant white flowers surrounded by bees. Until mid-summer, the shrub is decorated with clusters of blue-purple berries. Until late autumn, the decoration of the bush is foliage, which gradually changes color from green to crimson. Burgundy-brown branches look spectacular against the background of a snow-covered winter garden.

Description of canadian irgi

Let's start with a description of Irga is a fast-growing, fast-growing, long-lived shrub. The culture enters fruiting after planting in the third year. The life expectancy of an irgi is 40-50 years. Frost resistance is excellent, tolerates frosts up to 40 degrees without losses. In the conditions of the Moscow region, it does not need shelter for the winter. The plant also feels good in more northern regions. Well-growing bushes are very light-requiring and, if planted too tightly, stretch up strongly and bear fruit poorly.

The root system of the bush is superficial, the bulk of the roots is located at a depth of up to 40 cm, some of them go down to 1 m deep. The radius of spread of the root system reaches 2 m.

Irga blooms in late April - early May, for 10-15 days. The flowers can withstand short-term spring frosts down to -7 ° C.

The shrub is not picky about the quality of the soil, it is drought-resistant. Irga grows quickly - already in the third year after planting it begins to bear fruit, and at the age of 8-10 years a period of full productivity begins. The period of productivity is 20-30 years with an average yield of 8-10 kg of berries per bush.

Beneficial features

Irgi berries are a good multivitamin product containing vitamins C, B₂, carotene, pectins, anthocyanins and trace elements (cobalt, copper, lead). The fruits are useful in the treatment of hypo- and avitaminosis, for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system.

The healing properties of irgi berries

• calms the nervous system, useful for insomnia and restless sleep;
• increase the elasticity of the walls of blood vessels and strengthen them;
• used for the prevention of myocardial infarction and varicose veins (prevents the formation of blood clots);
• have a tonic effect, lower high blood pressure and normalize cholesterol levels;
• used for the prevention of peptic ulcer disease and as an anti-inflammatory agent for disorders of the gastrointestinal tract;
• the berry is useful in the fight against sclerosis;
• juice from fresh berries has astringent properties, so it is used to gargle with an inflammation of the throat.

Types and variety of varieties

Irga is from the Rosaceae family and has more than 25 species. The most common ones are:

1. Irga canadian - shrub with drooping branches up to 6 meters high. It is appreciated for very sweet, tasty berries weighing up to 1 g. Yields up to 6 kg / bush. The greens are lush, very good in hedges when planted after 2 meters. It is a fast-growing shrub with an annual growth of up to 40 cm in height and width.

Over the past 60 years, Canada has been a breeding center for the best varieties of Irgi. The most popular among gardeners are:

• Pembina - the height and width of the shrub reaches 5 meters. The crown is spreading. The advantage of the variety is the formation of a small amount of root growth.
• Smokey - shrub up to 4.5 m high, crown in the form of an open umbrella. A variety with a late flowering period, which makes it possible for it to avoid the loss of the ovary during late spring frosts. Smokey's berries are large, up to 14mm in diameter, with a great aroma. The berries are the sweetest of all available varieties, fleshy and without astringency.
• Northline - a multi-stemmed bush of medium size, vertical trunks. The berries are very large, up to 16mm in diameter, blue-black with a waxy bloom, ripening of non-cracking berries is amicable. The variety forms a lot of root growth. Needs a pollinator.
• Sturgeon - multi-stemmed, spreading shrub up to 3 m high. The variety is high-yielding, the berry clusters are long, the fruits are large and sweet.
• Thyssen - a shrub reaching a height of 5 m with a highly spreading, rounded crown. This is the earliest, fastest growing variety. The size of berries of excellent taste reaches 17mm in diameter. Fruits are fragrant with a slight sourness. Due to the uneven ripening of the berries, the harvesting period is extended in time. Frost resistance up to - 28 ° С.

2. Irga Lamarca Is a large shrub or small tree up to 8 meters high. The crown has a rounded shape. Unlike Canadian Irga, it grows more slowly, the annual growth is no more than 25 cm in height. Irga Lamarca is very beautiful during the flowering period and in the crimson foliage decoration in autumn.

The trunks take on a beautiful curving shape when shaped regularly. Such trees look good in single plantings and alleys.

Planting, growing and care conditions

Irga is undemanding to the growing conditions, and is not capricious in care.

In the garden or in the garden, it can be planted from the north side, since its multi-stem bushes trap snow and protect from cold northern winds. It is good to plant raspberries, currants, gooseberries next to it, for them it will serve as good protection.

Irga can be planted both in spring and autumn. In a prepared hole, seedlings are planted 5-10 cm deeper than they grew before, this will contribute to the growth of more basal shoots. After planting and abundant watering, the soil around the seedlings is mulched, the plant is cut to about 1/3 of the height, leaving no more than 5 well-developed buds. Plants are planted every 2-3 m, and when creating a hedge, it is preferable to plant in a checkerboard pattern every 0.5-0.7 m in rows and between plants.

Further care consists in watering during dry periods, loosening the soil around the bushes and feeding. Irga is responsive to fertilizers. During the season, it is advisable to feed it monthly with liquid organic fertilizers (infusions of mullein or bird droppings), combining them with watering and making foliar dressing with micronutrient fertilizers. The plant will be grateful to you.

Pruning

If you decide to form a plant in the form of a multi-stemmed bush, then in the first years after planting it is necessary to remove all weak shoots, leaving 2-3 of the strongest zero shoots from the root growth. A well-formed bush consists of 10-15 branches of different ages.

When the annual growth of shoots is no more than 10 cm, they begin rejuvenating pruning, which consists in removing all weak and strongly elongated shoots. The rest are cut to a height of 2.5 meters. All places of large cuts must be treated with garden varnish.

Irgu Lamarca is formed with a tree with 3-5 trunks, the rest of all basal shoots are removed throughout the season. The branches are shortened annually.

When using Irgi canadian in creating a hedge, it is necessary to cut it annually, shortening the annual growth by 10-15 cm. Annual pruning will contribute to better branching.

Reproduction

There are several ways to propagate Irga Canadian:

1. Seeds. Seeds are harvested from large, ripe berries from the most productive bushes. The berries are allowed to lie down for a week, and then the seeds, when they are well separated from the pulp, are removed. The seeds are sown in the fall in the year of harvesting. The seeds are sown in the furrows, watered well, and covered with foil on top. When planting seeds in spring, they must be stratified for 3 months in wet sand in the basement. With good care in the first year, seedlings can reach a height of 10-15 cm, for 2 years their height will be up to 40 cm, after 2 years the seedlings are transplanted to a permanent place.
2. Root offspring... With this method of reproduction, root shoots are used. It is separated from the mother bush and transplanted to a permanent place. The time for transplanting is spring or autumn.

   

3. Green cuttings. Reproduction by green cuttings in canadensis is quite successful. 95% of cut shoots are rooted. Green cuttings are cut during intensive growth of shoots from the end of June to the first ten days of July. Cuttings are cut from the upper part of 5-6 year old branches, the length of the cuttings should be 12-15 cm. From the cut cuttings, the lower leaves are removed, leaving only two pairs of the upper ones. The lower cut of the cutting is processed in a root former and planted obliquely at a distance of 5 cm from each other. The cuttings are planted in greenhouses, where it is necessary to maintain air humidity at 70-80%. Rooting takes place over 20-25 days. After rooting, the film is removed, and further growth of plants takes place in the open air. It is necessary to make regular watering and feeding. In the spring of next year, the plants are ready for transplanting.

   

4. Reproduction by layering. With this method of reproduction, well-developed one or two-year branches are taken. Layers are best done in early spring, as soon as the soil allows. Grooves are made near the bush in which the selected branches are laid. The laid shoots are pinned to the ground with metal staples, the tops of the shoots are shortened. After growing from the buds of the allotted branches of green shoots to a height of 10-12 cm, they are sprinkled with earth at half the height, after 20 days, the procedure for sprinkling with earth is repeated. In the fall, grown plants can be planted in a permanent place.
5. Reproduction by dividing the bush. This method is used when it is necessary to transplant an adult bush to another place. The plant is dug up in early spring or late autumn, the roots are freed from excess soil, old branches are removed. The rhizome is divided into parts, the roots are shortened and planted in prepared planting pits.

Pests and diseases

Irga canadensis is resistant to major fungal diseases and pests. It can be affected by the caterpillars of the currant leafworm, the caterpillar of the rose leafworm. They harm the leaves and gnaw the tops of young shoots. To combat pests when processing the garden, you must not forget to spray the irgi bushes.

During the ripening period of berries, birds do great harm to it, which also love to feast on its juicy and tasty berries. In order to avoid loss of yield, young bushes can be covered with a net. When the plants are already large, there are enough berries for everyone.

Vitamins - for future use

Irga bears fruit annually and abundantly, but its berries ripen unevenly and therefore they are harvested in several stages.

The shelf life of the harvested berries is short, only 2-3 days, provided that they are stored in a cool place (basement or refrigerator).

Compotes, juices, preserves, jellies, wine are prepared from sweet irgi berries, they are dried and frozen. Irgi berries, due to their low acid content, do not have a bright taste, but they have a very bright color. In this connection, it is very good to add them to compotes from apples, pears and other fruits that do not have a pronounced color.

A characteristic feature of irgi is the poor yield of juice from fresh berries. After 5-7 days of storage, the juice yield during processing will be up to 80%.

Blanks

Irgi berry juice is good for the eyes, heart, throat, blood vessels. The prepared juice is used for the preparation of fruit drinks, drinks, jelly.

Sugar Juice

The berries lying in a cool place for a week are washed, squeezed out, mixed with sugar in a 1: 1 ratio. Heat the juice over low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved, without bringing it to a boil. The heated juice is poured into glass jars or bottles, sealed and stored in a cool place.

Natural juice

Juice is squeezed out of the prepared berries, poured into liter jars, pasteurized for 15-20 minutes and rolled up with lids.

Irga canadian, due to its medicinal, taste and decorative qualities, deserves a place of honor in the garden or in the country. Leaving is minimal, but benefits and pleasures are abundant.