Irga: planting, care, reproduction

Planting irgi

Irga is not very demanding on soil conditions. Light sandy soils are most suitable for successful cultivation. Irga is photophilous, in the shade its shoots are strongly stretched and bear fruit worse. In a sunny area, high yields are noted, and ripe fruits become sweeter. At a young age, irgi bushes tolerate a little shading. Irga spiky is characterized by high frost resistance and can withstand frosts down to -400C, sometimes -520C. Flowers are not afraid of spring frosts up to -70C. A tall, hard-to-pass hedge is obtained from the spicata, which grows and thickens due to the abundant root growth.

The best planting material is plants at the age of 3 years with a developed root system. For bushes, a nutritional area of ​​up to 2.5-4 m2 is needed. Plants are placed in a row at a distance of 1.5-2 m from each other. In the production nursery, a planting scheme of 4x2 m and 4x3 m is used.For single plants up to the age of 3-5 years, holes are dug with a diameter of 0.7 m and a depth of 0.5-0.7 m.

Irga care 

In summer, liquid supplements are useful for irgi, consisting of ammonium nitrate (50 g / bush) or 5 liters of a 10% solution of poultry droppings. Top dressing is given at night after rain or after abundant watering.

Pruning and shaping the irgi bush is carried out in early spring, starting at 3-4 years of age. During this period, all root shoots should be cut out at the very surface of the soil, except for 1-2 shoots located closest to the base of the bush. The rejuvenating pruning of irgi is started when the age of the bush reaches 8-10 years. A signal for this is the weakening of annual growth up to 10 cm. First, the bush is thinned out, removing all weak, thin and overly elongated branches, leaving only 10-15 of the strongest shoots. Then you need to shorten the high shoots, cutting them to a height of 2-2.5 m. The places of the cuts must be lubricated with garden pitch. With such careful care, the shrub will live up to 70 years.

Reproduction of irgi

Irga can be propagated vegetatively, as well as by seeds. The whole mass of seeds is thoroughly washed with cold water, separating the remaining pulp and unripe seeds that float to the surface of the water. This procedure is repeated many times until only filled seeds remain, concentrated at the bottom of the container. The best time for sowing seeds is September-October, immediately after they are isolated from the fruits. The seeds of the irgi are small, 3.5-5 mm long, brown, sickle-curved. 1 g up to 170 seeds.

Seeding rate - 2 g of seeds per 1 linear meter. m. The seeding depth of seeds is 1.5-2 cm. A large batch of seeds is sown into the ground in single-line paths or in prepared and fertilized ridges, which are watered abundantly. The grooves on the ridge are made across in rows at a distance of 18-20 cm from each other. For spring sowing of seeds, a long winter stratification is required for 3 months. Seedlings appear in spring, sometimes a year after sowing, when 3-5 true leaves are formed, the seedlings need to be cut open. The seed offspring of the irgi are usually homogeneous, probably due to apomixis (asexual reproduction), but this process is poorly understood.

Of the vegetative methods, it is easiest to propagate irgu by root shoots and dividing the bush, and more difficult - by cuttings and grafting. When digging root growth shoots are selected with a length of 10-15 cm and a thickness of 0.5 cm, with a well-developed root system. They are planted vertically, watered regularly, maintaining sufficient soil moisture. As a result of digging up root shoots, a limited number of daughter seedlings (no more than 4-6) are obtained, differing in height and power of the root system. Reproduction of irgi dividing the bush possibly up to 6-7 years of age, because older bushes are not suitable for this purpose.These propagation methods are only suitable for amateur gardeners and are not used for mass production in nurseries.

For green cuttings Irgi in the summer choose annual growths 12-15 cm long. Cut cuttings are planted in specially prepared greenhouses. The rooting substrate has a bottom layer of 30-40 cm thick from pebbles, then a mixture of light soil and humus is put in a layer of 25 cm, and a layer of sand (4-5 cm) is poured on top. Immediately after planting, the cuttings are watered abundantly and covered with foil. At high air humidity (up to 95%), adventitious roots are formed on the cuttings after 20-25 days. The rooting rate of cuttings varies depending on the type of irgi from 10 to 50%; when treated with Kornevin or Fiton, it increases by 20-30%. Rooted cuttings are planted in the garden next year. With good care on a high agronomic background, seedlings develop faster and are suitable for planting in a permanent place in the fall.

Read more in the article Green cuttings of woody plants.

Irga spikelet can be used as a winter-hardy rootstock for pear and apple varieties, as well as for decorative and fruit varieties of Irga. In this case, the varieties grafted with a handle, by the method of improved copulation, for two-year-old seedlings of irgi. The stock for varietal irgi can be a common mountain ash, on the stem of which, at a height of 15-40 cm from the soil level, cuttings of varietal irgi are grafted in spring. With skillful budding (grafting with a kidney), the survival rate of irgi eyes can be 85-90%.

Pests and diseases

Irga rarely suffers from diseases, and only slightly damaged by leaf-eating insects, common with apple and hawthorn. The most noticeable losses are borne by fruit-bearing irgi bushes from birds, which destroy ripening fruits with great pleasure. To save the harvest, sometimes a fine mesh is thrown over the bush.

Reddish-brown caterpillar moth-ripped It actively feeds on young leaves of irgi, gnawing holes of various shapes. When you touch it, the caterpillar freezes and disguises itself as a twig. At the end of May, it pupates in the soil, and in the fall a brown-yellow twilight butterfly appears with a wingspan of 3 cm. Light green caterpillar winter moth up to 2.5 cm long also eats holes in the leaves and damages the buds of the irgi, and in the fall a brownish-gray butterfly with dark wavy lines on its wings flies out. Gray-green caterpillar rose leaf roll with a brown shiny head and light hairs, it gnaws at the leaves and tops of young shoots. She is able to gnaw out the point of growth and wrap the leaves into a ball, inhibiting the development of shoots. Also eats on irge currant roll, carefully folding the sheet into a tube. Caterpillars Irgovy moth make moves of various shapes in the tissue of the leaf blade.

If rounded dark brown spots similar to rust are found on the leaves of the irgi, then they are caused by fungal diseases - phyllostictosis and ascochitous spotting of irgi... At moniliniosis irgi brown rot is found on the fruit. Nectric necrosis of the cortex leads to drying out of shoots and branches of irgi. The fungus develops in the vessels, causing the dying off of branches or the entire plant, spores throughout the year. The shrinking of irgi branches is also associated with cytosporosis, when dark pycnidia develop on the dead bark, as a result of which the surface of the shoot becomes rough. Polypore gray It usually occurs at the base of the trunk and causes white fibrous stem rot on old irgi bushes.