Currant Bush Care
Currants come in black, red, and white colors. Currants have a high pectin content and are excellent for making Jams. With their attractively colored berries they can be included in a woody mixed border or added to the vegetable garden.
Growing Conditions
Plant currant bushes in an area that gets morning sun and dappled afternoon shade. The plant thrives in rich, slightly heavy clay soils. Provide a windbreak. Otherwise, drying winds may reduce plant growth and fruit size.
Wet and poorly drained soil is not advised.
Planting
Planting in late Autumn is preferable but, can be planted between November and March.
When planting, dig a hole of sufficient volume to allow the roots to be fully extended. Be careful to set the plant at its previous soil mark. Plant the bushes 4 – 5 feet (1.2 – 1.5 m) apart. Requirements for red and black currants are similar. However, black currants are heavier feeders than red currant, so it is beneficial to add a side dressing of compost or aged manure before planting, and again during summer.
Black currants also tolerate more standing water than red currants.
After planting, cut down all the shoots to one bud above the ground. You will be sacrificing the first year’s fruit, but it is well worth it so that you get better bushes and higher yields in the future. Apply adequate irrigation for best fruit size and yield. After harvest, gradually reduce the amount of water to harden the plants prior to winter. Give a final watering in November to reduce drying during the winter.
The depth of planting is quite important with blackcurrents. The bushes naturally produces a large number of stems from just below ground level (unlike red and white currants). To encourage this growth, plant the bushes roughly 5cm (2in) deeper than they were in the pot or at the nursery if bare-rooted. Fill around the roots with soil and firm it down with your foot.
Harvesting
Berries ripen in mid to late summer but require several pickings because they do not ripen all at the same time. For ease of picking gather currants in clusters not individually.
Red currants are borne in clusters and generally are deep red and soft when fully ripe. Pick currants by pinching off the main cluster stem at the base, using the forefinger and thumb. For jelly, pick them slightly under ripe when the pectin level is high. For juices, jams and tarts, pick them when fully ripe and soft. Picking may last two or three weeks, as they remain useable for some time while on the bush. Currants may be dried and used as a substitute for raisins.
Black currants are ready for harvest when the fruits are very nearly black. Always try and pick them in dry conditions – wet black currants store very badly and will quickly go moldy. If the intention is to store the currants for a few days, it’s best to pick an entire truss which will keep for longer. Black currants will keep best dry in the fridge and will last for five or six days.
General Pruning Care
Pruning is required for good yield. Red currants bear fruit on spurs (shortened fruiting branches) of two and three year old wood. Some fruit is borne near the base of year old wood. Prune in late winter or early spring prior to bud swelling. Remove wood more than three years old, and thin out younger wood. The resulting bush should have three upright canes each of three, two and one year old wood.
Black currants are different in their growing habits to the red currant, in that the black currant produces most of its fruit on the previous years growth. Thus the bush should be pruned to encourage a supply of new wood each season. To do this, cut all stems of the newly planted bush to about two buds above soil level. New shoots emerge from these in the first season and will bear some fruit in the second. The bushes from a clump of canes which, each season, make new suckers from the base. Once the bush is established, (ie. in the second season), prune out some of the older canes by cutting back to just beyond a strong new shoot near the base to make way for new growth. Leave about six or eight upward growing main shoots to form the bush. Follow this routine each winter. No shoot rising from the base of the plant should remain in place longer than three years. Keep the center reasonably open at all times.
Problems
Insects most commonly observed are aphids, cane borers and red spider mites. Like most fruit currants are favorite food to a range of small and often not so small mammals. Birds are a particular problem. Various makeshift ways of preventing fruit damage have been concocted over the years but none works as well as a fruit cage.
