Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Harvest
Red and white currants should be clipped
from the plant with scissors or snips so that
the fruiting spurs are not damaged. The
bunches of fruit can hold on the bush for a
few weeks without dropping the berries, so
taste and decide for yourself when they
are ready.
Blackcurrants
Ribesnigrum
Black currants have had bad press about the
smell of their fruit and leaves. Suffice it to say,
they smell like black currants and provide
more vitamin C than oranges, make splendid
jelly and highly nutritious cordial. They are
not a fruit to be enjoyed straight off the bush.
They are grown as a stool or coppice (see
page 84, 'Coppicing'), and should be planted
deeply so that shoot growth/suckers can
develop from beneath the soil. Once planted
in winter, prune back the stems to two buds
from ground level (see Figure 10.5).
Figure 10.5
Plant black currants deeply to encourage
new growth/suckers from the base. In winter cut the
stems to two buds above ground level.
twiggy spindly growth. Any stems three years
old or more should also be removed; there
should not be any of this wood if all the stems
carrying fruit have been cut down at harvest.
Fruitingwood
The most productive wood is formed the
previous season with two-year-old wood still
fruiting, but not as vigorously. Wood that is
three years old should be cut to the ground or
to a strong growing side shoot.
Maintenance
Black currants need to have their wood
renewed constantly so old wood is pruned out
to make way for new suckers to form the
future fruiting wood. Pruning out fruiting
stems and thinning the new growth will keep
the bush productive (see Figure 10.6).
Pruningtime
Once the bush is well established at three
years old, the fruiting wood can be cut out at
harvest and the berries simply stripped off the
stems. Winter is the usual pruning time when
the one-year-old wood can be thinned,
leaving the thickest stems and removing any
Harvest
These currants ripen unevenly so it is best to
wait until the berries at the top of the cluster
have fallen before harvesting. As they are a
culinary berry, it does not matter too much if
some of the lower berries are unripe. Unlike
