{"id":1056,"date":"2019-08-31T04:38:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-31T04:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=1056"},"modified":"2019-09-17T23:42:11","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T23:42:11","slug":"blackcurrant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/31\/blackcurrant\/","title":{"rendered":"Blackcurrant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ribes nigrum<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History: This species is native to the cooler\nareas or Europe and western Asia. It is easy to grow, low maintenance and\nproduces an abundance of nutirious and very tasty fruit, yet it is very much\nunder-appreciated in the United States and deserves to be much more widely\ngrown. This neglect is partly because they are plants of northern climates and\ndo best in cooler areas. The other reason is that it has long been illegal to\ngrow them in some states, because they are an alternate host for White Pine\nBlister Rust, a fatal disease to some\nspecies of Pine tree. As a consequence cultivation was illegal in some states\n(mostly northeastern states including (ME, NH, VT, NJ, DE, NC, WV.) Is it still illegal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Blackcurrant<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours of winter chill:\n800-1500<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Size: 3-6ft tall x 3-5ft wide<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zone: 3-8 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blooming period: March –\nApril<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fruiting period: June -July<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life expectancy: 15-30 years <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bearing age: 15years<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yield: 5-10lb<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Days to harvest: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spacing: 4ft apart<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutrition:\nBlackcurrant fruits have been\ncalled a superfood because they are very rich in vitamin C and are one of the\nbest sources of antioxidants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ease\nof growing: In a suitable climate\nBlackcurrant is easy to grow, very productive and demands\nlittle attention. It is also delicious, so what more could you ask for? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate:\nThough Blackcurrant is native to northern climates\nand does best in cooler areas, it is pretty adaptable and grows very well in my\nCalifornia garden. It is very hardy (to-40\u00b0F) but fruits fairly early and in cold climates the flowers are vulnerable to late frosts. It doesn\u2019t like really hot\nweather, so give it some shade in warmer climates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

pH: 5\n\u2013 7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackcurrants\nprefer a deep, moisture retentive, well drained, rich garden soil, However they\ncan do pretty well on most soils, even quite wet ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soil preparation: These vigorous and productive shrubs can use a lot of\nnutrients, so if the soil isn\u2019t very fertile you may want to dig the entire\nplanting area and incorporate lots (at least one wheelbarrow every 2 square\nyards) of compost or aged manure (also wood ashes and maybe a fertilizer mix).\nThis works much better than simply amending the planting hole, as it encourages\nthe roots to spread out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Site:\nBlackcurrants are native to cool moist areas, so if your climate is hot and\nsunny they may benefit from light shade and will need plenty of moisture.\nGenerally they produce less fruit in the shade, as they get less energy (but\nsome may be better than none). In very cold climates you may want to give them\na warm sheltered location as they flower early and are\nvulnerable to late frost. If your soil isn\u2019t very well drained you might\nconsider planting on a hillside, or on a mound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spacing: Plants are spaced 4-6 feet apart, in rows 6 feet\napart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planting:\nPlant two year old plants while dormant, preferably in winter or early spring\n(they start growing quite early).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make a\nlarge hole so you can spread out the roots widely, and plant an inch or two\ndeeper than they were in the nursery, to encourage suckering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nplanting it\u2019s a good idea to cut off the top to just above the second bud above\nthe ground. This stops them making fruit during the first year and helps to\nensure they develop a good root system. At the end of the summer the plant\nshould have 3 or 4 good strong shoots which will produce fruit the following\nsummer. It may sound like a waste to cut off all that growth, but you can try\nrooting the pieces you cut off and so get extra plants quite quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Training: Blackcurrants are grown as multi-stemmed shrubs,\nwith several shoots coming out of the ground, rather than a single trunk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollination: The flowers are self-fertile, so you only need to plant one variety,\nalthough you may get more fruit with two varieties and the resulting\ncross-pollination. They are mostly pollinated by bees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pruning:\nIs done any time the plants are dormant. Plants bear most fruit on the previous\nyears growth (though some is produced on 2 year old wood too) and pruning\nbasically consists of cutting out any growth that is three years or older. This\nremoves less productive wood and stimulate the growth of new shoots. Old growth\nis easy to identify by its darker color and is cut above a strong bud close to\nthe ground. Usually \u00bc-\u2153 of old growth is cut every year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When pruning you should also remove any diseased or\ndamaged shoots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maintenance<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watering:\nBlackcurrants need plenty of water for maximum production, so never let the\nsoil go dry.  This is especially\nimportant in hot dry climates (use drip for best results). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weed control: Hand pull large weeds and then rely on a thick 3\u201d mulch to suppress\nthe rest. Don\u2019t hoe around the plants as their shallow roots are easily\ndamaged. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mulch:\nA 2-3\u201d mulch of compost or aged manure is the best way to feed blackcurrants.\nIt also helps to conserve moisture, keeps the soil cool and keeps down\ncompeting weeds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fertilizing: Blackcurrants are hungry plants and respond well to fertilization.\nThey are usually fed with a mulch of compost or aged manure, but you might also\ngive them a fertilizer mix (10lb\/100sq ft) every spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frost: If a late frost threatens to harm the early blooming\nflowers, you can protect them with row covers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pests<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\ntheir European homeland Blackcurrants are prone to quite a number of pests and\ndiseases, but in North America only a few pests are of significance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cane borers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aphids<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackcurrant\ngall mite<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red\nspider mite<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diseases: Several diseases can be problematic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viruses<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reversion disease <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mildew<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gooseberry mildew<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaf spot<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Botrytis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White Pine blister – It is still not be legal to\nplant it in all states<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birds\n\u2013 I haven\u2019t found birds to be a problem with blackcurrants (maybe it\u2019s\nsomething to do with the fact that birds around here don\u2019t know what they are),\nbut apparently they can be in some areas. If this is the case you may have to\nnet them or grow in a cage. Birds can sometimes be a problem in winter when\nthey may eat the emerging buds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Propagation:\nBlackcurrants are one of the\neasiest fruiting plants to propagate, just stick hardwood cuttings into the\nground in fall and you will have small plants by spring. You can do this in a\nnursery bed, directly in pots or straight into the garden (if the ground stays\nmoist enough they should root without a problem).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardwood\ncuttings are usually taken in autumn after the plants go dormant. They should\nideally be from this seasons growth, 8-10 inch long x \u00bd\u201d thickness, with a\nslant cut on top and a flat cut on the bottom (so you know which way is up).\nThey are planted 6-8 inches deep, so only a couple of buds are showing above\nground. When you plant them out the following year you cut them down almost to\nthe ground and they send up several shoots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also take 3 inch long softwood cuttings in\nlate spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harvest; The fruit doesn\u2019t all ripen at the same time so you\nmay have to go over the bushes several times. Ripe berries are soft (though not\nnecessarily sweet) and dull black. They stay on the bush for a while before\nthey start to deteriorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unusual\ngrowing ideas: Blackcurrant cuttings can be used to make an inexpensive\nproductive hedge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Varieties<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackcurrants are\nself-pollinated, so you only need to grow one variety, but it is a good idea to\nhave several (early, mid and late) to extend the harvest season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jostaberry is a delicious cross between the\nBlackcurrant and the European Gooseberry with larger fruit than a Blackcurrant\nand no thorns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food\nuses: Blackcurrants are tart and most\nvarieties are not very good raw (or should I say they are an acquired taste).\nHowever when cooked and sweetened they make outstanding fruit pies or\npreserves. It makes my mouth water to think about them, they are totally\naddictive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ribes nigrum History: This species is native to the cooler areas or Europe and western Asia. It is easy to grow, low maintenance and produces an abundance of nutirious and … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fruit-bushes","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/blackcurrant.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1056"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1764,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1056\/revisions\/1764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}