»  Back to Fruit and Herbs

»  Black Currants
»  Gooseberries
  • New Plants
    • Plant in holes during October to March; put plenty compost or well-rotted manure in the bottom of the hole.
    • Bushes should be about 4 or 5 feet apart
    • Prune branches by half, to an outward pointing bud.
  • Propagating from cuttings
    • Take 12 inch cuttings of healthy shoots in autumn, and remove all but the top four buds. Push them half their length into soil in nursery bed. The cuttings should be ready for planting out in one or two years.
  • Care
    • Red Currants are not so hungry as Black Currants, and will crop well with a mulch of compost in February.
    • Keep plants weed free - they steal the nitrogen and water your bushes need! Use black plastic as a mulch.
    • Water regularly in dry spells - and especially in early June to help fruit fill out.
    • Harvest berries about a week after they have coloured.
  • Pruning
    • For Red Currants prune leading shoots to about half their length, and laterals to one or two buds - after leaf-fall is easiest.
    • In July shorten lateral shoots to about 4 inches.