Topic: How big should a blackcurrant bush be

[Digeroo]

I wanted blackcurrant Big Ben and ordered some but they sent Ben Tron.
Ordered from a different company and the sent the smallest plants you could ever see,
The biggest is about two inches about ground level and the smallest no much more than an inch.  This one has not sprouted leaves so I asked for a refund.  They are being difficult and saying I have to jump through all sort of hoops to get it included paying for postage on a replacement.  I do think Ashridge Nurseries are being reasonable.  When you order they offer guarantees but when you claim for a dead plant they do not want to know and are not very nice about it. 
Orders some more from Otter Farm and for slightly more have three gorgeous plants.  They have all burst into life.  Each plant is easily 30 times the size of the miserable Ashridge plants.

[Bill Door]

Not sure I fully understand the problem.  If you think that the black currant bush should be about 3 foot high when you receive it then I would say that you have been reading one too many Dickens novels.  You could send the supplier a photo of the plants as received and ask their opinion.  Also ask why they did not meet your specific order.  Was that in the terms and conditions of the sale? At the same time you could place them in their own largish pot with MPC, BFB and chicken pellets and see what happens in two or three weeks. RHS does say to prune them back to one bud above ground level after planting but I would not do that to yours yet.

I have moved home over the last 12 months.  My blackcurrant cuttings were small and did nothing whilst in the small pots but since I have put them into their spot, three weeks ago, they have been growing very well. So give them a go and see what happens.  I use to cut the fruit bearing branches off the plant to make picking the fruit easier so having fewer branches is not a problem.  I think most blackcurrants bear fruit on new growth.

Best wishes

Bill

[Digeroo]

I do not expect them to be 3 ft high but I also do not expect them to be only just over an inch high.  If I pruned them in any way there would be nothing left.

I have several I rooted myself in June, and they are doing well and are mostly five or six inches high. 

It would appear that the sale of goods legistation required you to notify the supplier within 30 days.  But with plants that is not possible you do not know it is not going to grow.

[Beersmith]

I think it all depends on the roots.

A set of good healthy roots underneath and those little stubs will burst into life in no time.

But if the roots are as small as the tops you have good cause for complaint.

Another good idea is to tell the supplier you have posted your experience on A4all and that five hundred members (and counting) have read about their poor customer service. That might shake them up a bit

Hope it goes well.

Cheers.

[Digeroo]

Difficult to know how big the roots are.  But unlike some of my own rooted cuttings they are so far not sprouting from ground level or even below. 

I have also vented my spleen on their facebook page.

If they replace the plants they say I have to pay the postage.  And that would be throwing good money after bad.  So there is no point in asking for them to be replaced.  So they have no incentive to sent out anything but dud plants.  Since they know you will not asked for their poor plants to be replace.

I only asked them to refund one plant which I thought was very generous.  They are saying it might still grow and I need to keep it weeded and watered.  I have the thought they are using every excuse not to pay up. 

They keep saying this is the way they do business and it is in their terms and conditions.  Well if that is the way they do business I do not want to be part of it and I am going to make sure that as many people as possible hear about it. 

In the meantime I can really recommend Otter Farm.  Their plants were more expensive but their p&p is less, so for a similar price I have three lovely plants which have simply leapt into life.  Each one is 30 times the size of the others, they look really bonny.  They have also been well fed so are already sprouting well from the base as well.  I have fed them as well.  Have fed the others as well but feel it is a waste of effort.

[johhnyco15]

a few years ago  i paid 10p for two very small sickly white currant bushes they were about an inch high my fellow peers  laughed at me several years on they are the most productive pair of white currant bushes on the the site he who laughs last and all that i understand that you were ripped off however with a little tlc and patience you could still get your money back in fruit ten times over

[Beersmith]

My apologies, I was thinking they were bare rooted.

In the past, I have bought young bare rooted blackcurrants, and after planting have cut back all the shoots to no more than a couple of inches. In spring because of the good healthy roots they have burst into life and quickly produced a lot of new wood. Of course no fruit the first year but they have always produced well in the second year and thereafter. This is standard advice for young blackcurrants.

So the advice given by others about not worrying to much about the top growth in the first year is sound. But I'd guess anything that has been in the ground for a while should now be showing healthy new shoots from ground level as the weather warms.

[Digeroo]

I am not sure what I have been sent.  The cuttings I rooted in June after fruiting are looking a lot better then the new bought one.  The cutting I rooted during the winter are bigger because I used longer pieces of cutting.  So I am not sure what a two inch twig is supposed to be doing.  The three live one have a few tiny leaves each, but no sign of action from ground level or below.  The dead one is dead.
However I bought a casseille at great expense last year, and it had a couple of leaves when it arrived and managed to hang on and grow a rather pathetic two inches more all summer.  This year it has already grown five inches not from one growing point but from each of four,  and the strongest has burst from below ground so I am finally quite pleased with it.  So yes you never can tell.

[sunloving]

I think the nursery are being churlish, even Parkers would send you new plants for free. Thing is someone at the nursery packed those plants and was either in competent or just plain didn't care that they were substandard. Both very good reasons to steer well clear of them in the future and let as many people as possible know so that they can do the same.

Hope they have a growth spurt but don't let this nursery treat you like poop.x k

[Digeroo]

Thankyou you are very encouraging.
They keep referring me to their terms of business.  I just cannot believe that it is right that I have to pay a huge amount extra to replace a plant.  It cannot be right.    There is no incentive for them to send out anything but dead plants.

[Beersmith]

The regulations used to be part of the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations act 2000. But these have been superceded by the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2014. These cover safe online and distance shopping and consumer rights.

Briefly, on line or similar shopping provides consumers with a 7 day period, in which time the consumer is entitled to examine and assess the goods as they might do in a shop. The consumer can cancel the purchase and receive a full refund within 30 days, making the goods available to be ‘restored’ to the supplier. If, however, you accepted terms and conditions before the purchase, you might have to pay the return postage charge.

But importantly if the goods are faulty, and you have not caused them any damage yourself, then the supplier must offer a replacement, repair or even compensation.

I would not give up. Contact them and make clear you have not simply "changed your mind" but that the goods are faulty. Refer to the above act and make clear your next step will be to report your complaint to you local trading standards department for breach of the act. Do report them if they fail to act, or report them immediately and ask they comply with the law.

Good luck!

[Beersmith]

P.S.

But importantly if the goods are faulty, and you have not caused them any damage yourself, then the supplier must offer a replacement, repair or even compensation.

The supplier must also meet any costs of returning faulty goods if that proves necessary.  A dead plant is obviously faulty.

[Digeroo]

Many thanks all.  Emailed the letter on Trading standard website.  Did the trick got a refund.  Result!!!

 The legislation was not written for plants which arrive during winter.  Since you are initially expected to reject goods within one month.  For up to six months they have to be faulty.  Though it was rather odd calling plants faulty.

I looked on the sellers website and their soft fruit is described as 1-2 years old.  I have various blackcurrant cutting on the go of other varieties.  I am pretty sure what they sent me were this winters cuttings.  Ie they sent me four twigs stuffed into small pots. Even my June 2016 cutting are quite different, they are mostly sprouting from the base of the plants.  Some cuttings taken in February 2017 ie after the plants arrived are actually doing better.  So they also did not match the description.

Now I do not have to water the dead twig I will dig it up and see if it has any roots at all.

[Beersmith]

Good result!!

Good for you!

[Digeroo]

Many thanks.  I feel justice has been done.  I would have accepted less in the first place though would have felt peeved about the small size of the plants.  But the longer they took and the grottier they were the more determined I became.

Dug the dead one up.  It was a tiny little ball of compost about 1 inch diameter 1 inch tall,   A tomato seedling would not have coped in it for long.  So the cutting must have been less than three inches long.I think I could give them a lesson on blackcurrant cuttings.  It is very difficult to know what you will get when described as cell grown.  The ones I bought as replacements could also be described as cell grown but the cell was much larger and they had three stems per plant.
   
Meanwhile my own cuttings from June are taking off big time,  One plant has four five inch new grown stems.   I do think June cutting are best.  I did some in November and February but it took me ages to pick off all the flowers and several are struggling.  I get a higher hit rate in June after fruiting.   And they are starting to fruit two years after being a cutting.