???Hi all Im new to this site and enjoying my second year on the Lotty in sunny Norfolk. Have really enjoyed reading all the friendly advice and wonder if anyone can answer my query.
Last year i got some great bargains from Pound shop but my redcurrant & blackcurrant didnt fruit: they are both single bushes and have grown to over 2ft high, there are plenty of healthy buds now but do I prune as there was no fruit and do they need other companions to pollinate? many thanks.
They fruit on second year wood. It might have paid to prune half of the branches to ground level in Autumn but I would leave them now I think as everything is waking up with the warm weather.
Thank you.
Just reread your post. Blackcurrants you prune down to the ground. It is not the same for redcurrants which have a "trunk" With these, you prune as a normal shrub . Not all the wood though. Just the old stuff that has fruited. Leave the wood that has grown that year as it is this that will fruit next.
If you've bought them from the pound shop last year, they wouldn't have fruited last year anyway - give 'em a chance to grow a bit, they're only babies!
You can let them grow this year and next without any severe pruning at all really.
Once well established, I prune one third of the oldest blackcurrant stems almost down to the ground in early spring. They are best grown in well improved soil with plenty of well rotted manure dug in and applied as a mulch late each winter. When planting, plant them deeper than the soil mark on the plant. They are best grown as a multi-stemmed plant, fresh shoots coming up from ground level.
The redcurrants prefer lighter soil, well drained although moist, and you can cut the very tips of the branches off in around August this year to encourage some fruiting points to establish along the branches. Aim for a shape like a little tree really, with one main stem and branches in a cup shape - cut out central branches in late summer. Don't remove fruited wood from redcurrants each year, removing a few older branches every couple of years is adequate.
i couldn get to town yest so i asked my bro to get me some currant! fruit bushes from either pound land or woolies, he got me 2 red currant,1 thornless blackberry,1 blackcurrant, 1 cranberry,1 raspberry. hoping not to sound thick or anything what apart from sticking in the ground should i do with them, is it ok to plant them now? as you may c from previous post i've just started at my plot, got bit more done than pic i have posted, but was hoping to have my fruit bit over another bit i not even dug yet! can plant them anywhere for now?then move them later or is it btr to plant them where they are to stay? sorry alot of questions. but the offer in woolies was too good to miss i got all those for about a tenner..... ;D
I bought a redcurrant and a blackcurrant fromWilko's last week. Both have a few laeves shooting already. Is this a problem?
There is a bit here on currants that might help; http://tinyurl.com/2s3v47
That's really helpful.TG. Thanks