Currant: how to grow a good harvest

Two types of currants usually grow in our gardens: black currant (Ribes nigrum) and red currant (Ribes rubrum). They are the closest relatives, but meanwhile they have differences in care and sometimes significant.

Currant cultivation

Where to plant currants depends on its variety – they have a different attitude to light.

Black currant. She is ready to put up with a little shading, so she can be safely planted in the orchard between the trees. But not close to them, but retreating a couple of meters.

Red currant. But she loves an abundance of light, in partial shade, and even more so in the shade, it makes no sense to expect a good harvest from her, so the sunniest area should be taken under her.

Otherwise, their preferences are similar:

• choose a flat plot, it’s not bad if it’s a small hill – it’s useless to plant currants in the lowlands, cold air often stagnates there, there are frosts, and flowers die in plants;
• the place should be protected from the winds – snow is blown out in a bare field in winter (namely, it protects the roots from freezing), in summer the soil dries out excessively;
• groundwater – no closer than 1 m from the surface (1).

Planting of currant

The planting technology for both types of currants is the same.

Open-rooted seedlings can be planted in spring, before bud break (in April), and in autumn, after plant growth has ended, but before the onset of hard frosts (in October) (2).

“But spring planting is still preferable,” says agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mihailova. – Plants in containers, and most often they sell just such, can be planted throughout the summer.

Pits for currants are dug in the size of 45×45 cm. In each you need to add:

• humus – 1 bucket;
• double superphosphate – 1/2 cup;
• potassium sulfate – 2 tbsp. beds.

If the soil is too acidic, dolomite flour should be added to fertilizers – 1 cup.

Differences in planting are in the distances between plants:

• black currant – 2 – 2,5 m;
• red – 1,5 m (unlike blackcurrant, it does not grow in breadth, its shoots are directed upwards).

After planting, the currants should be well watered and sprinkled with peat, humus, compost, straw or dry leaves with a layer of 5–8 cm (3) on the trunk circle (XNUMX) – they will help moisture not evaporate from the soil longer.

Care for currants in the open field

But the care of black and red currants has differences, and on all counts.

Watering

The main difference here is that black currant is easier to put up with drought, and red currant is moisture-loving. Hence the difference in irrigation.

Black currant. She needs 3 waterings over the summer:

• when berries begin to set – in late spring – early summer;
• during the pouring of berries – in June;
• after the harvest is harvested – in August-September.

In a dry autumn, it would be nice to water the currants again – at the end of October.

With each watering, the water consumption is the same – 50 – 70 liters per bush.

Red currant. It requires watering 2 times a month from May to September. The last watering should be done at the end of October – it will help increase the winter hardiness of plants.

Feeding

Here, too, there are differences.

Black currant. She needs 4 top dressings per season:

• when buds open – 30 g of ammonium nitrate (2 tablespoons) per 10 liters of water, consumption rate – 1 bucket per bush;
• in July – 1 liter of mullein or 0,5 liters of bird droppings per 10 liters of water, consumption rate – 2 buckets per bush;
• at the end of September – 1/2 cup of double superphosphate and 2/3 cup of potassium sulfate per bush – evenly scatter fertilizers in the trunk circle and rake into the soil;
• at the end of October – 0,5 buckets of humus under a bush – evenly distribute.

Red currant. And this is enough 2 top dressing per season:

• when buds open – 20 g of ammonium nitrate (5 teaspoons) per 10 liters of water, consumption rate – 1 bucket per bush;
• at the end of September – 20 g of potassium sulfate (1 tablespoon) per 10 liters of water – evenly distribute in the trunk circle and rake into the soil.

In addition, once every 3 years, red currants need to be fed with phosphorus – 60 g of double superphosphate (4 tablespoons) per bush. This top dressing is given in late September – early October.

Trimming

There are also differences here, because these species grow in different ways.

Black currant. It needs to be rejuvenated annually, because it gives the main crop on two-year-old shoots. For 3 years, berries are tied to them less, and for 4 – quite a bit.

– Black currant should be cut from the age of 2, – advises Svetlana Mikhailova. – In autumn, 3 – 4 strong annual shoots should be selected, and the rest that appeared during the season should be cut out. And so annually – 3 – 4 are left, the rest are deleted. With such a formation, each bush will annually have 9-12 shoots aged 1-3 years, that is, the most prolific. And for all annual shoots, it is useful to cut the tops by 10 cm – so they will branch better.

Red currant. She has a different fruiting – shoots aged 5-6 years give the maximum yield. And with good care, they bear fruit up to 15 years.

“Red currants often cannot be pruned – the yield will drop sharply,” says agronomist Svetlana Mikhailova. – It is enough to thin out the bush once every 5 years. And you can’t cut the tops of red currants, because the main crop is formed there.

Harvesting currants

Harvesting currants should be carried out when the berries are fully ripe. It is better to collect them before lunch – at this time they are the most juicy, fragrant and nutritious.

Black currants are harvested as individual berries, red currants are harvested together with tassels.

Currant storage rules

Fresh currant berries can be stored in the refrigerator for some time. They lie for different periods:

• black – 2 weeks;
• red (as well as white and pink) – 2 months if the temperature is +1 ° С.

You can keep currant berries longer if you freeze them. They must be sent to the freezer unwashed. Without loss of quality, they can lie there for 3 months. If longer, the taste will remain, but the vitamins will begin to break down.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about growing currants with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. Emelyanov F.A., Kruglova A.P., Kulikov V.A., Sazhin N.S., Gryazev N.D., Kinkovskaya N.I., Berkut O.D., Molchanov A.I., Khramov P .BUT. Fruit and berry garden and vineyard // Saratov, Saratov book publishing house, 1955 – 472 p.
2. Kamshilov A. and a group of authors. Gardener’s Handbook // M .: State Publishing House of Agricultural Literature, 1955 – 606 p.
3. Egorov V.I., Nazaryan E.A. Handbook of gardening // M.: Profizdat Publishing House, 1957 – 264 p.