Guidelines for Nurturing Blackcurrants: A Comprehensive Guide
Taste the Tangy Delight: Blackcurrants
Lick your lips for the tantalizing treat that's both simple to cultivate and phenomenal for your health. These minuscule, shiny black berries, famously known as blackcurrants, burst with vitamin C and medicinal benefits. Despite their sharp flavor, they're a delightful option for snacking or adding to pies, jams, and cordials. Known for their versatility, blackcurrants are the perfect addition to your arsenal of homestead-grown perennials. Not only do they attract pollinators, but they also thrive in pots and soil alike. Once your blackcurrant bush has found its footing, prepare yourself for a bounty of fruits year after year.
Cultivate your blackcurrants
Grow blackcurrants in moist yet well-drained soil, thriving in full sunlight to partial shade. Fuel them with a high potash fertilizer weekly during the growing season and blanket the soil with well-rotted manure, leaf mold, or compost. Consider netting the fruit to protect against the winged snatchers. Prune in autumn.
Blackcurrant-related Knowledge
- ** extends the life of the fruits by keeping them shielded from birds
- ** offers handy tips for pruning blackcurrant plants effectively
- ** shares nine beneficial tips for winter pruning
Prepare the Ground for Blackcurrants
Blackcurrants grow best in a sunny, sheltered spot, where ripe berries can prosper. Plant bare-root blackcurrant bushes in autumn or pot-grown plants at any time of the year. If growing in a container, opt for a large tub or barrel.
Blackcurrants thrive in deep soil, so dig a generous planting hole, fill it with well-rotted compost or manure, and fortify it with fertilizer before planting. Prune the bush right back after planting.
Tender Loving Care for Blackcurrants
Blackcurrant bushes require plenty of watering and feeding—especially if container-grown. Treat them to a serving of pelleted chicken manure or other high potash fertilizer in spring, and dress them with a thick mulch layer. Keep them free from weeds during the growing season, and once the fruits start to mature, net your plants to defend against the avian fruit thieves.
Keep Exploring
Find out the finesse behind pruning blackcurrants effectively, with our No Fuss video guide:
Raise blackcurrants sustainably: Propagation
Breed blackcurrants with ease by propagating from hardwood cuttings. Learn the method in our No Fuss video guide with David Hurrion:
Overcoming challenges: Problem-solving
New varieties of Blackcurrant bushes exhibit resistance to common problems such as mildew and frost damage. However, Blackcurrant gall midge can cause leaves to dry and drop off. An insecticidal soap spray can help combat this issue. Remove any affected leaves. Ornithophiles enjoy the berries as much as we do, so net your fruit bushes to protect them.
Average Yield:4-5kg per bush
Why isn't your blackcurrant flowering or fruiting? Find out, with our Quick Tips video, featuring Emma Crawforth:
Pick your ripe blackcurrants
Blackcurrants are ready to pluck when they're dark and glistening, yet still firm. Harvest on a dry day to prevent moldiness. Collect entire trusses instead of individual berries. They can be eaten fresh and remain fresh for several days after harvesting.
** Curate your Blackcurrant Creations**
In search of culinary inspiration? Our friends at olive have curated a delectable collection of blackcurrant recipes, such as their innovative blackcurrant ripple ice cream.
Store your blackcurrants
Unwashed bunches of currants last up to five days in the refrigerator. If you've harvested more fruit than you can utilize immediately, the berries freeze well and can be preserved in jams, sauces, and cordials.
** Patriots of the Currant Kingdom: Varieties**
Spacing:150 apart180 between rows
- Blackcurrant 'Ebony' - a reliable, disease-resistant variety, offering large, sweet fruits from early to mid-July with a slightly open and spreading habit for easy picking.
- Blackcurrant 'Ben Connan' - a compact bush variety, laden with plenty of large, glossy black fruits ready for picking from early July. This variety boasts exceptional mildew resistance and copes well with frost.
- Blackcurrant 'Baldwin' - a classic variety, prevalent in the blackcurrant industry since time immemorial, delivering a mild flavor but with susceptibility to mildew and frosts.
- Blackcurrant 'Ben Sarek' - a variant with numerous large, juicy fruits in July. It resists mildew, frost, and leaf-curling midge.
- Blackcurrant 'Ben Hope' - a late-maturing variety with good resistance to mildew.
- Blackcurrant 'Ben Nevis' - resistant to frost and mildew, the fruits are ready to pick in late July.
Nourish your home-and-garden lifestyle by adding blackcurrants to your gardening endeavors. Grow them in your well-drained soil and watch the perennials thrive, bringing both fruit and beauty to your home. After pruning in autumn, protect your blackcurrant bush during the growing season by keeping weeds at bay and netting the fruit to protect against birds.
