Blackcurrants

[SueA]

The blackcurrant bush I put in the garden last December looks as though something has been nibbling the leaves & has no sign of any fruit but the cuttings I took off it to prune it at the time have rooted & even have tiny bunches of fruit. Is this because I cut off the fruiting wood when I pruned it & the bush in the ground should fruit next year? (pic. of cutting attached)

[pigletwillie]

I find that most of my blackcurrant cuttings bear fruit the year after and it is indeed because it is fruiting wood.

As the crop is insignificant it is always best to remove what little fruit there is for the first two years to allow the bush to establish itself rather than expending energy on a handful of berries. Your patience will be rewarded many fold with heavier crops and healthier plants.

[Peter]

Sue, if I remember rightly BC's fruit on the wood grown last year.
So depending how many cuttings you took off your bush yes you may well have done the dirty to it.
The correct way to deal with a BC is so it is lower in the ground than it was in the pot and to prune half the stems to encourage new growth from below ground for next years fruit while you crop the shoots you did not prune.
Then each year you thin the shoots by removing what cropped.

[SueA]

Thanks guys. I'll just take the baby currants off the cuttings & leave everything well alone until next year as I think I may have cut too much off to start with from what you say!