blackcurrants and redcurrants

[slooky]

I am a bit confused about pruning these any advice

thanks slooky

[Gardeners Delight]

I'm bumping this cos I'd like to know the answer too Thanks

[burnie]

The book says.......prune in winter(red & black)
blacks are grown as "stooled" plants , young shoots from as close to the ground as poss. , fruit mostly on previous years growth."winter" pruning can be done in summer by removing the shoots with the fruit on,but it's probably too late now.Cut out all weak or horizontal shoots.
reds are different,new growth is shortened so that plant is main stems with short spurs ,maintain open centre for good air flow

[Tam]

Yeah, Burnie's book sounds right, but it's not too late to tidy up the blackcurrants by removing the wood that has fruited and leaving this year's shoots to give you a good crop next year. Blackcurrants should be planted deeply, so that there are always plenty of new growth from ground level. I have blackcurrants that have been producing heavily for thirty years.

[burnie]

The book is the rhs "pruning and training" by christopher brickell and david joyce,well worth finding.I know nothing of the dark art,so this is my bible.

[djhs196]

Not sure on redcurrants, but for blackcurrants you're aiming to have a young(ish) set of shoots (up to and including 3 year old wood).

What that means for pruning is that you're aiming to remove the thickest stemed wood by cutting these to the ground each year. Don't remove more than 1/3 of the shoots in any season. I do my pruning in November but you can do it at harvest time too.

This year the blackcurrant prunings are going to be potted up as hardwood cuttings for a few more bushes next year!



Douglas

[pigletwillie]

With the blackies, just cut out the oldest 1/4 of the bush down to the ground. With redcurrants, just take 1/3 off the the length of the new growth and tidy it up.

Use the prunings to make more bushes by trimming them to about 12' long and stick half a dozen or so "sticks" in a pot. When they shoot next year, pot up individually.

[sewer rat]

Cheers PW. You just saved me a new thread - was gonna ask advice about currant propogation as I have access to an unlimited number of red and blackcurrant bushes courtesy of one of my winter jobs that I started today.

[Kayt]

Do I need to do the same sort of pruning to white currants and gooseberries? Have just taken on a plot with black, red and white currants, gooseberry and raspberry bushes on.

[Snadger]

Do I need to do the same sort of pruning to white currants and gooseberries? Have just taken on a plot with black, red and white currants, gooseberry and raspberry bushes on.

Whitecurrants can be treat the same as Gooseberries. I particularily like the idea of growing as cordons or standards!

This description is from BBC gardening basics! I think that by winter pruning they are talking about February-ish!

How to prune and train

Winter pruning helps to form a balanced branch structure and keeps the centre of the bush open to make picking easier. Mildew disease is also reduced if air circulation is encouraged. Fruits form on old wood and around the base of last year’s growth. Therefore prune back the previous years growth to two buds. Prune out any shoots that are growing into the centre of the bush, and cut back leaders by one-third.
Summer pruning is not essential, but if possible prune sideshoots back to five leaves in June. This will allow the sun to reach into the centre of the bush and help ripen the fruit.
Single-stemmed cordons can be trained on canes or against a wall where they can reach 1.8m (6ft) tall. In summer, prune sideshoots back to five leaves to encourage fruiting spurs to develop.
Tie the leading shoot tip into the support as it grows. In winter, shorten the previous year's growth on the main tip back by a quarter to encourage new sideshoots. Shorten sideshoots pruned in summer to two or three buds.

[Kayt]

Thanks for that Snadger. At least that's one job I can leave for now There is soooo much to learn!!