Probably Blackcurrants, possibly rotten?

[shmeen]

Hi,

I took on an allotment last autumn and there are two rows of what another plot holder thinks are probably blackcurrants. On this assumption I started to prune them - many of the canes are black and kind of soft in the centre, all the way to the ground. Should I cut all these out and the rest of the plant will be ok, or are the whole plants 'diseased' in some way and therefore won't fruit?

Unfortunately don't have a picture but I can take one on friday when I'm up there if that would help?

I've never grown fruit of any kind before so any advice would be great!

Thanks,
S

[Capsid]

I'd just wait until there are signs of growth and then you should be able to recognise the dead/diseased branches. Until then I wouldn't assume anything.

[Snadger]

Some people NEVER prune blackcurrants.............and still get acceptable crops!

[SarzWix]

If they're 'canes' rather than 'bushes', I would wonder if they are indeed blackcurrants If they look like they have more or less individual canes, they're more likely to be raspberries.
Either way, if they're black right through to the centre, then pruning those bits out shouldn't do any harm. Anything that is going to grow should be showing the signs of tiny buds by now in your part of the world - my blackcurrants are budding now, and I'm quite a way north of you On the other hand, my raspberries are just showing raised bumps where the buds will sprout.

Hope that helps a little?

[vicky]

If you can get a photo of the stems and maybe one of a cross section of one where you've cut it that would help.

[Nicos]

OK- gut feeling here- peeps don't tend to plant 2 rows of blackcurrants
They are bushes and tend to be dotted about and only one or two- or 3 unless the previous lottie holder was crazy about them!

You say the word 'canes'
Blackcurrants are bushes with branches

So- gut feeling is that the are raspberries- possibly a thornless variety?

Piccie would be good- just leave them for now and see what happens!

[FB.]

I'd be tempted to cut out every bit that looks dead or diseased.
What remains - if it looks healthy when the plants leaf-out - may be useful to take cuttings/suckers next year to start some new plants elsewhere.

....or just get rid of them and grow something different.

[shmeen]

Thanks for the suggestions - here are a couple of photos I took yesterday. I think 'canes' was the wrong word - they're more bushes with lots of stalks coming out the ground.

There's a picture of where I've cut one, a whole bush, and also one of the rows. There's 2 rows about 2m apart. Do these help at all?

Thanks,
S

[rustylady]

They certainly don't look like blackcurrants to me. If I were you I would leave them for now, weed around them, and wait to see what happens when the weather warms up.

[Nicos]

Ah now- you see- I think they could well be!!!

We had red, white and black- and the black is more like your piccies- with the other two being more 'goblet' shaped

I got them all mixed up when originally planting them out and could only really tell them apart once the fruit had been picked by th fact that the black currant had a very fruity smell when healthy stems were cut back.

Is that any help??

I'd leave them for now too- and see what happens- and maybe take some healthy cuttings to transplant elsewhere on the plot.

[Capsid]

They look fine to me. Old raspberry canes have hollow centres too. Just wait and see if any buds emerge.