How to Grow Red Currants

Small, ruby-colored currants grown in grape-like clusters.

An empty area in your garden can provide a haven for a luscious red currant bush. These berries, cultivated in the U.S. since colonial times, grow about 5 feet tall and can be trained to fit into any space. The shrubs grow well in most climates, particularly in Zones 3 and 4. Full of vitamin C, the tart berries make delicious preserves and pies.

Things You'll Need

• pH tester
• Shovel
• Aged manure
• Mulch
• Pruning shears

Instructions

1. Select a site that is partially shaded, such as alongside a building or under an arbor, with good air circulation. Look for rich, moist soil, ideally with a pH of about 6.5. Red currants thrive in cool conditions out of direct sunlight.

2. Clear the area of twigs and debris. Mix aged manure into soil in preparation for planting. Replenish with an annual top dressing of more manure.

3. Dig a hole in the soil slightly deeper than how the shrub grew in the nursery. Set the shrub into the hole immediately. Do not let the shrub roots dry out. Fill in the hole with soil and pat down soil around the roots. Plant additional red currants 3 to 5 feet away.

4. Spread mulch at a depth of 2 to 3 inches on the soil around the shrub. Replenish yearly.

5. Water the red currant moderately.

6. Remove all flowering growths during the first season. A light crop should follow in the second season. You'll have a full crop -- 10 to 15 pounds of berries per bush -- by the third season.

7. Prune the oldest canes beginning in the fourth year and allow younger canes to grow. A healthy mature plant should have about eight bearing canes, advises the Cornell University Department of Horticulture.

Tips & Warnings

• Currants ripen during a two-week period in June. Wait for berries to turn ruby-red before picking.

• Control aphids, which can cause leaves to fall off and stunt fruit growth, with insecticidal soap.

• Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that occurs in warm, humid conditions. Pruning and disposing infected branches solves the problem.

References

• Iowa State University Extension: Growing Currants and Gooseberries in the Home Garden
• ornell University Department of Horticulture: Gooseberries and Currants

Resources

• University of Wisconsin Extension: Growing Currants, Gooseberries & Elderberries in Wisconsin