How to Plant Black Currants

Black currants have a sweet taste and can be grown easily in the home garden.

Black currants are fruits typically used in puddings, pies and jams, but they also can be eaten whole. They are round and deep purple-black in color and are a source of vitamin C. These fruits are the size of small grapes and are a simple crop to grow in the garden, according to the Esson Estates Winery Co-op.

Things You'll Need

• Blackcurrant bush
• Shovel
• Pruning shears

Instructions

1. Choose a location with well-drained, moist, slightly acidic soil. Black currants do best in locations with full sun, but they can tolerate partial shade. They do well in a pH range of 4.8 to 7.0.

2. Plant during early winter, before the ground is frozen.

3. Dig a hole that is wide enough to avoid cramping the roots. The hole should be as deep as the root portion of the bush, plus 2 inches. This allows the plant to naturally put out many roots under the ground, giving the black currant bush a wide spread. Black currants typically are grown from cuttings or from small plants, rather than seeds.

4. Space bushes about 6 feet away from other plants, giving each plant the room and nutrition from the soil it needs.

5. Firm the soil around the base of the black currant bush.

6. Clip black currant bush shoots back to their last two buds immediately after planting. While this will leave a very short plant that is perhaps 3 inches high, it ensures sturdy growth for the growing season in the early spring and summer.

7. Water thoroughly. The black currant bush flowers in the early spring, and produces fruit roughly 100 days later.

Tips & Warnings

• Once a year in the fall, give the black currant bush a surrounding layer of straw and manure to provide it with the nitrogen and organic material that it needs.

References

• Esson Estates Winery Co-Op:Blackcurrants
• USA Gardener: Black Currant