Last spring I was given a couple of hardwood current cuttings which I duly buried. They were in the neglected part of my plot and I assumed they were a lost cause but it appears not:


Any way, I have a spot for them as I put in a blackcurrant bush that Debs and I bought from a nursery last week and they can join them. Question is, how deep should I bury them? I know blackcurrents don't want a 'trunk' unlike redcurrents. Should I put them in to where the new growth is coming out of the old wood? Cheers me dears for any advice.

Not a clue!

Bung em in!

She a professional you know advice like that costs money.

Stick 'em in to to the same depth as they are in the pots- they'll be fine

I meant that really.....

That'll be £320 please!

Plus vat Kate tssst (that Andy man might be reading this )

How long does it take before shoots like that fruit? The big bush I transplanted in spring is rather worse for wear and I can't decide whether to leave it, cut it back then leave it or dig it out and replace it with lots of similar sized cuttings that I inherited (each about 24" now)

2 years I think - going to get them in tomorrow and prune them back. I will let you know when they fruit

With blackcurrants you want as many new stems coming out of the ground as you can, so bury fairly deeply with buds below the soil. That way you should get a decently shaped bush in a year or two.

moonbells

Once they have sprouted new growth MB, how far back do you trim the shoots the following year? Or not al all?

Have a look here for blackcurrant planting.

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I will have to agree with Moonbells on this one, Impy you should always be aiming for a nicely shaped bush.

Can I slap Chris now? Pleassssssssssssssseeeeeeee!!!

so moonbells.......

I've got an inherited blackcurrant bush (of indeterminate age) that is sprawling and gave us 11 blackcurrants this year

should I, cut back to ground level and have no fruit next year and only a little the year after but then hopefully have a bumper crop 2009

or will I be able to prune to get fruit sooner?

also, should I manure it? add a top dressing of 'groworganic' fertiliser? or dig it up and start afresh?

hi im new to this site, & im new to gardening
i picked lots of fruit from my blackcurrant bush & made some jam,
but i didnt cut or prune the twigs/branches, (didnt know i had to)

i cant tell you how old the bush is as weve only been here a year, the property was empty for 2 yrs prior to us moving in

i now know im supose to cut after its finished fruiting, which it did 2 months ago,

what should i do to it?
if i start cutting it, how do i know what branches to cut?
where do i cut ?
& when do i cut?
as i dont want the frost to kill it
many thanks

hello Debbie

we have another debbie in lincoln too.
Right....erm.....blackcurrant bushes
our resident expert (moonbells) will be able to help you I'm sure (hope so cos I wanna know too )or Jags will look it up for us....or lottie will check in little book number two squillion and seventy (she has quite a few little books)


in the meantime, make yourself comfy.....have a drink (beware of Dom's courgette sherry tho ) and have a little read untill they all get home

Thank you dave for making me feel welcomed

its all so confusing reading one book then to find its different in another one,
just like internet pages too

The jam is gorgeous, i gave jars away to family,friends & neighbours, i made strawberry jam & cherry jam too, a recipe my mum in law gave me

i used to live in Lincoln all my life, now im in sudbrooke

Ooh another one from Lincs My niece is in Louth and our Del is in Scunny

There's a pruning thing in the Kitchen Garden mag (Nov ish) cos I spotted it while eating me breakfast. I think the idea is to keep a goblet shape to the bush so you get a good flow of air through it so it dunt get mildew

I'll have a read in a bit cos the mag is downstairs and get back to you. Meanwhile if Kate or MB arrives they'll fill you in

I got a new plant from Wilko and it told you to cut that right back before planting but it looked a bit drastic to me. I'm a bit of a coward so gave it more of a hair cut

Hey Debbie...

First of all chiiillllllllllllllllll...

Ok, blackcurrants produce on the new shoots growed in the summer, so year old wood, and some of the older stuff too... soooooooooo if it were me, I'd have a glass of wine.. wait til more wintery and cut out any old/damaged wood, any crossing and any weak shoots, to a bud close to the ground.

You gotta be hard!!!!!! Ignore new gowth on old wood and hurl it out.... if you reckon is over about 3 or 4 years old, take out about a third of the old wood.. I don't do mine til the've dropped their leaves, so they don't bleed sap.. but then I am slightly barmy..

LOL i can do the wine bit

so now i wait til the leaves drop off before cutting the old wood back , no leaves are falling off mine, but i swear with all the mild weather were having lately ill be picking fruit again soon..

ive just been outside to look at the bush ..i have NO idea where i would start cutting it..they all look the same to me, they even have new buds on them which some have opened into new leaves..is this normal this time of year?
the rest of my flowers ie..roses,fuscias,lillies,daisies,other bedding plants have come back into flower again also

oh why does this have to happen to a newbie like me, its hard enough learning the rules but when mother nature plays her tricks what chance do i have of getting it right

Oooooooooooo at least another glass, I should think...

You're not gonna hurt it... honest injun... the worst case scenario would be a reduced crop next season, but I'm sure you'll be fine!!! Have faith!!!

You're not gonna do any harm if you prune it late Oct/early Nov... have a peer at it.. go for the older looking ones... if you look at one of the branches, it should have little buds behind the leaves, I'd cut about the 3rd or fourth from the bottom, cut it at a slant. Take out about a third.. you'll be fine, cos you will!!

ANd you can shove the cuttings in the ground for more bushes... go on... live dangerously....

Katie's normally right Debbie, but don't tell her I said that cos she'll be insufferable.

Thing is if you have a go and get it wrong don't worry about it - all it'll mean is a reduced crop next year.

Try to cut out any branches that are crossing or rubbing (if the bark rubs off it can help disease get in), any that are obviously old and if you can any that kinda choke up the middle. The books say generally you should aim for a wine glass kind of shape. But as I said don't worry about cutting it back too hard it'll soon grow back

HUH?

moonbells