Is it too early to prune black and red currants? Mine are looking untidy and I am itching to take the secateurs to them as part of my tidy-up for winter regime.
mark_g,
Mar 26, 6:40am
I don't know the correct answer. but I do recall reading that some folk prune currants as soon as they can after fruiting, because doing it then it is easier to know what bits have fruited and what bits haven't - and hence easier to know which bits need pruning.
skin1235,
Mar 26, 7:05am
I'd leave them a bit longer yet, at least until the leaves start turning brown, all the leaves will be sending sugars down into the root system to aid them through the winter season, if you chop half of them off by pruning out your fruited stems you may reduce that food needed for wintering through
harrislucinda,
Mar 26, 7:41am
yes as above what until leaves have dropped then you can see new and old wood
pom-pom,
Mar 26, 7:54am
Thanks meoldchina for the question. I needed to know the answer too!
meoldchina,
Mar 26, 10:10am
Looks like I will have to curb my OCD and leave the garden looking untidy for a little longer. Thanks for the advice.
skin1235,
Mar 26, 10:41am
lol OCD?, I wish I had the time to go beat the jungle back into shape, you can prune now, some do as noted above, my personal preference is leave it til the leaves start turning, then they've stopped stocking up the roots, I really have no idea if it helps toward a better crop next year - I think it does but thinking is not always proof
schnauzer11,
Mar 26, 11:00pm
My understanding is that black/red currants require different pruning. Reds fruit best on old branches, while black currants do on last year's growth.
bluefrog2,
Mar 27, 12:16am
I prune blackurrants right after fruiting. That way, I know which wood has already fruited and can be removed.
My husband always cut the branches, took them to a comfortable place to sit and pulled off the fruit. Every year we had a great crop. no problems. Two jobs done in one go. that was a few years ago.
meoldchina,
Mar 30, 2:05am
I love that idea! It's a back-breaking job picking the berries. I often wonder if they are worth the bother, especially as I have to cover them in netting, and I don't particularly like them. I freeze most of them and then batch-bake muffins.
schnauzer11,
Mar 30, 3:49am
meoldchina-This is what I do with black/red currants. Boil with enough water to cover them, squish with a potato-masher, drain as for jelly.Put the juice in a saucepan with some sugar. The resulting syrup makes an outstanding cordial, with soda-water. I freeze blocks of it and keep a soft-drink bottle of it in the fridge. Unfortunately the heat destroys the Vit. C, but there must be some good things left in it!
meoldchina,
Feb 19, 2:42pm
What a good idea, schnauzer11. I have printed your suggestion and put it into my recipe folder. Thanks.
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