October 10, 2024, 10:38 am | Read time: 7 minutes
While red currants have a sweet and sour taste and white currants are rather sweet, black currants have a fruity and tart taste. But that’s not the only difference. Here, you can find out how to care for this delicious berry so that you get a good harvest.
In France, people talk about cassis, but the French word for blackcurrant is also often used here. In the ice cream parlor, for example, or when it comes to desserts, cakes, or liqueurs. The blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum), or black currant, is a species of the currant family and, like the redcurrant, whitecurrant, and gooseberry, belongs to the gooseberry family. It is one of the few fruit species that are native to our country.
Overview
Appearance and growth
The blackcurrant is a deciduous, upright-growing, sparsely branched shrub that can reach heights of up to two meters. The three to five-lobed leaves are finely hairy on the underside. The green-red flowers appear in April and May, from which the dark fruits develop.
Planting blackcurrants
Blackcurrants purchased in containers can be planted all year round, provided the soil is not frozen, but the conditions for successful growth are most favorable in autumn or spring, mainly due to the soil moisture. The planting hole should be about twice the size of the root ball. Adding some compost to the planting hole will make it easier for the blackcurrant to get started. Place the plant a few centimeters deeper than it was previously in the container. This promotes the formation of new shoots. Bare root plants are only planted in the fall after the leaves have fallen or in the spring before the first shoots appear.
Tip: Most blackcurrants are self-fertile, but if a second variety grows nearby, the yield increases significantly.
Location and soil
Blackcurrants thrive best in a sunny to partially shaded location. The soil should be deep, humus-rich, nutrient-rich, and fresh to moist. The plant does not tolerate waterlogging. Some varieties can also grow well in containers.
The blackcurrant is not a friend of mixed cultures. It thrives best on its own. It only gets on well with other currants – including red and white ones.
Variety tips
- ‘Titania’ is an old, popular variety with a sweet, aromatic taste. It is strong-growing, robust, and reliably produces good yields.
- ‘Silvergieters Black is an old, proven variety with a high yield and large fruits.
- ‘Little Black Sugar’ is a dwarf currant that is very suitable for container planting due to its small size of a maximum of 90 centimeters. It is robust and produces large, very sweet fruits with the typical cassis aroma.
- ‘Hedda’ is the sweetest variety among the blackcurrants. It is hardly susceptible to diseases and pests, and although it is significantly larger than ‘Little Black Sugar,’ it is also suitable for planting in containers.
Caring for blackcurrants
Caring for blackcurrants is not complicated. Read on to find out what you need to do to ensure healthy plants and the best possible yields.
Watering
Blackcurrants need a good supply of water, especially until the fruit ripens. It should, therefore, be watered sufficiently, especially during dry periods. If the plant is too dry during flowering, the flowers may simply fall off, or the fruit may remain small. It is better to water less often but more thoroughly than constantly and only a little. The leaves should remain as dry as possible when watering. A layer of mulch helps to retain moisture in the soil and also reduces weed growth.
When growing the plant in a container, keep in mind two important factors: first, the soil should never completely dry out, and second, avoid allowing water to stand in the saucer.
Fertilizing
The blackcurrant is fertilized in spring with a little mature compost or a berry fertilizer.
Pruning
Pruning blackcurrants is uncomplicated. As they bear fruit on the previous year’s shoots, harvesting is much easier. To do this, cut off the shoots on which the fruit has formed at harvest time, and you can then easily pick the berries from the cut branches. However, the entire shoot is not always removed. On shoots on which new shoots have formed, in addition to the fruit-bearing parts of the shoot, the new shoots are left standing. Weak, diseased shoots and those growing inside the plant are also removed.
Propagation
Blackcurrants can be easily propagated by cuttings. To do this, cut approximately 20-centimeter-long, woody one to two-year-old shoots from the plant in autumn after the leaves have fallen and stick them in a shady spot deep enough in moist, humus-rich soil so that only a third is sticking out of the ground. The buds must point upwards. By spring, they will have formed roots and can move to a suitable location.
Another method for propagating blackcurrants involves using layering. To do this, bend a shoot so that it touches the ground at one point and secure this point with a U-shaped pin or a small weight. If the soil remains moist enough, roots will form over time.
Overwintering
Blackcurrants are hardy in our latitudes and, therefore, do not need protection. If it grows in a tub, however, it should be protected from heavy frost with a fleece.
Toxicity
The blackcurrant is non-toxic.
Alternatives
A great alternative to the blackcurrant is the jostaberry. It is a thornless cross between the blackcurrant and the gooseberry. Hence, the name “Josta” is a combination of “Jo” for blackcurrant and “Sta” for gooseberry. The bushes grow to a height of around two meters and bear berries that are visually reminiscent of blackcurrants but are larger and sweeter.
Bee friendliness
The blackcurrant attracts insects such as honeybees, wild bees, and hoverflies with its pollen and nectar. Its leaves serve as caterpillar food for various butterfly caterpillars. The berries are also eaten by blackbirds, ring ouzels, blackcaps, and magpies.
Diseases and pests
Blackcurrants can be attacked by both pests and diseases. Overall, however, it is relatively robust. One common disease is American gooseberry mildew. The best way to prevent it is to choose particularly robust varieties and ensure sufficient soil moisture. If powdery mildew has, nevertheless, struck, cut off affected shoots.
Leaf drop disease occurs mainly in years with high rainfall. This can also be prevented by choosing robust varieties. In addition, the fallen leaves should be disposed of in the household waste to reduce the likelihood of an infestation the following year.
A significant pest on blackcurrants is the blackcurrant gall mite. An infestation can be recognized by unusually swollen buds in early spring. If the infestation is mild to moderate, it is sufficient to cut off the infested shoots and dispose of them. Heavily-infested plants should be radically cut back at an early stage.
Harvesting
Depending on the variety, blackcurrants are ready to harvest from the end of June until August. If you leave the well-colored fruits hanging on the bush for a few days longer before harvesting, this has a positive effect on the aroma.
The berries can be stored in the refrigerator for one to two weeks. They can, of course, also be frozen.
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Use in the kitchen
Blackcurrants are one of the most vitamin C-rich fruits that can be grown in the garden in this country. With their special tart and sour taste, they differ significantly from red and white currants. They are good for making juice, jelly, red fruit jelly, desserts, jam or liqueur. They also make a delicious ingredient in cakes or muffins, can be made into ice cream, added to fruit salads, or simply enjoyed fresh from the bush.