New Redcurrants / Whitecurrants / Blackcurrants - to prune or not to prune?

[Farmer_Gyles]

I've just got some new red, white and black currants from T&M. I'm not sure whether I should prune or not.

Each plant has been pruned back to 3 or 4 stems, each about 15 inches high. The red and white currants have about 8 buds on each stem. The blackcurrants have about 16 buds per stem.

The instructions from T&M for blackcurrants say "We supply read pruned plants but just check and prune to within 2 buds or 5cm (2in) above soil level". So do I prune now or not?

Some years ago (maybe 10 years now) I bought gooseberries and the instructions were similar. I pruned them back. My gooseberries are only about 18 inches high, straggly, a real mess. When I had an allotment, I had gooseberries and redcurrant bushes that were at least 4ft high, 3-4 wide all round, got tons of fruit off them. I'm thinking I shouldn't have pruned the gooseberries back then and shouldn't prune the currants now.

Any thoughts??

[Aberdeenplotter]

Definitely prune but make a slit in the ground with your spade and pop the cuttings in there. This time

next year you will have some beautiful new plants.

My fruit bible as regular readers know is the RHS Publication "Fruit" by Harry Baker ISBN 0 85533 193 3.

There are usually second hand copies on Amamzon for a few pence + Postage

[FB.]

Some years ago (maybe 10 years now) I bought gooseberries and the instructions were similar. I pruned them back. My gooseberries are only about 18 inches high, straggly, a real mess. When I had an allotment, I had gooseberries and redcurrant bushes that were at least 4ft high, 3-4 wide all round, got tons of fruit off them. I'm thinking I shouldn't have pruned the gooseberries back then and shouldn't prune the currants now.

Any thoughts??

The highlighted bits regarding size suggests that it was either a different variety (stronger or weaker growing), or that the allotment soil was very fertile while the more recently planted goosberries are in less fertile or old soil where the same plant has been grown for many years.

Poor soil and replant disease can severly affect vigour. So, too, can attacks of gooseberry sawfly.

If anything, winter pruning should invigorate them because it causes an imbalance between roots and shoots, which then causes even stronger regrowth in order to "fight back" and grow even faster to overcome what keeps being chopped off.

Note that pruning while the plants have leaves will severely de-vigorate as it takes away their ability to absorb sunlight. Summer pruning should only be used to calm-down over-vigorous plants and it should also increase fruiting in following years.

[FB.]

Oh....and as for your "runted-out" gooseberries: try giving them a good mulch of manure as soon as possible - a couple of inches. I mulched my currants and berries recently as the buds are starting to swell.
Also, if your stunted plants still need a boost later in the years; give additional nitrogen (a heavy mulch of grass cuttings will be adequate if nothing else is available) and ensure adequate watering.

It should also help if you give them a hard prune during winter (i.e. prune as soon as possible within the next couple of weeks). Winter pruning messes with their root:shoot proportions as mentioned in my previous post and encourages them to grow more and stronger shoots to compensate.

The mulch may well come part-way up the stems, and the plants will probably send out roots from the mulched-over part of the stem later in the year, and these roots will grow into the mulch.

[Farmer_Gyles]

thanks all .... i'll attack the gooseberries and prune the new plants ....