[help!] Growing Blackcurrant from single twig

Moin Moin

I have an urgent question. My father bought a new blackcurrant bush and had it delivered to me for safekeeping (at least until he returns from a trip).

While opening the box yesterday, I found a single twig was broken off the main plant (honestly I didn't do it) and now I am thinking of using that twig to grow my own little blackcurrant bush.



For now I put it in a glass of water and into a window getting some sun, but I would be really happy to know what to do next? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Moin moin, @Black Dog , Blackcurrant roots easily so chances are it will root even in the glass.

Alternatively you can pot it up and keep in cold frame, unheated greenhouse or in a cool part of the house. If it gets used to room temperatures, acclimatising it to colder situation is a good idea.

Then when it has rooted, you can either trim the top to get a bushy plant, or grow it as a standard. My standard is now nearly at the height I want so this summer I will nip the top off and expect a charming, cascading mini tree to appear

The rooted plant can be grown in a container or in the ground, as you like. It is likely to sucker and cuttings can be taken all summer for more plants. (If this attempt fails, you can offer some "help with pruning" when your father's plant is growing well... )

Blackcurrant is an undemanding, attractive plant and easy to grow.

 

Have propagated loads of black currant by just sticking a branch about that size in the ground and letting it grow into a new plant on its own. If you have a bit of bare soil in the garden you could just open a slit with a spade and stick the base of your blackcurrant in the slit and squash the soil around it with you boot and I'd give it a 90+% chance of growing to a new plant and you might even get a few currants later in the year. They are great resilient fruit producers to have in the garden.

 

Selleri gives good advice.

I took some blackcurrant cuttings myself about two weeks ago.



I wanted to restyle the multi trunk bushes into a more upright tree-like structure with a single or double trunk. The fruit would then be encouraged to form on these trunks similar to what was described in a RHS article that I had seen.

So, ten bushes were pruned back hard.





Here is what they looked like last year.





The first of three pickings on 23rd June 2020.



Typically, this is what I do with the blackcurrants as I find them too tart picked fresh from the bush.






Obviously, there may not be a harvest this year but my stash of home made jam will last me for atleast the next year. I still have a small pot left over from 2019!

The secret to successful blackcurrant cuttings is to plant them as deep as possible, don't let the compost dry out and to keep them in semi shade until the roots have developed.

All ten of my bushes were originally propagated from cuttings from a single plant that a former member had brought into the community garden.

 

@Black Dog


I would cut the twig just below the fifth bud from the top to get two cuttings. Leave the lower cutting in the glass and pot the upper cutting in compost.

 

Thanks for the advice @misterQ .

I will definitely try to do that.

 

I'm very pleased to read all this advice. I have had a blackcurrant plant...can't call it a bush, very twiggy still....for two years. So a couple of pieces will be pruned off and planted up. Can anyone please advise if I should fork in some blood, fish, bone around the one in the ground - bearing in mind foxes frolic in this area of garden?

 

While we are at it I have another question:
Does this form of generating new plants also work with other ribes-variants (red, white, gold)?

I inherited three old bushes with my garden (one of each colour). They haven't been pruned for a looooong time and the first thing I did last year was to cut off the oldest looking twigs (about half the plant). Then at the end of year, I reduced them even further. Hopefully they will take the hint and grow some new shoots this year. But if they don't it would be nice to have a backup plan.

 

To add to present stock.....I bought a blackcurrant bush in Aldi today. Not - prunable - yet, but lots of shoots :-)

 

Got the method of sticking a 20-30cm piece in the ground when pruning in autumn to work with white and red currant and flowering currant. A new one I planted last year is Buffalo currant and I think this might be the same plant as the golden currant and I tried planting some of the pruning pieces from that and they are starting to grow into new plants as well so I think it is a feature of the currants in general that hardwood cuttings work well. So far the black currant seems to be the most vigorous in developing into new plants but the Buffalo currant are looking good as well. The flowering, red and white currants just seem to be a bit slower growing.

Happy gardening!

 

Currants root easily in water this time of year, i did it a few years ago. The only thing in doing that the roots can be very brittle so best to put them in pots with compost and water them in afterwards to make sure that the compost gets around the roots.

 

I would add fertiliser only in the year that the plant is likely to produce fruit. After two years, yours should be nearing that stage of maturity so, yes, add fertiliser.

Consider scent marking to deter foxes..., yes, I mean a bit of a Jimmy. No need for a river, just a few drops from a sample bottle at strategic locations will work.

 

As others have mentioned, treat redcurrants and whitecurrants in exactly the same way as blackcurrants when it comes to propagating and growing them on.

Here is a picture from last year of a redcurrant that I propagated from a cutting in September 2019:




I have found that if the cutting was made from a young fruiting branch then it will fruit in the following year right after root growth. This applies to the red/white/black currants.

Although easy to grow, the currants can be afflicted with three main insect pests:

- Vine weevil if container grown;
- Scale insects;
- Aphids

If you notice scrunched up leaf tips at the end of young branches (see the yellow arrow) then underneath will be a colony of aphids farmed by ants for their sugary secretions.

 

Last year, a pair of doves did a lot more damage than a few ants and aphids could ever do.

I swear to god, those doves have to be the stupidest birds in bird kingdom. Landing on a twig, stretching it until it almost breaks, hopping alongside to get to the semi- ripe currants and then falling off because they can't keep their balance only to scatter the berries all over the place with the "trebuchet-effect".

 

Moin there again,

I thought it was for little update after all your help.
As it was rather cold outside I thought it would be best to keep my little twig inside and give it a headstart before planting.

Seems like the water was just fine. The first 10 days nothing happened, but after that I could watch as the roots grew. Now, with 20 degrees outside, I planted it in a nice sunny spot, gave it plenty of water to close any gaps in the soil and gave it a layer of mulch.