Black/red currant - how to prune?

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by anituchka, Aug 16, 2007.

  1. anituchka

    anituchka Active Member

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    Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
    Hi, I bought some red and black currant bushes in the spring. They all had some berries already.

    The problem is that the bushes only have one trunk and all the brunches grow from the central trunk. How do I prune my currants to multiply the trunk - to make it look like a bush? Are there any special techniques? I am concerned that the branches will start falling because the bush will just become unstable as all th branches just grow from one trunk/stem? Sorry, I rambled a lot, just not sure how to explain. Thanks!
     
  2. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    From http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex3480

    Liz
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 17, 2007
  3. anituchka

    anituchka Active Member

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    Thank you Liz.
    Is thre any way I can have my black currant have multiple trunks? Right now it's like a tree with all the brances growing from one trunk.
     
  4. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    I suppose you could prune it down to the height you want and start again with new shoots. I don't have a black one at the moment and I can't experiment for you but given that it needs the newer wood to do it's thing you will have to make it shoot more canes. By the way I seem to remember cuttings were fairly easy to make of Currents. Maybe leave that one and try to make new ones.
    Liz
     
  5. psay51

    psay51 Member

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    anituchka - I am pretty sure that you have a form of black currant that in Europe is very common & called "tree " or "tree-type" currant. It is created by grafting a particular cultivar of currant onto a single stem/trunk of Ribes sanguineum, which is a decorative bush. It keeps the fruit well above the ground and iso stays healthy and there is no kneeling required when picking it. If you succeeded somehow in growing a branch from the trunk itself, all you would get is another shoot of the Ribes sanguineum.
    I am in NY and have been fruitlessly trying to find a supplier of these tree-types. I would welcome any info on this from anyone.
     

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