Redcurrants (Ribes rubrum) grow 1 to 1.5 metres tall, tolerate part shade and can be trained flat against a wall, which few fruit bushes can. What decides how much you pick is the pruning, and it works the opposite way round to pruning blackcurrants. Treat a red bush like a black one and you cut the crop off.
Pruning works the opposite way to blackcurrants
Blackcurrants carry their crop on one year old wood, that is on shoots that grew last season. That is why about a third of the oldest branches are taken out at ground level every year. That is how the bush is pruned in the article on growing blackcurrants. Gooseberries are not pruned that way, but on the same principle as redcurrants.
Redcurrants carry their crop on short fruiting spurs instead, built up on branches that are several years old and at the base of last year's shoots. The framework is not something to replace, but something you build up and keep. Cut the oldest branches off a redcurrant bush the way you would on a blackcurrant and you remove the very wood that carries the fruit.
| Comparison | Blackcurrants | Redcurrants |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit borne on | one year old wood | fruiting spurs on older wood |
| The framework | replaced as you go | permanent, 8 to 10 main branches |
| Yearly job | take out a third of the oldest branches | shorten the new growth, take out 1 to 2 old branches |
| If you do the opposite | the bush gets scruffy and gives fewer berries | you cut the crop off |
How to build up the framework
Prune in late winter or early spring, before the buds break.
Year 1: pick out up to five strong, evenly spaced shoots and shorten them to 15 to 20 cm. Remove the rest at the base.
Year 2: shorten last year's growth on the first branches by half. Then pick another five to six outward facing shoots and shorten those by half as well. The aim is 8 to 10 branches in an open bowl shape.
Year 3 onwards: shorten the new growth on the main branches by a quarter to a half.
At the same time: cut the sideshoots growing out from the main branches back to 1 to 2 buds. That is where the fruiting spurs form.
Every year or every other year: take out 1 to 2 old branches that have stopped cropping well, so the bush renews slowly without losing its framework.
From the middle of June into July you shorten this year's sideshoots to five leaves. Summer pruning lets light into the open centre and sends the strength into the fruiting spurs instead of into leaf.
Cordon and U shape against a wall
Because the crop sits on a permanent framework, redcurrants can be trained in ways that do not work with blackcurrants. That is unusual among fruit bushes, and it means a narrow strip along a wall is enough to get a crop.
Cordon: a single upright stem with fruiting spurs all the way up. Set the plants 30 to 40 cm apart in the row and tie each plant to a cane about 1.7 metres tall. Run wires along the wall with 40 to 60 cm between each wire.
U shape: pick two sideshoots 15 to 25 cm above the ground and train them out in opposite directions at an angle of 30 degrees. Once they are 20 to 25 cm long, bend them up so they grow straight upwards and form a U.
Fan: five main branches spread out in one plane against the wall, with 1.5 metres between the plants.
Trained plants are pruned twice a year, in late winter and again in June or July. The principle is the same as for the bush: the main branches are shortened by a quarter to a half and the sideshoots to 1 to 2 buds.
Position, soil and planting distance
Redcurrants would rather stand in sun, but they grow well in part shade too and will crop against a north facing wall. The berries then ripen a little later and are less sweet, which is a fair price for a spot that would otherwise stand empty.
The soil should be rich in organic matter and free draining. If it is thin, work a bucket of compost or well rotted manure into the excavated soil before you plant. How much you need depends on what you are starting with, and there is more on that in the run through of different soil types.
Leave 1.2 to 1.5 metres between the bushes. Plant in spring or autumn, when the soil is moist and the air is cool. Put a layer of compost or bark mulch around the base every spring. Mulching goes a long way, but it does not make feeding unnecessary. If the crop is poor or the leaves show deficiency, give a granular fertiliser in early spring, before the buds break. A bush in a container needs a pot at least 45 cm wide, and mulch is nowhere near enough there: give a high potash liquid feed every two weeks through the growing season, or a granular feed on the compost each spring.
The ground under the bushes often stands empty and can be put to use. Alpine strawberries cope with the part shade there, and the range of berry seeds includes alpine strawberry Baron von Solemacher.
The flowers are pollinated by insects, so the bush benefits from other things being in flower nearby in April and May. A couple of rows of seeds for pollinators next to the fruit corner do good both for the currants and for the rest of the garden.
Four varieties and when they ripen
Pick one early and one late variety and the harvest stretches over several weeks instead of arriving all at once.
| Variety | Ripening | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Jonkheer van Tets | early | Long clusters and sweet berries. Heavy crops. |
| Stanza | mid season | Large, dark red berries with good flavour. |
| Red Lake | mid to late | Large, juicy and dark red berries. |
| Rovada | late | Large berries and a big crop. Stretches the season the furthest. |
When and how to pick
The berries ripen in July and August depending on variety. A cluster is ready when it has taken on a deep, even colour and the berries are firm and glossy. Redcurrants do not ripen any further once picked, so leave the clusters hanging until the colour runs all the way in towards the stalk.
Cut or pinch off the whole cluster, the strig, rather than picking berry by berry. Whole clusters are quicker to pick and keep better. Pick on a dry day. Unwashed in the fridge the clusters keep for about 5 days.
Net the bush as soon as the berries start to colour, or the birds get there first. We at Florea freeze the clusters whole and then pull them through the tines of a fork. The berries come off more easily frozen than fresh, and the stripping goes a good deal faster.
Jelly that sets without added pectin
Redcurrants are among the fruits that hold enough pectin and acid for the juice to set on fruit and sugar alone. Gooseberries, cooking apples and cranberries belong to the same group. Raspberries sit in between and will usually make jam without added pectin, while strawberries are so low in pectin that they nearly always need help to set.
That is why the classic redcurrant jelly manages on two ingredients. An established bush gives 3 to 5 kg of berries a season. The British RHS reckons on around 4.5 kg per bush, and that is enough for several jars.
Red blisters on the leaves
Red, bubbled blisters on the upper side of the leaves look like a fungal disease but are not. They are caused by the currant blister aphid (Cryptomyzus ribis), which sits on the undersides of the leaves and sucks sap. As it feeds it gives off substances that make the leaf tissue bulge upwards and turn red.
Attacks are at their worst from the end of April into June. The bush carries on growing and crops normally, so control is rarely needed. Turn over a few leaves and rub the colonies off by hand if you want to catch them early. Ladybirds, hoverflies and parasitic wasps have usually pushed the aphids back by high summer.
Author: Emma Vogiatzi
Fact-checked by Erik Hoekstra
Last updated 2026-09-01