Soft fruit (bush)
How to grow redcurrants and whitecurrants
Ribes rubrum and Ribes rubrum (white form)
Plant redcurrants and whitecurrants between November and March, as open bushes on a short leg or as cordons against a fence, in sun or light shade and well-drained soil. They are the same plant in two colours and are grown identically. They fruit on short spurs along old wood, so prune like a gooseberry and never like a blackcurrant. Net the fruit before it colours, because birds are the main cause of lost crops.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Sun to light shade
- Soil
- Fertile, free-draining
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.0
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Sowing and planting
WhenPlant Nov to Mar; harvest Jul
This page covers redcurrant and whitecurrant together. The planting detail below is for redcurrant; where the other differs, it is noted.
Starting off
Plant bare-root Nov to Mar, pot-grown any month. Propagate by 30 cm hardwood cuttings in Oct to Nov with all but the top 4 buds rubbed off to form the leg, rooted in 12 months. Jonkheer van Tets (early), Red Lake, Rovada (late), self-fertile.
Spacing and planting
Bushes 1.5 m apart on a 10 to 15 cm clear leg; single cordons 40 cm apart, double 60 cm, on a wall or wires 1.8 m high. Hole 45 cm wide, planted at the nursery depth. A cordon crops well in a 40 to 45 cm pot.
Varieties worth growing
Redcurrants and whitecurrants: what is the difference?
Whitecurrants are a colourless form of the redcurrant, not a separate species, so planting, pruning, feeding and problems are the same for both. The difference is in the fruit. Redcurrants are sharp and high in pectin, which makes them the choice for jelly, sauces and summer pudding. Whitecurrants are sweeter and milder, pleasant eaten fresh from the strig, and are ripe when translucent rather than when they change colour. White varieties generally yield a little less. Pink currants sit between the two. If you have room for one, pick red for the kitchen and white for eating fresh.
- Jonkheer van TetsRedcurrant
- The standard early red, ripe at the start of July with large berries; flowers early, so avoid frost pockets.
- JuniferRedcurrant
- Very early red, often ready in late June, and a heavy cropper on young wood as well as spurs.
- Red LakeRedcurrant
- Mid-season red with long, easily picked strigs and reliable heavy crops.
- RovadaRedcurrant
- Late red with very long strigs and the heaviest yields; flowers late, so it misses most frost, and picks into August.
- White VersaillesWhitecurrant
- The classic early whitecurrant: pale yellow, sweet berries on long strigs in early July.
- BlankaWhitecurrant
- Late, heavy-cropping white with very long strigs of large, ivory berries; the most productive white.
- White GrapeWhitecurrant
- Mid-season white with the best flavour for eating fresh; a neat, upright bush.
Month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Winter prune: leaders by a quarter on established bushes, side shoots to one or two buds. Plant bare-root.
- February
Finish pruning before buds break. Feed at the end of the month.
- March
Feed if not done and mulch. Last bare-root planting.
- April
Flowering; fleece Jonkheer van Tets on frosty nights. Start checking for sawfly.
- May
Blister aphid shows on leaves; ignore it. Water in dry spells as fruit sets.
- June
Net as the first berries colour. At the end of the month cut new side shoots to five leaves and tie in cordon leaders.
- July
Pick whole strigs with scissors: reds when every berry is coloured, whites when translucent and sweet.
- August
Rovada and Blanka finish. Take nets off after picking so birds can clear pests.
- September
Nothing to do.
- October
Take 30 cm hardwood cuttings, rubbing off all but the top four buds.
- November
Plant bare-root bushes and cordons at the nursery depth, not deeper. Start pruning.
- December
Prune and plant in open weather.
Feeding
Moderate feeders with a real need for potassium and far less appetite for nitrogen than blackcurrants. One spring feed and a mulch is the full plan on most soils.
A potassium-leaning feed; much less hungry than blackcurrant.
Feeding plan
Late February to March
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 g/m², the lower end of the label. A bush at 1.5 m spacing covers about 1.5 m²: 105 g per bush. Cordons: a strip 50 cm wide, so 35 g per metre of row.
March, on light soil or where leaf edges browned last summer
20 to 35 g/m² (the label rate for fruit): 30 to 50 g per bush, or 10 to 18 g per metre of cordon row.
March to April
Garden compost
A mulch 5 cm deep over the root area, kept clear of the leg.
March, cordons in pots
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
2 g per litre of compost as a top-dress: 80 g for a 45 cm pot holding about 40 litres.
Signs to watch
Brown scorched leaf margins
Potassium short, common on light soil
Sulphate of potash in March
Older leaves yellow between the veins
Magnesium
Epsom salts or kieserite
Long soft shoots, few strigs
Nitrogen excess
Stop nitrogen, summer prune
Pale leaves and short growth
Nitrogen short
Balanced spring feed
Pests, diseases and problems
Ripening strigs stripped, often overnight
Birds, especially blackbirds; red fruit is found first but white is taken too
Net bushes or cordons as soon as the first berries start to colour, or grow them in a fruit cage. Nothing else works reliably.
Raised red or purple blisters on the upper side of leaves in late spring
Currant blister aphid feeding underneath
Cosmetic only; the crop is unaffected. Leave it for ladybirds and birds. The June summer prune removes most of the blistered tips anyway.
Leaves eaten to the veins from the centre of the bush outwards
Gooseberry sawfly caterpillars, which attack red and white currants as readily as gooseberries
Inspect the lower inner leaves weekly from mid April and pick the caterpillars off by hand.
A branch wilts and dies, with small coral-pink pustules on the dead bark
Coral spot fungus, entering through pruning snags and damaged wood
Cut back well into healthy wood and bin the prunings. Prune cleanly to a bud so no dead stubs are left.
Dark brown spots on leaves from June, with early leaf fall
Currant leaf spot in wet summers
Rake up fallen leaves, mulch in spring and water in dry spells so growth stays strong.
Buds stripped from the branches in late winter
Bullfinches
Keep nets on over winter where it happens, and prune after bud burst so you can cut to live buds.
Pruning and harvest
Pruning and care
Fruits on spurs on old wood: winter-prune Nov to Feb, shortening leaders by half on young bushes and by a quarter later, side-shoots to 1 to 2 buds, keeping an open goblet of 8 to 10 branches. Summer-prune in late June, cutting new side-shoots to 5 leaves. Cordons: tip the leader once it reaches 1.8 m.
Harvest and storage
Pick whole strigs when every berry has coloured, in July (Rovada into August); snip the strig rather than pulling, which tears the spur. First crop year 2; a mature bush gives 3 to 4 kg, a cordon 1 to 2 kg. Fridge for a week; freeze on the strig and rub off; jelly and summer pudding.
Good to knowFruits on old wood and short spurs, prune to an open goblet shape.
Growing in pots
A single cordon is the best form for a pot, red or white: one upright stem tied to a 1.8 m cane in a 40 to 45 cm container of peat-free loam-based compost, with the 4-5-6 mixed in at 5 g per litre when potting (200 g for a 40 litre pot). It takes little space and is simple to net. Water regularly from flowering to harvest and do not let the pot dry out while the strigs are filling. Prune exactly as in the ground, top-dress each March and repot every three years.
Common questions
Are whitecurrants just unripe redcurrants?
No, whitecurrants are a separate colour form of the same species and never turn red. They are ripe when the berries become translucent and taste sweet, usually in July, and they are sweeter and less acid than redcurrants.
When do you prune redcurrants and whitecurrants?
Prune in winter, between November and February, and again at the end of June. In winter shorten the main branches by a quarter and cut side shoots back to one or two buds; in June cut the new side shoots to five leaves. Do not remove old stems at the base as you would on a blackcurrant.
Why are my redcurrant leaves blistered and red?
Red, puckered blisters are caused by currant blister aphid feeding under the leaves in spring. The damage is cosmetic and does not affect the fruit, so no treatment is needed.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.