Black Currants

BobF · Jul 16, 2012

Why is there no GFOG (Growing Fruit Other than Grapes) forum?

I have some Ben Sareks that I ordered last year. They arrived as bare rooted stems. I potted them last year and planted them in the orchard this past spring.

They did well in the pots until about this point in the season. All of the leaves gradually went brown, then dropped. The canes remained healthy with nice buds, but they did nothing the rest of the year. I wasn't sure what would happen, but I didn't worry too much as the buds looked very healthy.

They popped out and did very, very well this year. Fabulous, lush growth and even a few currants. Man, if you let them get really ripe, these things taste awesome! Well, now they're doing the same thing they did last year.

Based on what happened last year, I'm not too worried, but I am curious. Our climate is strange as we can get cold winters, but we also get miserably hot summers. Knowing that currants are really intended for cooler climates, I'm not surprised to see them go dormant in the heat of the summer.

Anybody else growing black currants in a hot summer climate? How do they do? Do you also see what I'm seeing?

TJsBasement · Jul 16, 2012

I think everyone is in a hot climate this summer. I have a few currant, red black and white and of them the black seems to be doing the best but my line of currants starts just downhill of my strawberry patch and I water the strawberry like crazy so maybe the black are just catching some run off. I am starting to see some leaves turning brown right at the edges but its only right at the edge and they haven't dropped any leaves yet, these were bare root this spring and I think the lack of water all season have given me almost no growth, maybe they make it thru winter and I can get a small harvest next season.

Midwest Vintner · Jul 17, 2012

I have 9 plants that all look bad. We have been watering them in the mornings, but it didn't stop them from dropping their leaves and hopefully just going dormant. They might be dead. Even our elderberries are starting to show signs fatigue. We water ALL morning with sprinklers till just before noon. 2 of them running for 2 hours in a spot. We can't keep about an acre or so green with this much heat and no rain. It had been ok till early last week or so, but it seems we are losing.

Deezil · Jul 17, 2012

Midwest Vintner said:
I have 9 plants that all look bad. We have been watering them in the mornings, but it didn't stop them from dropping their leaves and hopefully just going dormant. They might be dead. Even our elderberries are starting to show signs fatigue. We water ALL morning with sprinklers till just before noon. 2 of them running for 2 hours in a spot. We can't keep about an acre or so green with this much heat and no rain. It had been ok till early last week or so, but it seems we are losing.

Try watering in the evenings, so it has all night to soak in & drink up...

Some mulch maybe, to retain moisture?

BobF · Jul 17, 2012

Midwest Vintner said:
I have 9 plants that all look bad. We have been watering them in the mornings, but it didn't stop them from dropping their leaves and hopefully just going dormant. They might be dead. Even our elderberries are starting to show signs fatigue. We water ALL morning with sprinklers till just before noon. 2 of them running for 2 hours in a spot. We can't keep about an acre or so green with this much heat and no rain. It had been ok till early last week or so, but it seems we are losing.

Do you have buds where the leaves are dropping from? Mine look fantastic, but leafless. Same as last year.

Be careful not to over water. When plants show signs of stress from too little water, you should give them their 1"/week (or whatever they need) without over watering. It varies plant to plant, but on average plants shut down photosynthesis at temps above 86F regardless of how much water they're getting. This is why some plants look wilted down during the heat of the day, but then look all perky the next morning. Over watering risks root disease and leaching of nutrients from the soil. This can be especially bad for currants as they are nitrogen lovers!

Anyway, back to the currants - mine did the same thing last year and came out beautiful this spring. Hopefully this is the norm for them in the climate.

The blueberries seem to be loving it - go figure!