Currants or Gooseberries
Ribes rubrum, R. nigrum and R. grossularia (formerly R. ova-crispa) (GROSSULARIACEAE)
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting
Currants or Gooseberries
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow currants or gooseberries in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- How many currants or gooseberries to plant
- Growing conditions for currants or gooseberries
- When to plant currants or gooseberries
- How to plant currants or gooseberries
- Watering, fertilizing, and pruning currants or gooseberries
- Companion plantings for currants or gooseberries
- How to harvest, store, and use currants or gooseberries
Growing Currants or Gooseberries
Currants and gooseberries are cool-season perennials. Closely related, both species are cold-tolerant, compact shrubs, 4–5 ft. (1.2–1.5 m) tall, bearing edible berries. Currants are black, red, or white, smooth skinned, sweet flavored, and a good source of vitamin c. Gooseberries are green and red, bristly skinned, strongly fragrant, and larger. Both are grown as decorative plantings as well as for their fruits.
Currant or Gooseberry Plant and Care Guide
How Much to Plant
Allow 1–2 plants per household member. For jams or jellies, allow 4 plants, yielding 3–4 qts. (3.3–4.4 l).
Best Climates
Hardy, zones 3–8. Very cold tolerant. Requires winter chill for best performance and life duration.
How to Plant
Cold-Winter Climates: Set out bare-root divisions in full sun to partial shade in early autumn when soil temperature drops to 45–60°F (7–16°C). Mild-Winter Climates: In winter. Currants: Plant root divisions 5–6 in. (13–15 cm) deep, 4 ft. (1.2 m) apart, in rows 10 ft. (3 m) apart. Gooseberries: Plant nursery starts 3–4 in. (75–100 mm) deep, 5 ft. (1.5 m) apart, in rows 12 ft. (3.7 m) apart. For both berry types, install trellises or support wires at least 6 ft. (1.8 m) tall at time of planting.
Best Conditions for Growth
Growing temperature: 60–85°F (16–29°C).
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained loam. Fertility: Rich. 5.5–6.8 pH. Prepare soil at least 3 ft. (90 cm) deep.
Proper Care
Keep evenly moist until berries form and begin to ripen; reduce watering thereafter. Avoid wetting foliage. Fertilize semi-annually in spring and autumn with acidic 5–10–10 formula. In alkaline soils, apply chelated iron quarterly. Mulch. Prune annually after fruiting is completed to maintain open form with good air circulation, and remove basal suckers. Currant worm and white pine blister rust susceptible; cultivation prohibited in some jurisdictions.
Pairing Recommendations
Acidic soil–tolerant ornamental and vegetable species.
Maturity, Picking and Gathering
Late spring–early summer of second season, then annually. Pick berries when full colored, plump, and easily pulled from the cluster.
How to Store and Preserve
Fresh in vegetable keeper of refrigerator for 2–3 weeks; frozen whole or as pie fillings, 6 months; preserved in jams or jellies, 3 years. Tart-flavored currants and gooseberries are natural companions for sweet fruits such as strawberries.