You have to cut back red currants after harvesting. By removing old shoots, you ensure that you can continue to harvest many red currants in the coming years. With care pruning in autumn you can keep the currant in shape.
When and how should you cut red currants?
Red currants should be cut twice a year: after harvest in July and in autumn for care. Remove old, diseased shoots and shorten shoots that are too tall and water shoots. Be careful not to remove too many annual and biennial branches so as not to affect next year's harvest.
Cutting red currants
Prune red currants twice a year. The first pruning takes place immediately after the harvest in July.
In autumn, care for the bushes by cutting out old and diseased shoots. This is also the best time to shorten currant shoots if they have grown too tall.
Pruning in summer
Red currants bear the most beautiful and sweet fruits on the two- and three-year-old shoots. When cutting, you must therefore be careful not to remove too many one- and two-year-old branches. If you cut these, you can expect that next year's harvest will be much smaller.
All main shoots that are older than three years are cut. They would hardly produce any berries in the next few years. The shoots are separated from the main trunk directly at the base. Do not leave stubs.
By pruning you create space for new shoots. You should not leave more than ten to a maximum of twelve main shoots on the bush. If the shoots are too close, the berries remain smaller and taste less sweet.
Pruning red currants
- Cut dry and diseased shoots
- Remove cross shoots
- Thinning out plants
- Short shoot tips
- Cut off water shots
Short shoot tips
By shortening the shoot tips, you promote the branching of the small side shoots. Cut off a maximum of a third of the shoot directly above an eye.
You can safely remove stunted shoots inside the bush. The berries that grow there hardly ripen in time. They don't get enough sun.
In addition to the main trunk, currants often form unwanted side shoots, the so-called water shoots. You should remove these regularly. No fruit grows on them. They only deprive the plant of important nutrients.
Tips & Tricks
White currants are cut in the same way as the red bushes. Blackcurrants, on the other hand, produce the most berries on annual wood. That's why you have to prune these bushes differently.
