When to prune blackcurrants?
- Botanical name
- Ribes nigrum
- Family
- Grossulariaceae
Blackcurrants are pruned from November to February. They are planted from October to March. They are harvested from July to August.
Blackcurrants are woody perennials. The edible part is the fruit.
Blackcurrants through the year
- pruning
- planting
- harvest
In short
Growing conditions
Pests and diseases
Listed here is every problem for which the sources name this plant as a host. The problems are not listed in order of how common they are.
Aphids
pest- Signs
- Colonies of small aphids sit on the shoot tips and the underside of the leaves. The leaf curls and puckers, and sticky honeydew is left on everything below. The viruses they carry are more dangerous than the feeding itself.
- Prevention
- Go easy on nitrogen, because soft sappy growth is what aphids are looking for. Encourage the predators (ladybirds, lacewings, parasitic wasps). Use a reflective mulch, which puts them off settling, and a strong jet of water to knock the colony off the tips.
American gooseberry mildew
disease- Signs
- On the young shoots and the fruit there is a white floury coating, which browns with age and turns felty. The fruit is edible, but the coating makes it unappetising. The shoots grow distorted.
- Prevention
- Prune the bush to an open shape, so that air moves between the branches. Still air inside dense growth is what suits the fungus. Avoid planting in hollows and in closed corners without a flow of air. Go easy on nitrogen, because soft growth is more susceptible. The fungus overwinters in the buds and on the shoots, so cut the tips off affected shoots at the first sign. On the blackcurrant it also overwinters on fallen leaves, so clear them up in autumn.
- What to do
- Cut the tips off infected shoots as soon as they show, and keep the leaves cleared. Instead of products the source lists resistant varieties, both for gooseberry and for blackcurrant.
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Related plants
The plants below are in the same botanical family (Grossulariaceae).
Sources about the plant: GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, Iowa State University Extension, Penn State Extension, Royal Horticultural Society, Wikidata. Checked between 14 and 28 August 2026. The problem descriptions also draw on: Clemson Cooperative Extension, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Utah State University Extension.