Shrub · Grossulariaceae
Currant
Ribes rubrum
A low woody shrub hung with glossy, tart berries, the currant fruits hard through the coldest gardens.
Full sun
Every 5–7 days
USDA 3–7
3–6 ft · 0.9–1.8 m
Overview
The currant is a small deciduous shrub, a low thicket of slim woody canes that hang strings of small, round, glossy berries in early summer. It belongs to the genus Ribes, the same group as the gooseberry, and the garden kinds split into the bright red and pale white forms of Ribes rubrum and the darker, muskier black currant, Ribes nigrum. The skin of the fresh fruit is taut and shining, and the flavor underneath is sharp and tart, which is why most of the berries end up in jam, jelly, juice, or a pie.
This is a plant built for cold. The bare canes ride out winters down to -40°F (-40°C), and the bush crops well through the cool, short summers of USDA zones 3 to 7, where fussier fruit struggles. It stays a compact, rounded shrub at 3 to 6 feet (90 to 180 cm) tall, holds its leaves in fair shade, and rebuilds itself from the base for years.
One detail of its biology decides where it can stand. Currants are an alternate host for white pine blister rust, a disease that needs both a currant and a five-needle white pine to complete its cycle, so some states still restrict planting, black currant most of all. Check the local rules, keep the bushes away from white pines, and otherwise the currant is one of the easiest fruits a beginner can grow.
Care
The short version: full sun to part shade, rich well-drained soil kept evenly moist at about an inch of water a week, and one late-winter prune a year to keep the canes young and the fruit coming.
Light
The fullest, deepest-colored crop ripens in full sun, though the bush still leafs out and fruits under partial sun and even partial shade better than most fruit. Where summers turn hot, a little afternoon shade over the canes keeps the shallow roots beneath them from cooking.
Water
The bush drinks about 1 inch of water a week, and the swelling berries must not run dry while the fruit is setting. The roots spread shallow and fibrous just under the surface, so a layer of mulch over them holds moisture and keeps the soil cool.
Soil
The canes root best in rich, well-drained loam dark with organic matter. A slightly acidic pH of 6.0 to 6.5 suits the currant best.
Temperature
The woody frame of this shrub is genuinely cold-hardy, riding out winters as low as -40°F (-40°C) and tolerating summer heat up to about 86°F (30°C). The berries set and ripen best where summers stay cool.
Humidity
Average humidity around 40% to 60% sits fine with the foliage. Air moving through the open canes matters more, since still, damp growth packed inside the bush is where the powdery mildew and rust take hold.
Feeding
The bush is fed once a year, in late fall or early spring, with a few shovelfuls of composted manure or a balanced nitrogen source per plant. The feed is spread in a ring around the canes rather than dropped in the planting hole, where it can burn the roots.
Pruning
The canes are cut back every year in late winter while the bush is dormant and bare. Fruit forms on 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old wood, so 3 to 4 canes of each age stay and any wood older than 3 years comes out, which keeps fresh young stems rising from the base.
Repotting
Currants almost always grow in open ground and rarely need repotting. A container-grown bush moves up every 2 to 3 years while dormant, sooner if the roots start circling the pot or the soil dries out fast.
Size & spacing
A mature bush stands 3 to 6 feet (90 to 180 cm) tall and spreads its canes 3 to 5 feet (90 to 150 cm) wide. That much room between bushes lets air move through the foliage and keeps disease down.
When to plant
The currant moves through its year on a cool-season clock. Dormant, leafless plants go into the ground in late fall or early spring, small greenish flowers open along the branches in April and May, and the round berries color up and ripen through June and July.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Late fall or early spring while plants are dormant, using 1- or 2-year-old stock
- Harvest: Greenish flowers in spring (April to May); berries ripen June to July
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 3–7
Temperature: down to -40°C
Troubleshooting
Most currant trouble writes itself across the leaves and canes, where a close look catches it early. The few common problems below each leave a distinct mark on the plant. Read what you see on the leaf or cane, then act while the change still helps.
Orange pustules on the undersides with early leaf fall
Yellow-orange pustules studding the undersides of the leaves, with the foliage dropping early, are white pine blister rust, and the currant is only half the story. The fungus needs a five-needle white pine to finish its life cycle, so the rust on these leaves can travel to nearby pines. Heavily spotted plants come out, currants stay well away from white pines, and resistant or immune cultivars carry less of the disease.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy heavily infected Ribes plants
- Plant rust-resistant or immune cultivars
- Keep currants away from white pines
A white powdery dust over leaves and shoot tips
A white to gray powdery coating filming the leaf surfaces and shoot tips, with the new growth curled and distorted, is powdery mildew, a fungus that takes hold in crowded, shaded growth. Pruning to open the canopy lets air move across the leaves again, and the worst-dusted shoot tips can be cut away. A labeled fungicide is worth reaching for only when the white growth runs out of hand.
Fix:
- Prune to open the canopy for airflow
- Remove and destroy infected shoot tips
- Apply a labeled fungicide only if infection is severe
A whole cane wilting from a hollowed-out center
When a single cane wilts and dies back while the rest of the bush stands green, the currant borer is usually inside it, the larva of a clearwing moth tunneling up the core. Slice a wilted cane lengthwise and a hollow, channeled center runs through the pith. The infested canes are cut right to the ground and burned, and clearing the old wood each year takes away the aging canes the borers tunnel into.
Fix:
- Prune out and destroy infested canes to the ground
Red, puckered blisters raised across spring leaves
The red, blistered welts puckering the upper leaf surface in spring are pushed up from below by the currant aphid. Turn a blistered leaf over and the small soft-bodied colonies sit clustered along the veins. Insecticidal soap or horticultural oil wetting those undersides clears the colonies, and ladybugs and other predators clean up whatever is left.
Fix:
- Spray insecticidal soap or horticultural oil on undersides
- Encourage beneficial predators such as ladybugs
Toxicity
The true garden currant is safe all round. Those glossy berries are a food crop, and neither the fruit nor the leaves poison pets, livestock, or people. The only warning sits elsewhere, because the wrinkled dried 'currants' sold for baking are actually small raisins, and grapes and raisins do harm dogs, so keep those off the floor.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats Safe
The true Ribes currant is not toxic to cats. Most cats ignore the low shrub anyway, and a nibbled leaf does no harm.
Dogs Safe
The living plant and its fresh berries are safe for dogs. A dog that gorges on a lot of the soft fruit might get a passing bout of loose stool, nothing worse.
Horses Safe
A horse can crop the currant's leaves and canes freely, since no part of the shrub carries poison.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits nibble the leaves and fruit safely. Treats stay modest, since too much sweet fruit can unsettle a small gut.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep take no harm from the plant and graze around the canes with no risk.
Birds Safe
Birds strip the ripe, glossy currants, and the berries are good for them, so a net over the bush leaves some of the crop for the grower.
People Safe
For people the berries are a genuine food crop, eaten fresh or cooked down into jams, jellies, and juice. There is nothing here to worry about.
No special handling needed for the living Ribes shrub or its fresh berries.
Varieties
Currants show up in glossy red, translucent white, and dusky black, along with a few named cultivars worth knowing. The ones below are the most common.
Black currant (Ribes nigrum)
A close kin whose berries hang dark, round, and glossy, thick with a musky scent. It takes on white pine blister rust much faster than the red currant, and a number of US states restrict or ban it.
White currant
A pale, translucent form of Ribes rubrum, its near see-through berries tasting sweeter and milder than the red type.
Red Lake
A heavy-cropping red currant that hangs its bright, shining fruit in long clusters called strigs, and it turns up in more gardens than almost any other.
Titania
A vigorous black-currant type whose canes climb to around 6 feet and shrug off disease better than most.
Companions
Currants get along with their fellow Ribes but should be kept clear of white pines, which they trade a serious disease with.
Plant near
Gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa): A fellow Ribes with the same cool-climate, partial-shade-tolerant culture, so it grows easily alongside currants under matching care.
Keep apart
Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus): Ribes is the alternate host for white pine blister rust; planting currants near 5-needle white pines spreads the disease to the pines.
How to propagate
Currants are simple to multiply from their own woody stems, and both common methods give you new plants that match the parent exactly.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Take dormant hardwood cuttings in late winter; semi-hardwood cuttings can be taken mid-July to first freeze · Roots form within one growing season; a transplantable plant in 1 to 2 years
Cuttings are the usual way to make more currants, and the new stems grow true to the parent. 8 to 10 inch lengths of mature, dormant wood are taken in late winter, or softer, greener semi-hardwood pieces from mid-July to the first freeze. They push roots over a single growing season and stand ready to move as plants in 1 to 2 years.
LayeringEasy
Spring through summer · Rooted layers ready to sever the following dormant season
Layering is even simpler. A low outer branch is bent down to the ground and pinned to the soil any time from spring through summer, and roots break from the buried stem where it touches earth. The rooted plant is cut free from its parent the following dormant season.
Myths
Those wrinkled dried currants carry poison, so the glossy fresh berries on the bush must sicken dogs as well.
The mix-up rides on a shared name. The wrinkled dried 'Zante currants' sold for baking are really raisins made from tiny Corinth grapes, and those do harm dogs. The true garden currants of the genus Ribes, red, white, and black, are a different plant entirely and are safe.
No currant, red, white, or black, may lawfully be grown on American soil.
The old federal ban, set up to slow white pine blister rust, was lifted back in 1966. Today the rules come down to your state, and it is black currant (Ribes nigrum) that draws the most restrictions, since it carries the rust more readily than the red or white kinds.