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Growing Blackcurrants
Propagating
Blackcurrant Bushes
Hardwood cuttings are a great way to create more blackcurrant bushes, because it's easy,
quick and has a very high chance of success. Additionally, it does not
require any protection or warmth. Let GardenAction guide you through
this process with pictures and sound advice.
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Click to enlarge
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The
time to propagate the bushes is when the foliage has stopped growing and
is beginning to turn brown or falling off. A good time is
mid-October
although a couple of weeks later is almost as good.
Take cuttings from healthy bushes only - ignore bushes with any signs of
disease. |
| Select
a healthy looking stem of ripened (brown not green wood) and cut
a 25cm (10in) length.
The cut
should be made just below a bud. Pull off all the leaves from
the stem being careful not to remove the stem. The result should
look like the picture on the right (click picture to enlarge). |
Click to enlarge
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Click to enlarge
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Dig
a trench about 15cm (6in) deep and incorporate a handful of
bonemeal into the removed soil.
Place the cuttings into the trench making sure that at least two buds will
remain above the soil surface and that there are four or more
buds below the surface. Space the cuttings 20cm (8in) apart
(click picture to enlarge). |
| Fill
in around the cuttings with the removed soil, being careful not
to damage the buds below or above the soil. Gently firm the soil
down around the cutting with your foot.
Water the soil well. It is a good idea to mulch around the cuttings with
well-rotted compost to conserve water. In the picture on the
right (click to enlarge), old carpets are used a mulch. |
Click to enlarge
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Leave the cuttings in the ground until October next year
then dig them up with as much of their root ball intact as possible.
Transplant them to their final positions as if they were bought from a
nursery (click
here for planting instructions).
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