blackcurrent bush pruning

[tomatoada]

I have just moved to another plot and inherited a row of neglected blackcurrent bushes.  They are laden with fruit so are O.K. at the moment, but what sort of pruning do I do in th Autumn?  The advice in books does not account for no previous pruning.  I thought I might cut them down to about 6 inches but I have got to get this right because I am the only woman on the site and the men seem very interested in what I do. However they are very helpful and even rotovated half the plot for me.

[tomatoada]

[laurieuk]

Blackcurrants fruit on wood made the previous year so if you prune out most of the wood that has fruit on when you are going to pick this will encourage the new wood to grow and ripen ready for the following year. If you have several bushes you could cut some down to about six inches so as to replace all the old wood and then do the others the next year. This only applies to black currants as red fruit on old wood and you need to build up fruiting spurs.

[Eristic]

As always, remove any old, dead or really thin wood, then carry on as per book. Ideally remove one third of the oldest stems and reduce the height of other old branches to new growth. Leave any new shoots that have grown from low level.

When you do your pruning in the autumn take some cuttings and plant these somewhere out of the way where they will root the following spring. Always good to have backup, and if not required can usually be converted into trading chips.

[Si]

I remove about 1/2 to 1/3 of the growth in the spring, not the autumn, starting with dead, diseased, thin and old growth.