PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Blackcurrant (Ben Sarek)
Ribes nigrum
A compact blackcurrant bush with heavy crops of vitamin-rich berries for jam, cordials and crumbles.
At a glance: harvest in July.
When to plant and care for it
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Blackcurrant (Ben Sarek): what it needs
- Light
- Full sun · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water well while fruit swells
- Soil
- Fertile, well-drained soil
- Spacing
- 1.2 m
- Height
- 1 m
- In pots
- Only in large containers
- Feeding
- Sulphate of potash in late winter; mulch with compost
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 3–7
Step by step
- On planting day
Plant
Plant 1.2 m apart in weed-free, well-prepared soil enriched with compost, and water in well.
- 0–3 days after “Plant”
Cut Stems to 5 cm
Plant 5 cm deeper than before, then cut all stems to 5 cm above the soil to make a bushy plant.
- 7–21 days after “Cut Stems to 5 cm”
Mulch
Spread 5 cm of compost or bark around the plants to keep moisture in and weeds down.
Every year
- MarchSpring Feed
Blackcurrants are hungry: feed with a high-nitrogen fertiliser and mulch with manure.
- JuneNet Against Birds
Net the bushes before the fruit ripens.
Starts from year 2.
- JulyPick Blackcurrants
Pick whole strigs when all berries are black and glossy.
Starts from year 2.
- DecemberWinter Prune
Cut about a third of the oldest stems to the base to keep young, fruitful wood coming.
Starts from year 2.
