Red Lake Currants are considered to be the best red cultivar. The later ripening, large bright red fruist are borne in long stemmed clusters, which make for easy harvesting. Plants are vigorous, stron and usuaully more productive than other cultivars.
Fertilizing
Stable
manure is the best fertilizer for currants
Young
plantings do not need much manure. After
the plants start bearing fruits, apply ½ bushel of manure per bush annually.
If
stable manure is not available, use green manure or mulch to maintain humus
supply. Commericial fetilizers can be
substituted for manure to supply nutrients.
Apply approx 100 to 150 grams of 10-10-10, or 12-12-12 per bush annually. Apply late in fall or early in spring before
growth starts.
Pruning
Prune
when the plants are dormant in the late winter or very early in the spring
before growth begins. The plants are bush-like, varying in height from 2-5
feet. They bear some fruit near the base of 1-year-old wood and produce the
most and best fruit on spurs of 2- and 3-year-old canes. At the end of the first season, remove all
but 6 or 8 of the most vigorous shoots. At the end of the second season, leave
4 or 5 1-year shoots and 3 or 4 2-year canes. At the end of the third year,
keep 3 or 4 canes each of 1-, 2-, and 3-year old wood. This will make a total
of 9-12 canes on each plant.
Canes
4 years and older produce very little fruit. Pruning mature plants, therefore,
should consist of thinning out the old “fruited-out” canes and he weakest of the
young canes. Cut them off at ground
level. Remove canes over 3 years old, and by thinning, select the proper kind
and number of younger canes to maintain a productive bush. If properly pruned,
a dormant bush will have 6-10 bearing canes plus 3 or 4 new ones coming along
to replace the oldest each year.
