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Harvesting
and Storing Blackcurrants If the intention is to store the currants for a few days, it's best to pick
an entire truss which will keep for longer. Blackcurrants will keep best
dry in the fridge and will last for five or six days. Pests
and Diseases
CAUSE SYMPTOMS
Rust
At
first, red spots appear on the top of the leaves, followed by
yellow spots on the underside of the leaves, eventually turning black.
Aphids
(green/black fly)
Lots
of small black or green insects especially concentrated around tender new shoots.
Sawfly
Caterpillars
on the leaves. Bush is very quickly stripped of foliage.
Mildew
A
light grey powdery substance appears mainly on the stems, but
spreads to the leaves and possibly the fruit.
Big
Bud Mite
Round
and plump buds rather than the normal long and pointed ones.
Leaves around affected buds are distorted.
Reversion
Disease
In
June or July the bush develops abnormal leaves, and the yield of
fruit for the rest of the year is very low. It is most easily
identified by bright magenta buds instead of the normal grey buds. Like most fruit blackcurrants are favourite food
to a range of small and often not so small mammals. Birds are a
particular problem. Various make shift ways of preventing fruit
damage have been concocted over the years but none works as well
as a fruit cage.
Click here to see a range of excellent quality and good
value walk-in, heavy duty steel fruit cages. Other walk-in fruit cages are available by clicking on the
descriptions below: Smaller fruit cages are also available below: END OF BLACKCURRANT ARTICLE
Blackcurrants are ready for harvest when the fruits are very nearly black. Always try
and pick them in dry conditions - wet blackcurrants store very badly and
will quickly go mouldy.
Look at the
symptoms to decide which pest or disease is causing you trouble, then
click on the 'Cause' for details of how to get round the problem.
Decorative Steel Fruit Cage
Aluminium Fruit Cage, by far the best on the market in it's class!
Timber Fruit Cage, for a more rugged natural look
Steel Vegetable and Strawberry Cage, stands 1.2m high above ground
Steel Freestanding Veg and Strawberry Cage, easily moved around
Aluminium Vegetable Cage - the cost effective option
Name: Vannin Bloch
E-mail: Private
Date posted: August 21, 2010 - 06:13 am
Message: I have just bought a container grown blackcurrant bush that has obviously been pruned to 10cm earlier in the year. I live in NE Scotland and am wondering if the usual advice of cutting back to 2 buds on planting should apply - given the time of year and our winters. Any advice?