Autumn pruning of currants is carried out after all the leaves have fallen - at this time the sap flow stops, and the bush goes into a dormant state.
If you have several types of currant growing on your plot – black and red – you should know that their pruning is different.
So, as for black currant, it begins to bear fruit on one-year-old and two-year-old shoots. The more of them, the richer the harvest.
Old branches that are already 3-4 years old should be removed - there will be much less fruit on them.
But with red currants the situation is completely different: its branches can bear fruit well even at six and seven years old.
These branches produce the bulk of the fruit and can be quite thick, sometimes with peeling bark or moss if the bush is growing in humid conditions.
Therefore, when pruning black currants, old shoots are usually removed.
At the same time, when carrying out the same procedure with respect to red currants, in addition to removing old shoots that are 6-7 years old, it is also necessary to take into account the condition of other branches to ensure good fruiting.
In addition, the gardener’s responsibilities include monitoring the growth – if there are too many of them on the annual shoots, they begin to occupy the entire area of the bush.
Since red currants usually have many more branches, they should be thinned out a little, leaving gaps. Up to 50% of the growth should be removed, and the remaining ones should have their tops shortened by about 10 cm, making the cut above the outer bud.
In black currants, annual shoots should not be trimmed.
