Growing Redcurrants and Whitecurrants in Scotland: The Complete Guide

Ribes rubrum

Redcurrants and whitecurrants are genuinely one crop with two colours, not two separate plants needing separate advice, and they carry one pruning habit worth unlearning if blackcurrants taught you the wrong lesson first.

Site and planting

Redcurrants and whitecurrants tolerate sun or light shade: a sunnier spot helps, but shade genuinely doesn't rule them out. Plant bare-rootA plant, usually a fruit tree or hedging, sold with its roots exposed rather than in a pot, and only available while dormant. Full definition → bushes November to March while dormant; containerisedA plant grown and sold in a pot of compost, which can be planted out at any time of year, unlike a bare-root plant. Full definition → plants any time. Position at the same depth the plant was previously growing. Space free-standing bushes 1.2-1.5m apart, cordonsA fruit tree or bush trained as a single main stem with short fruiting side-spurs, usually grown at an angle against a wall, fence or wire. Full definition → much closer at 30-40cm, and fans 1.5m apart. In a container, use one at least 45cm wide with soil-based compost.

Edimentals: The Ornamental Edibles Worth a Spot in Your Border → covers redcurrant bushes trained as fans or cordons alongside other edible plants that earn a place in a decorative border.

Care

Water regularly during dry spells for the first couple of years; once established, bushes in the ground shouldn't need routine watering. Mulch each spring with a thick layer of organic matter, leaving a mulch-free circle around the base of the stems; a well-mulchedA layer of material spread over the soil around plants to suppress weeds, retain moisture, and improve soil structure as it breaks down. Full definition → bush generally needs no extra feeding. Container plants need a high-potassium liquid feed every fortnight through the growing season.

Net bushes as fruit ripens against birds, and again over winter, since bullfinches can peck at leaf buds. A fruit cage is the permanent solution if you grow several fruit bushes.

Pruning

They fruit at the base of the previous year's shoots and on spurs on older wood, so pruning keeps a permanent framework: the same open-centred, goblet-shapedA bush pruned with an open middle and outward-radiating branches, so light and air reach every part rather than a dense, shaded centre. Full definition → bush with 8-10 main branches as gooseberries, not blackcurrants' annual renewal cut. Cutting the oldest stems to the base, blackcurrants' method, would remove the wood the crop depends on.

After planting, select up to five well-spaced, strong shoots and prune them back to 15-20cm. Established bushes are pruned in late winter or early spring: reduce the previous season's growth on main branches by a quarter to a half, cut side-shoots back to one or two buds, remove older, less productive branches, and take out any low branches that would sag further under a crop's weight. Cordons and fans get a second prune in summer, shortening side-shoots back to five leaves.

Varieties

4 AGMThe RHS's Award of Garden Merit: a UK-wide trials award for reliable performance, not a Scotland-specific recommendation. Full definition → redcurrant varieties and, separately, just 2 AGM whitecurrant varieties: a genuinely short list for whitecurrants, not a gap in research.

Red Lake (large, sweet, dark-red, late July) and Stanza (mid-season, large deep-red fruit, superb quality) round out the redcurrant list without a standout trait distinct from Jonkheer van Tets and Rovada. White Grape (plentiful, large, sweet, mid-summer) is the second whitecurrant option alongside Blanka.

Also worth considering

Best Redcurrant Varieties for Scotland → compares all named redcurrant varieties head-to-head, with the practical detail that doesn't fit in a summary card.

Harvesting

Ready once fruits are richly coloured, firm and juicy, usually from July onwards depending on variety. Cut whole trussesThe flowering, then fruiting, stem cluster on a tomato plant; each truss ripens its fruit together. Full definition → (strigs) rather than picking individual berries: modern varieties ripen the whole truss together, which is exactly what makes this practical. Pick on a dry day, since wet fruit spoils faster. An established bush yields about 4.5kg a year, whether it's carrying red or white fruit.

Growing an early variety like Jonkheer van Tets alongside a later one like Rovada spreads the harvest over several weeks rather than landing it all at once, the same succession logic worth applying to any fruit bush rather than something specific to currants.

Common problems

• Birds strip ripening fruit fast, and bullfinches peck at leaf buds over winter; netting or a fruit cage covers both risks.
• Gooseberry mildew affects redcurrants and whitecurrants too, the same Ribes-family risk as gooseberries.
• Currant aphids and other aphids distort new growth and shoots.

Common questions

Sources