Black Currant Propagation

Hi All,

I am new to this forum so apologies in advance if I make a mistake. Appreciate your guidance.

The matter at hand is - I have got black currant cuttings about 2 weeks ago and I planted it in a outdoors pot with some rooting harmone, immediate area of cutting surrounded with perlite, and rest of the pot filled with organic potting mix.

Its doing well and a bud started to grow and I see two leaves now. I am somewhat worried that leaves will interfere with root growth. Question I have is - shall I cut the leaves or the whole branch? Or is it a bad idea?

Appreciate your help!

 

The leaves photosynthesise providing the cutting with the ability to produce roots...or something like that, so you need them. If I were doing hardwood cuttings in December, I would probably expect the frost to take out the leaves, but I think it's beneficial this time of year.

 

Welcome. Id just leave them to get on with it and shelter them from the worst of the winter weather.

 

Thanks for the replies. I searched and read some articles which seem to suggest if leaves come too soon - roots would be busy replenishing nutrients in leaves instead of building a healthy root system. Might be incorrect, but that's the reason I had the question. If I don't cut leaves and let them grow, when should I transplant from pot to ground? Before frost or after frost?

On the other hand, would also love to hear if anyone has contrary opinion on whether leaves help or hurt root system development - there doesn't seem to be much research available on this topic.

 

This sounds like a weird time of year to be taking blackcurrant cuttings to me so that might be the reason you have been finding some conflicting advice on the topic. I take black currant cuttings if I want more plants when they are dormant and when the leaves have naturally dropped off. The risk with cuttings a lot of the time would be them drying out if they have leaves when there are no real roots after developing. By taking black currant cuttings when the leaves are after dropping off there is plenty of time for new roots to form over winter and be ready to support new top growth next year. The cutting in the photo looks a bit small compared to ones I would normally take but the leaves look healthy and since it is new growth it would imply to me that there should be some roots growing as well so it probably will work out fine but don't be surprised if the leaves do drop off later in the autumn. If you are unsure take another few 15cm pieces of branch off the original plant and stick them in the ground over winter and these should also provide new plants for next year. When planting the cuttings when dormant over winter I have found no rooting powder has been needed to get a good success rate and I posted a video here showing how I did this with red currants.

Happy gardening!

 

Think I always took my Blackcurrant cuttings when they were dormant and from tops of older stems being removed, but it's been a while since I grew them.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum. It's best to take them in winter and then they would root in the spring, I'd leave them in a sheltered spot and take some more later if you can.

 

So consensus is to leave it alone and keep it in a shaded place and water as needed. Appreciate everyone's opinion.

Please can someone answer with second question? How long do I keep it in pot? Should I plant it to final location before frost in November or after frost in April?

 

I'd leave it in the pot until the last frost that way it will be hardy enough to plant out.

 

I asked a similar question about half a year ago.

Turns out black currant plants are nigh indestructible. Mine took about a month to develop a full root system. It now grows outside in the soil without any protection and seems to do great.

Hopefully next year there will be the first berries to eat.