Striking blackcurrant cuttings

[Odsox]

How difficult is it to grow blackcurrant cuttings ?
I've done it successfully in the past by taking suitable shoots in winter and pushing them into the ground, but it appears that it is even easier than that.
I dug up one of my blackcurrant bushes back in the summer and threw the branches on the bonfire pile. Most were burnt but some didn't and remained on the pile with all the subsequent rubbish piled on top.
Today I lit a bonfire and underneath the pile I came across these ...

B currant.jpg (110.06 KiB) Viewed 11608 times

If I hadn't had that fire and just left that heap I would have ended up with a huge clump of currants, plus there were several apricot prunings with shoots and roots as well.
That's what you get for living in a damp humid climate.

[Flo]

Do I gather you didn't want any more blackcurrant and apricot strikes? Would you have been able to trade them had you bothered?

[Odsox]

No Flo, that was the reason I dug up the blackcurrant, we were totally overwhelmed with currants and there is not a lot you can do with them, couldn't even give them away.
There is nobody down this way that would be interested in blackcurrant cuttings, or any other cuttings for that matter. The Irish don't do growing anything, which was explained to me when we first moved here. They had lived for generations growing potatoes and cabbages and then when they became independent and could get "proper" jobs they regarded growing their own food as going back to the bad old days of English rule and famine.

[Flo]

Shows what culture can do. Four or five generations hence when neither of us are here it might be different.

[bonniethomas06]

Wow, isn't nature wonderful? Are blackcurrents usually grafted or are they just direct cuttings?

Amazing. Things just want to grow - we have a pesky 35ft willow tree on the adjoining plot which was once a willow fence post that rooted itself!

[Green Aura]

I don't think blackcurrants are grafted - you only need to do that to limit growth and they're pretty much self-limiting.

As an aside question (who me? ) how long does it take for apricots to grow to flowering/fruiting stage? We bought a (supposedly) self-fertile apricot tree for my mother (not sure how long ago but as she died in Feb 2015 it was well before that). We've not seen so much as a flower bud on it yet. It's in the polytunnel alongside happily fruiting citrus trees.

[Odsox]

Well that just wasted 30 minutes of my life, plus considerable brain power wasted as well.

My apricot is Petit Muscat and has smallish fruit, it's advertised as "walnut sized" fruit, but they are a bit bigger than that, but certainly not as big as regular ones.

OK .. I planted it bare rooted in spring 2010.
You can see the twig against the wall in my greenhouse (3rd pic down through the door, the twig up the far end is the grape vine) http://selfsufficientish.com/forum/view ... 38&t=18367
2011 .. I think it had a flower or two but no fruit
2012 .. Picked 1.5 Kg fruit
2013 .. Picked 5.6 Kg
2014 .. Picked 10.2 Kg and the same for 2015.

[Green Aura]

Sounds like we've got a dud then. Thanks Tony. Shame - it's lush and healthy but not much use if it doesn't fruit. I might try a different feed - I usually use a little rockdust/b,f+b combo - maybe it needs more potash or something.

[Flo]

It's maybe like our pear try Maggie, just had it's first decent crop in 8 years.

[Odsox]

it's lush and healthy but not much use if it doesn't fruit. I might try a different feed

That could be your problem Maggie, my tree hasn't had any fertiliser at all in those 6 years.
Most plants will sacrifice flowering and grow lush foliage if overfed. If your soil is poor then maybe feed it only when it has small fruitlets that need an extra boost.

[Green Aura]

I think we need a bit more communication in this house.
I've just told my OH that I'm not going to do my annual spring top dressing and he informs me he's been feeding it when he feeds the tomatoes!
I think you might just have solved our apricot problems.

[Green Aura]

I wouldn't have worried if it hadn't got fruit Flo - but no blossom? Still, hopefully we're good for next year (or maybe the one after that).

[Odsox]

hopefully we're good for next year (or maybe the one after that).

I think it will probably be the year after Maggie. The tree will have fruiting spurs developed by now, so you can easily forecast how many flowers for next spring.
If you (or OH) has been feeding wholesale then why would it bother about producing offspring, hell's bells it's going to live forever.
Starve it and show it who's boss and it will make loads of fruiting spurs next autumn.

[Green Aura]

show it who's boss

That'll be the cats then.

[diggernotdreamer]

I have a nectarine that I put in a pot and abandoned in the tunnel over the summer, meaning to put it into a much bigger pot, watered it when I remembered and slung it outside about a month ago to get a good drenching. Looked at it today and it is covered in fruiting spurs, so I had better be a bit nicer and put it into the bigger pot this weekend and put it back in the tunnel. As for blackcurrants, I have them as weeds everywhere, I had never experienced this before, but the blackcurrants grow so well here, the blackbirds have a field day with them. This year, I have closed up the holes in the fruit cage and picked most of the fruit to try and stop the birds getting in and crapping seeds everywhere