Last edited by shiny on November 11, 2026. View history
Black Currant
Black Currant
How to sow black currant: Cuttings
Sun requirement for black currant: Plant in Full Sun
Black currants are perennial woody shrubs that produce clusters of glossy black, sweet-tart, piquant berries that are smaller than blueberries and very high in Vitamin C. They prefer damp, fertile soils, and are winter hardy. The berries can be eaten raw, but are often cooked into sweet and savory dishes, or made into jams, syrups, juice, and wine.
- 9
- plantings
- 2
- harvests
- 1
- seed packet
Black currant facts
Lifespan
Height × spread
150cm × 120cmRow Spacing
150cmGrown for
fruit harvested 2 timesCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For black currant, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 150 days at its best temperature, about 2400 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your black currant will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
How members grow black currants
Sunniness
Planted from
Harvested for
Plant black currants with
Photos
Photos
Black currant plantings
Video
Where black currants grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about black currants
Nobody has posted about black currants yet.
Sign in or sign up to post your tips and experiences growing black currants.
Who's planted black currants
- shiny Front berries garden · Wellington, NZ
- shadawyn Berry Walk
- juliet Back garden · London, UK
- Brooke Brooke's Garden · Canberra, ACT, Australia
- Tiggothy Front Garden · Lake Vyrnwy, Mid...
Black currant harvests
-
bigblen harvested 1.15 kg.
almost 7 years ago
-
bigblen harvested 0.63 kg.
almost 7 years ago
bigblen harvested 1.15 kg.
View all black currant harvests
Sign in or sign up to track your black currant harvests.Find black currant seeds
View all black currant seeds
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 150 to 180 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Ribes nigrum L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Rosales Grossulariaceae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -28 °C |
| Life form | shrub |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | deep (>>150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about black currants
Resources outside Growstuff.
