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GRAPING RED CURRANTS ONTO BLACK CURRANTS

Many people refuse to grow red currant, giving preference to black only because its berries, although juicy, taste sour. Since I also like sweeter berries, I tried to “negotiate” with red currant bushes.

In February-March, on a good sunny day, I cut annual shoots from the bushes and use their middle parts (the buds here are the strongest and most developed) as cuttings.

After this, on the blackcurrant bushes, I cut down the branches 8-10 cm from the ground with a hacksaw and start grafting.

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I carefully clean the stumps remaining after removing the blackcurrant shoots with a sharp garden knife and, splitting them lengthwise on one or both sides (depending on the thickness), insert wedge-pointed red currant cuttings into the splitting gaps, achieving maximum agreement between the scion and the rootstock.

I tightly tie the grafting site with electrical tape, and cover the upper sections of the cuttings with garden pitch, which I preheat. With the onset of warm weather, the buds on the grafted cuttings bloom simultaneously with the leaves on the black currant. After the scion and rootstock have completely grown together, I loosen the electrical tape, and by the fall I remove it completely.

Over the summer, the grafted cuttings develop well, and the next year they already produce berries that are not only larger, fleshier and more aromatic than those on the mother bushes, but also noticeably sweeter. What is important: there was no case of grafted red currants freezing, getting sick or dying. It grows and bears fruit beautifully every year.

Reference by topic: Tree grafting for beginners - stock and what we will achieve: memo table

WORD TO THE SPECIALIST

An interesting experiment, and it’s great that the author succeeded: grafts often break under the weight of the harvest or due to careless handling. However, in my opinion, it is easier to purchase and grow one of the modern tasty and productive varieties of red currant: Asya, Dana, Lapland, Niva, Osipovskaya, Serpentin, Ural Beauty.