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  • From: list@ginda.us
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Ribes odoratum (Clove or Buffalo Currant)
  • Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2007 22:52:48 -0500


On Jan 3, 2007, at 9:46 AM, Thomas Olenio wrote:

It was written;

You'll learn that the Crandall Black Currant spreads about as much as >some
bramble
===

Hello,

Crandall currant also has the habit of weeping over. It is so loaded with
fruit it hits the ground from the fruit weight and never gets up, creating a
weeding/picking problem.

I tried to cage (over sized tomato cages) them, but they just broke branches
leaning over the side of the cage.

Crandall is a super producer of fruit. Mine were in full sun.

I put a couple of stakes in the ground, ran a strong string between the stakes, and rest the crandall currants against the string - sort of like floppy peonies. It's been working pretty well. They do weep to the ground under the weight of their fruit of you let them.

I haven't had any problem with it taking over. Yes, it sends up "runners" each spring, but I pull them out or mow them down (it's next to lawn) and that's the end of it for the season. The raspberries are more aggressive, sending up shoots all year long. Neither is as aggressive as my peppermint - I have to dig up the peppermint and remove about 90% of the growth twice each year. All- in-all, I prefer plants that grow enthusiastically to ones that you need to coax along.


On Jan 3, 2007, at 6:48 PM, William C. Garthright wrote:

I appreciate all the comments about these native black currants (I've
also seen them listed as Ribes aureum, var. 'Crandall'), but there are
two things I wasn't able to determine last year (before I joined the
NAFEX list). I planted some of these anyway, but could I get some help
on these questions, please?

1. For best fruit production, do you prune them like other Ribes
(remove three year and older stems)?

Probably. A cane rarely fruits in its first year, and I see the most production on second and third year canes. I haven't done any major pruning in a couple of years, and the plants are getting a little shaggy. I think I'll do more pruning next spring. . .


2. I received nothing but conflicting information about these plants.
Several nurseries told me that the 'Crandall' variety of /Ribes
odoratum/ (clove currant, buffalo currant, golden currant, etc.) would
set fruit with just one plant. But the Missouri Botanical Garden says
Ribes odoratum is dioecious, requiring both a male and a female plant to
set fruit. Apparently, this comes from the reference work, "A Manual of
Woody Landscape Plants" by Michael A. Dirr.
. . .

Every one of my Crandall currants fruits, and all the flowers appear to have both male and female parts. I've never tried to grow just one, so I don't know for sure if it's self-fruitful. I have had larger crops since I added a few plants that came from a different source than the first batch. I attributed it to maturity (I had transplanted the plants every year up 'til then, so they hadn't had a chance to really get going) but it's possible the cross pollination helped. Every one of them looks identical and buds, fruits, and drops leaves at the same time, so they aren't very different. In contrast, my red currants all ripen at slightly different times and have fruits that hang in slightly different shaped bunches. They are obviously different cultivars of the same species. The Crandall may all be clones of the same ultimate parent by their behavior.

Ginda






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