GrowingHQ
FruitStraightforward

Whitecurrant

Ribes rubrum

A redcurrant without the red. Sweeter and milder than a redcurrant, sufficiently so to be eaten straight from the bush rather than cooked, and grown, pruned and trained in exactly the same way. It is included here as a distinct record because growers look for it by name, not because it needs different treatment.

Position
Full sun or Partial shade
Water
moderate demand
Drainage
Moisture-retentive
Grows to
150–180 cm × 120–150 cm
Hardiness
H6
Harvest
July and August
Difficulty
Straightforward

August

Harvest

Whitecurrant’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

ActivityJFMAMJJASOND
PlantJanuary. February. March. November. December.
In flowerApril.
HarvestJuly. August.
PruneJanuary. February. June. July. December.

Names that cause confusion

whitecurrant — Not a separate species. It is a colour variant of the redcurrant, Ribes rubrum, and everything about growing it is identical.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Pollination

Whether one plant on its own will set fruit, and what has to be true if it will not.

One plant on its own will crop.

Self-fertility
Self-fertile
Partner needed
No partner needed
Pollen moved by
Insects
Where the pollination figures come from
Self-fertilitySourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing redcurrants

Checked 2026-08-13

Partner neededSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing redcurrants

Checked 2026-08-13

Pollen moved byHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rootstocks

No rootstock to choose

Own roots from hardwood cuttings, as for redcurrants.

Pruning and training

Every piece of fruit pruning advice follows from one fact: where the plant carries next year's crop.

Fruits on: Spurs on older wood

Fruit forms on short stubby spurs that persist on wood two years old and older. Pruning aims to build and renew those spurs, so the framework is kept and young growth is shortened.

source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Pruning redcurrants

Checked 2026-08-13

Which wood carries the fruitThree fruiting habits compared. On a spur-bearer such as most apples and pears, fruit forms on short stubby spurs on wood two years old and older, so the older framework must be kept and long new shoots can be shortened. On a tip-bearer, fruit forms at the ends of shoots made last year, so shortening every shoot removes the entire crop. On a cane fruit such as a summer raspberry, fruit forms on canes grown the previous season, which die after cropping and are cut to the ground while this year's new canes are kept.Spur-bearerfruit on old spursshorten new growthTip-bearerfruit at the shoot tipsshortening loses the cropCane fruitcut fruited canes outkeep this year’s canes
Cutting the wrong wood does not damage the plant. It removes the crop, and the loss is not visible until the following summer.

Forms it can be grown as

  • Open bush
  • Cordon
  • Fan
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

  • Annual maintenanceJune, July, December, January, February

    Build and renew fruiting spurs on a permanent framework, exactly as for a redcurrant.

    Shorten side shoots to two or three buds in winter and to about five leaves in summer on trained forms. The framework is kept.

    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Royal Horticultural Society: Pruning redcurrants

    Checked 2026-08-13

What you are committing to

Fruit is a multi-year decision. These are the numbers a nursery label rarely carries.

First worthwhile crop
2–3 years
Propagated by
Hardwood cuttings
Fruit type
Bush fruit
Where these figures come from
First worthwhile cropHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Propagated byHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rarely sold at all, and sweet enough to eat fresh — unlike its red form, which mostly ends up cooked.

Conditions it needs

Light
Full sun, Partial shade
Direct sun
3 hours a day or more
Frost
Very hardy
Hardiness rating
H6 (RHS)
Soil
Loam, Clay, Silt
Soil pH
6–6.8
Drainage
Moisture-retentive
Water needs
moderate
Drought
moderate tolerance
Waterlogging
moderate tolerance
Heat
moderate tolerance
Wind and exposure
good tolerance
Where these figures come from
LightSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing redcurrants

Checked 2026-08-13

Direct sunHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Redcurrants — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Hardiness ratingSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

SoilVerdictWhy
Heavy clayGrows well hereWhitecurrant grows perfectly well on heavy clay without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
SandyGrows well hereWhitecurrant grows perfectly well on sandy without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Chalky and alkalineWorks, with one conditionWhitecurrant will crop on chalky and alkaline, but one thing has to be dealt with first. The soil is substantially too alkaline for it: it wants pH 6 to 6.8, and this soil sits around 7.8 to 8.5.The pH is the obstacle. Small shifts are achievable and slow; large ones are not. On chalky and alkaline the dependable answer is a container of the right compost rather than an attempt to change the ground.
LoamGrows well hereWhitecurrant grows perfectly well on loam without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
SiltyGrows well hereWhitecurrant grows perfectly well on silty without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Peaty and acidGrows well hereWhitecurrant grows perfectly well on peaty and acid without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Shallow over rockWorks, with one conditionWhitecurrant will crop on shallow over rock, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It roots to about 30 cm and this soil offers roughly 25 cm before rock or hardpan.Grow it in a deep container or a raised bed. The rooting depth is not something that can be added to the ground.
Made ground and urban soilGrows well hereWhitecurrant grows perfectly well on made ground and urban soil without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height
150–180 cm
Mature spread
120–150 cm
Rooting depth
30–45 cm
Spacing
150 cm apart
Where these figures come from
Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

SpacingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

How far apart to plant whitecurrantThree whitecurrant plants drawn in a row at their recorded spacing of 150 cm between plants. The spacing is drawn to scale against a one metre rule; the plants themselves are symbols rather than scale drawings, so the distance between them is the part to read.150 cmone metre
Measured centre to centre. Plants set closer than this compete for light and water long before they look crowded, and the crowding cannot be undone once they are in.

In a container

Minimum volume
35 litres or more
Minimum depth
35 cm
Where the container figures come from
Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

As for redcurrants: a cordon in a pot against a wall crops well in very little floor space, and the fruit is easier to net at that spacing.

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

MethodSuitabilityWhat it needs
Open groundWell suited
source

Sourced guidancehigh confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing redcurrants

Checked 2026-08-13

Traditional dug bedWell suited
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Raised bedWell suited
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Vertical growingWell suited
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wires; Spur pruning
ContainerWorkable
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HydroponicsMarginal
source

GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence

A permanent bush with a chilling requirement, as redcurrant — the two are the same plant differing in fruit colour.

  • GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ

Checked 2026-08-13

GreenhouseMarginal
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board — AHDB: Currants — chilling requirement

Checked 2026-08-13

PolytunnelMarginal
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board — AHDB: Currants — chilling requirement

Checked 2026-08-13

WindowsillNot suitable
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Growing it

  • PruningPrune exactly as a redcurrant: a permanent framework with shortened side shoots, never cut to the ground.
  • ProtectionNet in late winter as well as in summer. Bullfinches strip dormant fruit buds from currants, which removes the crop months before it would have formed.
  • PlantingPlant at the same depth it grew in the pot, on a short clear leg — not deeper, as a blackcurrant is. The clear stem is what the permanent framework is built on.
  • WateringTreated exactly as a redcurrant: water while the fruit swells on light soils and in pots, and keep it even, because the berries split when a dry spell is broken by a soaking.
  • FeedingSulphate of potash in late winter with a compost mulch, as for redcurrants. The fruit forms on spurs on old wood, and nitrogen pushes the new growth that has to be pruned off again.
  • PropagationAs for redcurrants — hardwood cuttings in late autumn with the lower buds rubbed off, so the plant makes a short clear leg rather than a thicket. Whitecurrants root as readily as any soft fruit and come true from cuttings.
Where this guidance comes from
PruningHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Pruning redcurrants

Checked 2026-08-13

ProtectionHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Birds and fruit

Checked 2026-08-13

PlantingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing redcurrants

Checked 2026-08-13

WateringSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Redcurrants and whitecurrants — cultivation

Checked 2026-08-13

FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Redcurrants and whitecurrants — feeding

Checked 2026-08-13

PropagationSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Redcurrants and whitecurrants — propagation

Checked 2026-08-13

Where to make a pruning cutFour stems compared. The first is cut cleanly on a slope about five millimetres above an outward-facing bud, sloping away from it, and is labelled correct. The second is cut too far above the bud, leaving a long stub that dies back. The third is cut too close, into the bud itself, which loses the shoot. The fourth is cut sloping towards the bud so rain runs onto it rather than away, which rots it. In every case the bud points outwards, away from the centre of the plant.Correct5 mm, sloping awayToo highstub dies backToo closebud lostSloping inrain sits on the bud
The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.
Four ways to make more plantsFour propagation operations compared, each showing where the separation is made and what must be present on both sides of it. Division: a clump cut between crowns, with roots and at least one growing point on every piece. Stem cutting: a shoot cut just below a leaf node, because the node is where roots form, with the lower leaves removed. Runner: a plantlet already rooting where it touches the ground, severed from the parent only after its own roots have taken. Offset: a young shoot at the base of the parent, separated with its own roots attached. In each case the cut is marked and the part that must be retained is labelled.Divisioncut between crownsroots on every piececut below a nodeStem cuttingroots form at the nodestrip the lower leavesRunnerlet it root firstthen sever the linkOffseta shoot at the basetake its roots with it
The rule is the same in all four: the new piece needs both a growing point and roots of its own. A cutting is the exception that has to make its roots afterwards, which is why the node matters so much.

Is it worth putting under cover?

Whether it will grow there is on the methods table above. This is whether the space is well spent, which is a different question and usually the one being asked.

StructureWhat protection is worthWhat decides it
GreenhouseNo real benefit
source

GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence

What protection is worth for this crop, judged against the same standard as every other record in this file.

  • GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ

Checked 2026-08-13

Winter chill and permanent occupancy, exactly as for redcurrant — the two differ in fruit colour and in almost nothing that matters here.
PolytunnelNo real benefit
source

GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence

What protection is worth for this crop, judged against the same standard as every other record in this file.

  • GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ

Checked 2026-08-13

Winter chill and permanent occupancy.

Growing it without soil

Nearly anything can be grown in a soilless system by somebody with enough equipment. The useful question is whether it is worth it, in which technique, and what goes wrong.

Not worth it

It can be made to grow, but a soilless system is the wrong tool — usually because of rooting volume, running cost, or a result no better than a pot of compost.

source

GrowingHQ editorial positionmoderate confidence

A permanent bush with a chilling requirement, as redcurrant — the two are the same plant differing in fruit colour.

  • GrowingHQ editorial synthesis — GrowingHQ

Checked 2026-08-13

Sold as a distinct fruit and genetically a redcurrant without the pigment.

Techniques that suit it

  • Drip-fed mediumSolution is dripped into an inert medium around each plant. The most forgiving technique and the one that suits large, long-season, heavy crops.
Horticultural consensusDepends on conditionsmoderate confidence

Applies when: Substrate only.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Root space
Large and permanent.
pH band
5.5–6.5
Where these figures come from
Root spaceHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

pH bandSourced guidancehigh confidence

Outside roughly this band, individual nutrients become unavailable even when they are present in the solution — which is why a crop can starve in a full reservoir.

  • Purdue Extension — Purdue University: Hydroponic solution management — pH

Checked 2026-08-13

No nutrient recipes here

GrowingHQ records pH bands, which are measurable properties of nutrient availability, and deliberately records no EC or PPM targets and no mixing instructions. Published targets vary by cultivar, growth stage, water source and technique, and the figures that apply to your system are on the product you bought.

Harvesting

  • When it is readyPick whole strigs when the berries are translucent and full.
  • How to pick itSnip the strig.
  • Keeping itA few days refrigerated; freezes well.
Where the harvest guidance comes from
When it is readyHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

How to pick itHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Keeping itHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

What goes wrong

ProblemHow oftenNotes
Gooseberry sawflycommon
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Strips a bush from the centre outward, sometimes within a week.
Currant blister aphidcommon
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Red blistered spring leaves. Cosmetic: the fruit is unaffected and no spray is warranted.
Bird damagecommon
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Aphidscommon
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Grown with, grown after, grown instead

Every relationship states its mechanism. A pairing nobody can explain is a pairing nobody has checked, and it does not go in.

  • Closely relatedRedcurrant
    The same species, Ribes rubrum, differing only in fruit colour and sweetness. Every aspect of cultivation is shared.
    source

    Sourced guidancehigh confidence

    • Plants of the World Online — Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Ribes rubrum

    Checked 2026-08-13

Sources for this page

Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board · GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-13.