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Fruit Edible

Ribes nigrum 'Ben Connan' (B)

blackcurrant 'Ben Connan'

A culinary cultivar with large fruit of excellent flavour on medium long strigs. It produces heavy crops early in the season and has a compact habit

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Ultimate height

1–1.5 metres

Time to ultimate height

2–5 years

Ultimate spread

1–1.5 metres

Clay

Loam

Sand

Moisture

Moist but well–drained

pH

Acid, Alkaline, Neutral

	Stem	Flower	Foliage	Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Full sun

Aspect

East–facing or South–facing or North–facing or West–facing

Exposure

Sheltered

Hardiness
Hardiness ratings
All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets
H1a: under glass all year (>15C)
H1b: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
H1c: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)

Botanical details

Family: Grossulariaceae
Native to GB / Ireland: No
Foliage: Deciduous
Habit: Bushy
Genus: Ribes can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes spiny, with simple, usually palmately lobed leaves and small tubular or bell-shaped, solitary or racemose flowers borne in spring or summer, followed by juicy, sometimes edible berries
Name status: Accepted

How to grow

Cultivation

Grow as a multi-stemmed bush in a soil enriched with well-rotted manure or compost. Tolerates a range of soils including slightly alkaline ones. Add a balanced general fertiliser and additional nitrogen in spring

Propagation

propagate by hardwood cuttings in the dormant season

Suggested planting locations and garden types

Cottage and informal garden
Wildlife gardens
Edible fruit

Pruning

Prune blackcurrants when dormant, from late autumn to late winter. Fruit forms on young wood, so when pruning aim to remove older wood, leaving the young shoots

Pests

May be susceptible to gall mites, gall midge and aphids

Diseases

May be susceptible to a leaf spot, powdery mildews, coral spot and sometimes honey fungus

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