Thinking about adding a couple of Crandall Clove currants here in my southern middle TN hot humid SE zone 7b locaton.
A few questions…
I tried red currants and jostaberry here a few years back… and they could not hack my heat and humidity… they floundered, refused to grow, had aweful foliage issues… after 3 or 4 years i got 2 or 3 berries off them. Not worth growing here. Ps… i tried full sun (disaster)… and half day morning sun location… but they just did not like it here.
I have heard from @steveb4 and others that Crandall is known to do well or better in hotter climate.
Anyone here growing them with good success in a south east zone 7 ?
Also… looking for recommendations on site to plant them in (sun exposure wise). I have plenty of full sun space… but also some 1/2 day and 3/4 day morning sun space.
Our evening sun can be brutal hot here.
One other question… where to buy ?
I got a Burnt Ridge catalog in the mail recently and they have them… they list them as zone 2-8.
I read some post here from previous years and several spoke highly of Lucille at Whitmans farms… as a source for a good Crandall Clove.
I have had good luck in the past with purchases from both of those. I might favor Whitmans a bit.
Jerry on here has them growing and fruiting reliably in z10a C.A. not your humid south conditions but handles heat well. probably will still have some leaf issues due to that. may need occasional fungicide sprays in the heat of summer. tobacco juice diluted works well for many fungal problems and is very easy to grow . just wouldn’t use it on anything in the tomato family as it can carry mosaic virus. 1 plant will keep you in fungicide for a few years. i have tons of seed if you want some. i 2nd Whitman farms. there’s a few new similarly related American currants that are available as well. think one is called Missouri clove currant. its in the same family (Ribes odoratum) as Crandal just dont remember who sells it.
just looked. raintree and one green world have it. Trev. i have a 12in. sucker off of my Crandal that i could send you next spring with that Colombia giant blackberry i rooted for you. let me know. Crandal was slow to establish here but I’ve read they are more vigorous than the euro. currants are, in warmer climes. should work out well for you. doesn’t have the strong, musky taste of euro currants either.
I grew them in northern middle TN several years ago. They handled the heat just fine in full sun. I grew some from different sources and saw a lot of variation in the production, so I think a lot of them are just grown from seed. Getting a proper selection from someone like Lucille is a good idea.
Morning sun is probably more important, so they can dry quickly. The main issues are mildews on the leaves. I tried growing other selections of clove currants and golden currants from more arid regions in the west, and they had severe issues with mildews. Crandall seems to be one of the few selections that isn’t bothered so much by high humidity.
Yes ,. mine gets sun all day. i think Crandal prefers more full sun than the euro. blacks, reds and whites. definitely can’t hurt giving them some evening shade at your place.
I’ve got the same hot humid environment. All of my currants and gooseberries look like crap by the end of the season, but come back with fruit every year. To the topic though Crandall is the toughest one I have.
@Robert … jostaberries and red currants did that here… awefull foliage issues … but it was bad enough that it caused them not to grow any and it was rare for them to bloom so very little fruit.
I got about a teaspoon full of berries in 4 years from 2 josta and 2 red currants.
Hoping that crandall is tuf enough to actually grow some and increase fruit production over time.
I have some in nearly full shade but just planted them this fall as the two I had in sun one died and the other was all but dead so I moved it. But not sure the sun killed them more likely the lack of adding irrigation to them and drought plus my hydrophobic soil. If this round of currants/jostas die in mostly shade then I won’t try them again. But I’ll keep you posted @TNHunter
For me mostly shade actually does the best. Most of mine are in direct sun with a few in mostly shade. The shade ones always look better at the end of the year and crop the same amount.