I sometimes have trouble with it, myself.
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Iām still going to give it a try 
A big chunk of the backyard has shade at one time of the day or another, and I have spots that are shaded - or at least dappled/moving shade in the afternoon. If that lets me get some black currants, I might actually forgive my neighborās siberian elm its existence 
(itās a whole clump on the fenceline between our yards - Iād rather have almost anything else providing the shade, butā¦)
With all the shade and facing north the backyard feels like itās in a different climate zone for most of the year.
Based on the comments here Iām going to try Minaj (based on what Scott said) for sure. Also take care to mulch, keep moisture up and weāll see how it goes.
If all fails, Iāll switch to Crandall.
As a side note, Iām happy to hear that you like Tiben - itās one of varietes developed back in my home country. Itās one of the newer cultivars, supposed to have high yield and decent disease resistance. In their trials to check for commercial production potential it seems that resistance to white pine rust was not quite as good as for Titania, but it was resistant nonetheless. It had excellent resistance to powdery mildew - at least in their climate Black currants are an important commercial fruit crop there, and it appears thereās quite a bit of research being done to introduce improved varieties.
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the 1st year i grew it, some lower leaves got rust so i cut them off and sprayed immunox. it never came back. now i spray a fungicide on them when Iām spraying other trees and they have stayed clean for 3 yrs. now. i really like the taste of Tiben compared to Consort. i havenāt tried the new ones though.
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We had a few days over 90, but most of our summer is 70-80s
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All my shade was recently removed not my idea. So I only have direct sun and dappled full sun now.
Drew- I am looking at relative sizes of black currants, and you have a lot. Can you tell what you see as largest/smallest approximate sizes? I am trying to plan out how much space to allot each one, I only have a limited amount of shade.
EDIT to clarify- size of the plants is what I need.
Are you asking about the size of the berry, the size of the plant. Plant and berry size might tell you about productivity small berries could produce more by weight.
I edited post to clarify more, what I need is size of plants, for planning what goes where and trying to come up with an irrigation scheme. I donāt really care about size of berry. I am looking at what tastes good, and what survives in Maryland variable weather.
I have seen some odd spacing requirements online.
I donāt know the answer to your questions but what I do know is. Ribes are similar to Rubus in many ways. Ribes produce fruit on second and third year branches. So to continue to get good harvest your removing old wood and training new grow to have good air flow.
Ribes will care less about Maryland winters. What they do not like are humid maryland summers which is where the airflow pruning comes into importance.
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Larger berries are much less time consuming to pick, especially if you pluck the stem remnants.
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Sorry for the late reply plants can get to four feet wide and tall. They can get larger but you should prune out canes after about five years. Or when canes become unproductive. Some are compact and smaller. Look for that description if you need smaller plants Ben Sarek is one that is smaller. It happens to have huge berries that take some time to fully ripen. I would space at four to five feet apart. I use four feet.
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I know larger/less time involved, but that isnāt much consideration. For me, a berry is a berry, and going by blueberries, larger doesnāt necessarily taste the best. I have a number of varieties, it depends on what ultimately likes it here the most.
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I grew:
Versailles (white curant, the sweetest, smaller in size but very large clusters) Also the sweetest off the currant varieties if eaten fresh. Rare did!
Blanco (white currant) Larger than tiny Versailles with about the same sweet -sour taste)
Red Lake (Red currant) sour, but very red and made the best currant pie and jelly
JonKeer von Tets (Red currant). Sweeter than Red Lake when eaten fresh, but still better for jam.
Pink Champagne (Pink currant). I cannot remember the cross; one of the sweet currants.
Ben Serak, a very large (Black Currant )(Sour as are most currants). Leaves smell like pine; excellent for jam.
Ben Lomond (Black Currant) a medium sized currant. Sour again, excellent for jam and sorbet.
Consort (Black Currant). An excellent pollinator with good sized berries; smaller berries than Ben Serak.
Now I will be growing two new black currants so I will be able to add to the list. Hope this helps. Red Currants are used as a garnish here for desserts or Jam or Jelly. That is their primary use! Black currants are only used for juice, sorbet, ice cream and jam. All seedless!
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I am now growing fruit on patio. I got in kitty litter pans a jostaberry and a purple gooseberry, which were large stemmed and good priced at ACE hardware this spring. So far leaves are green and looks healthy, although not a ton of growth. No fruit this year, but hopefully next.
Also more of the old seeds from a many years ago white currant (Imperial or Pearl, I forget which), have sprouted this spring. I am trying to transplant into a container. They seeded themselves near the house too close to grow properly, no air flow.
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Any reports on Slitsa? I see @Drew51 was growing it at one point. Vigorous? Productive? Tasty? Resistant to WPR? Iām still trying to get something to do well here besides Minaj Smyreu.
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I have had it two seasons, I think I had a few fruit this season? With other fruits my palate is discriminating, but with black currants, Iām not distinguishing much difference? At least nothing stands out. Itās growing well. I have not seen WPR so I canāt comment on resistance. I will pay more attention to it next season. I have so many now harvests are big. I should try to harvest by cultivar, yet many have long harvests and I tend to harvest here there, and everywhere in one bag. I should though as I might favor one, and just go with that.
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Two more days in the 60ā's
My Black September looks like it might almost be ready to bud outā¦hope it doesnāt.
Whereās your home country? I live in West Jordan. My grandpa was born in Slovakia. Any luck on currants? Iām just starting to think about adding them here.
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Iām from Poland, so just a bit to the north from your grandpaās home country. Well, quite a bit for me, in a way, since Iām from the coast, so the farthest north you get in Poland
Now in South Salt Lake, so probably quite similar conditions as in West Jordan as far as frosts and daily highs in summer.
I have Kirovchanka and Hillās Kiev Select black currants planted last spring. They didnāt grow much, but they didnāt die, so a success so far - that summer was brutal. I also got a red and a pink currant, planted in a different spot. One is dead, the other jury is out, but I donāt think itāll make it. To be honest, I really wasnāt happy with plants I got in that batch (not just currants), so I wouldnāt exactly hold it against the currants. Will try again for the reds, but I think the black ones have potential. Theyāre in a spot with afternoon shade.
Gooseberries on the other hand seem to be taking like duck to water.
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I liked jonkeers van tets for flavor, but eventually my plant declined, and a replacement failed to thrive. So now i have a rovada. Sadly, the critters get all the berries. My sister has some plants that produce so much that the critters canāt eat them all before i harvest them, though.
I also have some Crandall currants. I donāt mind that the critters eat the berries, as i never loved them to eat. But a really adore the odor of the flowers. They are pretty in bloom, too. So Iām keeping them.
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