Black currant newtons sound worth trying.
2 Likes
Oh man my crandall is gorgeous this year! This plant has survived being moved twice as we had to put pylons down to bedrock so our silly house stops sliding around. It is living under a bunch of shagbark hickory trees and doesn’t get a lot of sun at all. All the black and red currants I bought at the same time have been dead for years from an unknown diaease and not being able to overcome sawfly invasions. Sometimes my berried get black spots on them but otherwise it is such an easy going plant.
It has had pretty flowers for the last few years but THIS year it smells fantastic too. I understand now why it is called clove.
It also apparently seeded some offspring. That’s great because I’ve been rubbish at growing it from cuttings. I’m trying again to air layer this year. My pink champagne currant can root even if I just think about making a cutting but thus far, not my crandall.
I am wondering now, if I give away a seedling that grew a foot from the crandall and that is making flowers identical to my crandall, can I call them crandall still? I don’t think anything was close enough for cross pollination from anything and the flower is the same but I don’t want to mess stuff up either.
11 Likes
Seedlings should not be distributed under the same name, but it’s probably a sucker and not a seedling. Dig it up and find out.
5 Likes
For a nearly fool proof propagation method, try simple layering. Bend a branch to the ground, lay it in a shallow trench and place a rock to keep it in place. Crandall branches are pretty long, so you could even try serpentine layering. You should have rooted layers to plant next year
4 Likes
I agree with @JohannsGarden, if it is a true seedling, do not give it away with the name crandall. But always fun to see what seedlings become when they marture! Beautiful plant by the way!
4 Likes
If it turns out to be an actual seedling rather than a sucker you can simply call it “clove currant” which is the common name for the species to which ‘Crandall’ belongs.
4 Likes
Perfect! That solves my problem because I did dig it out and it is on its own. Thanks! Clove currant it is.
3 Likes
@Adamsmasherz What netting brand are you using, I see a green one on your photo? is it KNITTED BIRD NETTING from americannettings?
@ukie Thats correct, its the knitted bird netting from American Nettings. I actually went on a net buying spree last season to find what I like the most. Of all the knitted plastic ones, I liked the one from American nettings the most. I also got some nylon netting from amazon that I also really like because its a bit easier to move around and its a bit more “dense” so it drapes over plants better, however it tends to also knot a little easier. The company that sells it on amazon is called Woscmi.
5 Likes
I planted one today along with a Missouri Giant.
Crandall is on the left, Missouri is on the right. I’ve been working alfalfa pellets into my clay dirt for the past month. They’ll get sun for like 6-8 hours in the morning/early afternoon. If they’re unhappy I’ll move them later.
They have a myrobalan sucker friend for this season. If it doesn’t die or get eaten I’ll move it come Winter.
1 Like
were did you get Missouri giant?
I got them both from Raintree.
1 Like
My earliest gooseberries have gotten to the point where the slightest pressure will have them drop. You were absolutely correct, all sweet and no sour.
Some of my family still enjoy crandall more than them however. I am going to make sure some of the crandalls hang for several weeks to see how their sweet to sourness changes over time.
3 Likes
I often have to harvest earlier than I like due to fungi problems with very ripe fruit. Depends on the weather really.
My currants this year have high sugar. I have been eating the pinks and reds while picking.
Rovada red is a thing of beauty. Long strings with very large berries. A breeze to harvest. I have two other golden currants. Only one has fruited so far. The berries are black like Crandall but much smaller. Flavor when dead ripe is good but the size makes getting a decent amount tough. I just add them to other black currants for processing. This one is from Colorado, it grows fine in Michigan. When hard ripe it has some astringent taste. When dead ripe it’s very good better then Crandall. The third is supposed to be yellow. We will see, second leaf no berries yet.
I started two t-cordons. One with Rovada with its large berries and with primus white as it often has strings of berries one foot long. They both should make awesome T cordons. Thanks Lee Reich for teaching me how to make these cordons.
4 Likes
whats is a t cordon? i know what a cordon is. i want to do most of my floppy Ribes like this. will be so much easier to manage this way.
Sounds interesting, keep us updated with those two other varieties.
Is rovada sweet enough to eat or does it require processing in your opinion?
I would think that it would still make it. If you were in BC or Alaska, maybe not. I think it depends on the amount of heat and sun you get period. They’re from the Great Plains, if I’m not mistaken. That can help put the idea into context.
John S
PDX OR
there are folks on here that have Crandal grow and fruit from z2b prairies Canada to z10 Cali . its the most adaptable Ribes i know of. a little slower to grow and fruit than most other Ribes but one of the only plants that i didn’t have to water during or 20’ - 21’ droughts.
3 Likes
I would think that in z2-6, it would need to be in sun, not shade.
John S
PDX OR
1 Like
I’m in zone 5, gets 4 hours of sun absolute max and still heavily fruits.
2 Likes