Jerry on here grows it in z10. maybe he will chime in.
I just wanted to update my review of Crandall currants. I still really enjoy this currant and everything I said in my original post for the most part stands with a few alterations.
I still the think the flavor of Crandall beats any other gooseberry or currant for fresh eating, my family and girlfriend agrees. However, they are more tart than gooseberries (less so than red currants). I personally really enjoy some tartness to my fruit but for some, I could see it being too much. I’m going to let it hang for a couple of weeks after turning black to see if some of the tartness goes away. I think if they ever breed a less tart Crandall, it would be very well liked by just about everybody. Delicious.
However, growth has not kept up. My gooseberries have now outpaced my Crandall in new growth but, the Crandall is still just as productive as the gooseberries. Since gooseberries fruit on old wood, I’d imagine next year the gooseberries will outproduce the Crandall. When they are all fully mature, I’m guessing that Crandall will be more productive or just as productive as any gooseberry given the shear amount of fruit per branch is amazing.
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I would say Rovada is too tart to eat fresh. This year they have a lot of sugar and still are tart I like tart so tolerate it better. But even I don’t usually eat them fresh. Just a good year.
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Im trying to picture what you mean, surely you dont mean the actual strigs of fruits are a ft. long? If so, you must live near Chernobyl or perhaps there’s something wrong with my Primus!
A T-cordon is what it sounds like- pretty much a T-shaped espalier with a permanent ‘leg’ and 2 cordons. You prune back to the cordon instead of pruning to the crown. I tried to manage skme of my Ribes that way but ultimately didnt (or should i say haven’t) had the patience. As with most intensive methods, you trade density and neatness for lots of labor, IME. They are beautiful though.
One downside is that they probably do tend to senesce more that if grown as an informal shrub. At the very least, you must have to cut it down and start anew after a certain number of years I imagine
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Look here
A photo of one in the link above.
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my primus is in 2nd leaf and has 2 long strings of berries. i like the fact that the birds dont see them. ill probably put in a pink or 2 also. i have white imperial at the other orchard. should see some berries off of it next summer. Jeanne goose is so loaded with berries its all sprawling on the ground. never seen a fruit load so heavy on a bush. im tying that sucker to fencing next year. a pain in the ass to pick like it is.
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Wow! Maybe something IS wrong with my Primus. I suppose it IS growing in a jungle of a nurse bed. Probably it needs a bit more love!
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Mine doesn’t always have strings that long it was a good year. I have a primus I’m making into a cordon but I just started making it. My Rovada is almost there. The trunk has formed, I cut it to get it to split at the top of the fence. Which it did. I tied each new shoot down Probably all I get this year. I’ll form the top of the tee cordon next year.
On primus white the new leaves have a reddish tint unlike imperial. A way to confirm you really have primus.
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i noticed that as well about the color. i probably wont do a t but more like a espalier in a fan with multiple stems just to manage growth and get it off the ground. should help with disease as well.
I grow them as bushes. I made the cordons with rooted cuttings. The bushes produce well. I would not want to give them up. Very pretty bushes too. These currants will also produce in complete shade. Production is about half. I have a number of them at my cottage in a woods edge type garden. No direct light hits the garden.
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Currants aren’t my favorite food (but the jam is really good). Yet, they’re so easy to grow, not sure why I didn’t start growing them many years ago!
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does anyone know how Crandall and Missouri Giant do in Warm(er) climates as no spray fruit bushes? Tempted to try them at home in zone 7b maryland. I grow several varieties of gooseberry and the American crossed cultivars seem to do the best. I don’t spray any of them and while they might not look great by the fall they all come back each year and bear fruit. hoping it is similar with these native currants.
I planted them both on the North side of my house like twenty minutes West of Philadelphia.They’re the least crispy of my currants by a large margin (various red/pink/white ones are the others). Doing about as well as gooseberries that are in full sun. They got some leaf spot thing later Summer, but still have must of their leaves. No bugs bothered them.
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I already do grow them! (as of this spring).
My single plant from St. Lawrence (along with a few other Ribes) even gave a small number of berries this first year - about 12 or 15 on the Crandall. I discovered a last hidden behind a leaf one about a month ago, great surprise, as good as it’d’ve been in July or August! I look forward to many many more in future. Husky plant thus far. Flowers pretty, scent not as strong as others have said.
I myself love currants and gooseberries of all types, having (as an american) gotten to know them in several college & grad school years spent in the xussr back in the 90s (Ukraine and the failed states belarus & russia back when we all had hope). I don’t think I’d had one (except native wild) in 20+ years before this year!
As an aside I found ‘pixwell’ gooseberry super great while still green, but not as good once turned pink. But no problem not waiting! I had only ~10 berries so low sample size; maybe in future I’ll have the luxury of trying different shades.
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Jerry on here grows them in z10a s. Cali. and says Crandal grows and fruits well for him. an amazing plant as its also hardy to z3. some say 2. drought tolerant as well once established. its a slow grower compared to other currants
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Mine has grown well in Central PA Hershey/Harrisburg area. Sadly the birds got most of my fruit this year. Second year in ground. First year it fruited. Leaf spots and looks like hell but it will come back like a champ next season.
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I grow them in a warmer climate no spray but I’m more West than South. They grow really well. No problems, but we don’t have rain or humidity during the summer.
John S
PDX OR
In NE Kansas, my Crandalls (and the native unselected ones) are the only ones that have NEVER succumbed to drought.
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Great thread all.
I just bought a Crandall and a Tatiana from HoneyberryUSA. Looking forward to them arriving shortly.
I plan to put them in pots and in a location that receives some morning sun but then is shaded for the rest of the day. I might actually need to put them in a location that’s mostly shaded until they reach about 4ft tall.
Drew if you get a chance, would love to see pics of your plants and cordons. What size pots do you have them in? And do you follow your standard potting and fertilizing practices you’ve mentioned on multiple other threads? My plan was to just do that 
since I have it written down in detail from your other posts.
Excited to try these in Z10.
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