Red Currant
white currant
Ribes rubrum
Last edited on November 29, 2025. View history
Red Currant
Ribes rubrum
Also known as
red currant (EN)
How to sow red currant: Cuttings
Sun requirement for red currant: Plant in Full Sun
Red Currants are perennial, deciduous woody shrubs that produce hanging clusters of bright red, translucent edible berries that are 8-12 mm in diameter. Red Currants are more tangy than Black Currants. All currants are related to gooseberries and prefer damp, fertile soils. The berries can be eaten raw, but are often cooked into sweet and savory dishes, or made into jams, syrups, juice, and wine.
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Red currant facts
Lifespan
Perennial
living more than two years
Height × spread
150cm × 120cmRow Spacing
150cm
Optimal temperature
10–22 °C
Absolute temperature
5–25 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
800–1200 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
500–1700 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
6.5–7.5
Absolute soil pH
6–8
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
150–180 days
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
very bright to clear skies
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For red currant, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 150 days at its best temperature, about 1650 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your red currant will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
How members grow red currants
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Varieties of red currant
Photos
Photos
Red currant crops
Red currant plantings
Video
Where red currants grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about red currants
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Who's planted red currants
- corvi Cliffside Orchard · salt spring island
- miestasmagnus Garden · London, UK
- shadawyn Berry Walk
- bigblen Miscellaneous · Rapaki Road,...
Red currant harvests
Nobody has harvested this crop yet.
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 150 to 180 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Ribes rubrum L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Rosales Grossulariaceae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: 0 °C, rest: -10 °C |
| Life form | shrub |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | heavy, medium |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about red currants
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