🍒 Top 20 Redcurrant Varieties to Grow: Tips and Advice for a Successful Harvest
🌱 Introduction: Why Variety Choice Matters
Redcurrants are hardy, reliable, and incredibly productive in UK gardens. But choosing the right variety makes a big difference to flavour, yield, disease resistance, and harvest timing. Some are perfect for fresh eating, others excel in jams and desserts, and a few are ideal for small gardens or containers.
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This guide covers the top 20 redcurrant varieties to grow, plus practical growing tips to help you achieve a heavy, healthy harvest year after year.
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Essential to protect ripening currants from birds.
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🍒 Top 20 Redcurrant Varieties to Grow
1. Rovada
One of the most popular varieties. Long trusses, heavy crops, and excellent flavour. Late-season.
2. Red Lake
Reliable and hardy with good disease resistance. Sweet-tart berries ideal for beginners.
3. Jonkeer van Tets
Early cropping variety with good-sized berries. Excellent for extending the season.
4. Jonkheer van Tets
Early ripening with bright, tangy fruit. Best grown in sheltered spots.
5. London Market
Traditional variety with strong flavour, perfect for jams and desserts.
6. Laxton’s Number One
Early to mid-season variety with good yields and classic redcurrant taste.
7. Cherry Red
Large berries with rich colour and strong flavour. Very productive once established.
8. Rondom
Late-season variety with long strigs and good resistance to splitting.
9. Gloire des Sablons
A pink-red currant with a sweeter flavour, excellent for fresh eating.
10. Detvan
Compact growth habit, making it ideal for smaller gardens or containers.
11. Heinemanns Rote Spätlese
Late harvesting variety with good resistance to disease and cracking.
12. Rosetta
Very sweet berries with a mild tang. Popular for eating fresh.
13. Stanza
Early cropping and heavy yielding. Suitable for cooler regions.
14. Fay’s Prolific
Strong-growing and productive with good-sized berries.
15. Rote Vierländer
German variety known for consistent yields and excellent flavour.
16. Red Dutch
Classic heritage variety with reliable crops and balanced flavour.
17. Tatran
Very large berries on long trusses. Excellent presentation and flavour.
18. Heros
Strong growth and good disease resistance. Performs well in UK conditions.
19. Babette
Modern variety bred for compact growth and good fruit size.
20. Junifer
Early-season variety ideal for gardeners wanting the first redcurrants of summer.
🌿 Tips for Growing Redcurrants Successfully
- Plant in full sun or light shade
- Space bushes 1.2–1.5 m apart
- Protect fruit with netting early
- Mulch annually to retain moisture
- Prune in winter to maintain open shape
Redcurrants fruit on older wood, so pruning differs from blackcurrants.
🪴 Can Redcurrants Be Grown in Pots?
Yes—especially compact varieties.
Best practice:
- Use containers at least 30–40 litres
- Ensure excellent drainage
- Feed regularly during the growing season
- Water consistently in dry weather
Container-grown plants may need extra winter protection.
✂️ Pruning Redcurrants (Quick Guide)
- Prune in winter
- Keep an open, goblet shape
- Shorten side shoots to 2–3 buds
- Remove weak or crossing branches
Correct pruning increases airflow and fruit quality.
🚫 Common Redcurrant Growing Mistakes
- Forgetting bird protection
- Pruning like blackcurrants
- Planting in deep shade
- Letting plants dry out during fruiting
- Overcrowding bushes
Most problems are easy to prevent with early action.
🧠 When Will Redcurrants Start Cropping?
- Bare-root plants: Light crop in year 2
- Established plants: Full crops from year 3 onwards
With good care, bushes can crop heavily for 10–15 years.
🧠 Key Takeaway
Redcurrants are easy, productive, and long-lived—especially when you choose the right variety for your space and needs. Whether you want early fruit, sweet dessert berries, or heavy crops for preserving, there’s a redcurrant variety to suit every garden.
Pick wisely, prune correctly, protect from birds, and you’ll enjoy bowls of glossy red fruit every summer.