Redcurrants

foxtrot

Hello.  I have one redcurrant bush in my garden which seems to be happy.  At present, lots of little flower bunches are just starting to appear.  Usually, once I see signs of the tiny green fruit forming, I net the whole bush.  However, despite the netting, in previous years something has been eating about 50% of the fruit still in its green state.  Some of the bunches completely stripped leaving me with a much reduced production at cropping time. Any ideas as to what it could be and how I can organically prevent this?

Reply

Skandi

When you say eating when still green do you mean when large and green or when they are still very small? If it's very small it could be that they are not pollinated, and that's why they are dropping. Especially if you are netting early before the flowers are done with a fine net mesh.

Blue Onion

Are you netting away from the plant?  Birds can pick right through most nets if it sits on the surface of the bush.  They will also come up from under, if there are any gaps around the base.

foxtrot

Thank you for  your reply.  I netted the bush just yesterday, and today, seeing the comments from 'Scandi' went out in the wind and rain to 'un-net' it.  It's still a bit too early.  I remember last year I got anxious about finding time to net before it was too late.  I remember netting and seeing all the bunches of berries still green but already plumping up nicely.  It was after I netted that I started to find several bunches stripped bare.  This time, when I do get to net, I shall keep your suggestion in mind and be sure to net away from the plant and secure the base properly.

foxtrot

Skandi, thank you for your comments.  As I said to 'Blue Onion' it was plump green berries that were taken.  Last year I netted relatively late and the bush had lots of bunches of berries ready to ripen.  It was some of those that were stripped bare.  I'm keeping my eye on the bunches this year and will consider how I set up the netting so that it is bird-proof at the bottom and that the sides are sufficiently away from all the bunches.