Ribes reclinatum CJLU22

[Ex. North Caucasus, Russia]

• Grossulariaceae: a deciduous shrub to 1.5m x 3m with palmate 3-5 lobed leaf to 2.2cm x 2.5cm mid glossy green above and dull mid green below, fruit a purple spherical berry to 1cm. Common in full sun on a dry rocky east facing mountainside of dense mixed woodland with Berberis vulgaris, Ribes alpinum, Betula pendula, Rosa villosa and Rosa spinosissima at the side of the road between  Terskol & Baidevo, Baksan Valley, Kabarda Balkaran Region, N.Caucasus, Russia. 

  
  

  GROWING INFORMATION:

  Currant seeds have a deep dormancy within them, this requires a degree of patience to overcome and it is usually quite easy to get high levels of germination if the correct procedures are followed.

First prepare a free draining substrate into which the seeds are to be mixed, this can be a 50/50 mixture of compost and sharp sand, or perlite, vermiculite. The chosen substrate needs to be moist (but not wet), if you can squeeze water out of it with your hand it is too wet and your seeds may drown and die. Mix the seeds into the substrate, making sure that there is enough volume of material to keep the seeds separated. Place the seed mixture into a clear plastic bag (freezer bags, especially zip-lock bags are very useful for this -provided a little gap is left in the seal for air exchange) If it is not a zip-lock type bag it needs to be loosely tied. Then write the date on the bag so that you know when the pre-treatment was started.

The seeds first require a period of warm pre-treatment and need to be kept in temperatures of 20°C for a period of 10 weeks. During this time make sure that the pre-treatment medium does not dry out at any stage or it will be ineffective!

Next the seeds require a cold period to break the final part of the dormancy, this is easily achieved by placing the bag in the fridge at 4°C for at least 12 weeks. It is quite possible for the seeds to germinate in the bag at these temperatures when they are ready to do so, if they do, just remove them from the bag and carefully plant them up. When the period of pre-treatment has finished the seed should be ready to be planted. Small quantities can be sown in pots or seed trays filled with a good quality compost and cover them with a thin layer of compost no more than 1cm deep. For larger quantities it is easiest to sow the seeds in a well prepared seedbed outdoors once the warm and cold pre-treatments have finished and wait for the seedlings to appear.

It has also been found that fluctuating pre-treatment temperatures can give the best germination results and I have myself had excellent results by keeping the mixed seeds in a cold shed through the winter for the cold stage of their pre-treatment and allowing the temperature to fluctuate naturally. Un-germinated seeds can have the whole warm and cold process repeated again to enable more seeds to germinate. Fresh seedlings can keep germinating for up to 5 years after the original sowing date.

Do not expose newly sown seeds to high temperatures (above 25 °C). Keep the seedlings well-watered and weed free. Growth in the first year is usually between 20 and 40cm depending on the time of germination and cultural techniques and developing seedlings are usually trouble free. Growth from the second year onwards will be much stronger -possibly several meters in length. Cut back excessive growth to make replanting easier and to make plant establishment quicker. Allow them to grow for 2 years before planting them in a permanent position.

Easily grown in a moisture retentive but well-drained loamy soil of at least moderate quality. Plants are dioecious. Male and female plants must be grown if fruit is required.

HARVESTED: 2025

APPROX. 30 SEEDS