Blackcurrant (Ben Lomond)

📖 About This Plant

Blackcurrant (Ben Lomond) is one of Scotland's finest contributions to horticulture — a variety developed at the Scottish Crop Research Institute in the 1970s that combines outstanding productivity, exceptional disease resistance, and the concentrated, complex, slightly musky flavor that has made British blackcurrant preserves, cordials, and desserts beloved for centuries. Ben Lomond's compact, upright bushes produce heavy clusters of large, jet-black berries with thin skins and remarkable vitamin C content — gram for gram, fresh blackcurrants contain 4 times more vitamin C than oranges. The variety's mildew and leaf spot resistance means far less spraying compared to older cultivars. Ben Lomond is the blackcurrant of choice for UK allotment gardeners and home orchardists throughout zones 3–8, particularly valued in Scotland and northern England where its cold tolerance and resistance to late frost damage shine.

📊 Quick Facts

📅 When to Plant in Your Area

🌱 Care Tips

Plant Ben Lomond in well-drained but moisture-retentive soil in full sun or light partial shade, spacing 5 feet apart. Plant deeply — 2 inches deeper than the nursery soil line to encourage multi-stemmed growth from below the soil surface. Unlike most fruits, blackcurrants are pruned to produce as much young wood as possible: all shoots, however small, fruit in their first, second, and third years, but productivity declines after that. Annual pruning removes one-third of the oldest wood to the ground each winter, maintaining a balance of 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old stems. Well-pruned Ben Lomond bushes typically have 6–8 main stems of mixed ages. Apply a generous mulch of compost or well-rotted manure around the base in late winter or early spring (avoiding the stems); this mulch application is the single most important annual care task for sustained productivity. Water regularly during fruit development in June–July. Feed with a high-nitrogen fertilizer in spring to drive the vigorous new growth that becomes next year's fruiting wood. Harvest entire fruiting trusses (strigs) rather than individual berries by running a fork through the strig over a bowl; the berries strip cleanly. Freeze immediately for cooking, make cordial within 24 hours of harvest, or process into the intense jam that is one of British preserving's finest achievements.

🤝 Companion Plants

These plants grow well alongside Blackcurrant:

🌿 Related Fruit

More fruit that grow in similar conditions:

❓ Frequently Asked Questions