Becker Red Currant
Becker Red Currant
Species: Ribes rubrum
History: These red currants come from the Becker family homestead near Wellesley, Ontario where we are located. This is a great way to try something truly local!
Why We Grow It: In our experience, Becker red currants are reliable and productive. The fruit produced by Becker red currants are larger than those produced by Red Lake and make a wonderful juice. They can also be used for cooking and baking, such as the tarts made by Steph that are pictured here!
Fruit Specs
Fruit Specs
Recommended Use: Fresh eating, juice
Fruit Size: Large
Storage: Keeps about a week when in the fridge
Harvest: July - Mid
Growing Specs
Growing Specs
Canadian Hardiness Zone: 4
Soil Preference: Loam, prefers well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter
Flowering Time:
Bloom Colour: Green
Pollination Requirements: Self-pollinating, this variety will produce fruit without a red currant of a different variety but will produce more and better fruit if one is present
Sun/Shade Requirements:
Prefers full sun (approx. 8-10 hours of sun daily) but will grow in partial shade
General Growth Habits:
Shipping vs. Pick Up
Shipping vs. Pick Up
CLICK HERE to see how shipping compares to pick up.
Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of trees across Canada (except BC due to CFIA regulations). We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courrier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.
Pick-up: We also have thousands of trees picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc. We really appreciate if you can make an appointment to pick up, then we can be as organized as possible during our busy season.
Size at Purchase
Size at Purchase
Becker currants are divided into the following grades:
-1 year plant - 15-50cm
There is some overlap in size since we are also taking the age of the plants into account. Some older plants may not have put on quite as much vegetative growth but will have larger root systems.
All of these heights exclude the roots since seedlings and some berries will often have a lot of root growth but relatively little vegetative growth (ex. our Shagbark Hickories seedlings are often 5-15cm above the soil but will have roots that reach 20cm+ in length).
Not all of our berries and seedlings will be available in all of these grades since growth rate can vary significantly across species and even varieties. While we remain competitive in our plant size, it's also worth noting we don't use synthetic chemicals to push vegetative growth, therefore you may find conventional nursery stock larger in some instances comparatively.
Why plant small? It's best to transplant when a plant is young so it can establish its roots before it has a lot of vegetative growth. This is much less stressful on it and bareroot plants tend to catch up and even surpass larger potted ones planted at the same time, after a few years.
Orders that are cancelled last minute due to size (being "too small"), will still incur the applicable cancellation fees if the plants are true to our grading standards as per the agreement of sale when the order was placed.