Redcurrant · Jinzhong, Shanxi, China
When to plant redcurrants in Jinzhong
Main outdoor window
17 Oct - 7 Apr
The window this page is built around.
Timed from last spring frost
21 April
In Jinzhong, on your chosen risk.
Ready to pick
1-31 Jul
If you plant at the start of the window.
The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.
Step by step in Jinzhong
Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.
Plant the bush
17 Oct - 7 Apr
Any time the plant is dormant and the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged: after leaf fall in autumn, or at the end of winter before growth restarts.
Harvest
1-31 Jul
Redcurrants through the year
Against the frost risk in Jinzhong
Why these dates
Very hardy, and one of the few fruits that crops usefully on a north-facing wall.
Redcurrants are planted once and then left in place, so there is no sowing offset to resolve. What matters in Jinzhong is the shape of the year: this crop is dormant through the winter and is planted while it sleeps, any time between leaf fall in autumn and the restart of growth in spring, so long as the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged. That is why the window below spans the cold months rather than sitting in the middle of the growing season.
Hardiness is not the obstacle here. Jinzhong is zone 6b, comfortably inside the range this crop is rated for, so an established plant should come through an average winter without protection.
Do not expect a crop in the first year. A plant set out now should give its first worthwhile pick around year 2, and will then produce every year after that, which is what makes the planting decision worth getting right the first time.
Also in Jinzhong
Other fruits to time
Growing redcurrants in Jinzhong
When should I plant redcurrants in Jinzhong?
Aim for 17 Oct - 7 Apr in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 9 Oct - 15 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.
When will redcurrants be ready to harvest in Jinzhong?
Expect to start picking around 1-31 Jul, based on 60 to 80 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.
How much frost will redcurrants tolerate?
Very hardy, and one of the few fruits that crops usefully on a north-facing wall.