You won't have to wait until fruiting time to tell if they are blackcurrants because b/c leaves have a very strong smell when crushed. Redcurrants and gooseberries do not have this. Crush a few in your fingers as soon as the leaves open and you will know what I mean. It is one of the delights of my fruit garden which I look forward to every . year. Someone mentioned thorns. If you can stick your arm into the centre of the bush with no effect, you can be sure it is not a gooseberry. White currant bushes are not easy to distinguish from red, but they are less commonly grown, in my opinion, so yours are more likely to be red, if they have no prickles and no scented leaves.
They look very redcurranty to me - and I agree that whites are pretty rare. They're sweeter though, and well worth growing so you might find one or two among the reds.
Blackcurrants are (or should be) a different shape, with many stems arising directly from the ground. The distinctive blackcurranty smell is also given off by the bark when damaged, so a scratch with a fingernail will give a definite answer.
How are you getting on with the rest of the allotment?
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You won't have to wait until fruiting time to tell if they are blackcurrants because b/c leaves have a very strong smell when crushed. Redcurrants and gooseberries do not have this. Crush a few in your fingers as soon as the leaves open and you will know what I mean. It is one of the delights of my fruit garden which I look forward to every . year. Someone mentioned thorns. If you can stick your arm into the centre of the bush with no effect, you can be sure it is not a gooseberry. White currant bushes are not easy to distinguish from red, but they are less commonly grown, in my opinion, so yours are more likely to be red, if they have no prickles and no scented leaves.
Hi Charlotte
They look very redcurranty to me - and I agree that whites are pretty rare. They're sweeter though, and well worth growing so you might find one or two among the reds.
Blackcurrants are (or should be) a different shape, with many stems arising directly from the ground. The distinctive blackcurranty smell is also given off by the bark when damaged, so a scratch with a fingernail will give a definite answer.
How are you getting on with the rest of the allotment?