Redcurrant
Ribes rubrum
Also called Red currant and Whitecurrant
Garden plant · Herbs, veg & fruitIt fruits on old wood, so the hard pruning that suits a blackcurrant will cost you next summer's crop.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Easy
- Water
- Every 5 daysWater the ground — water at the base, in the morning, not over the leaves.
- Light
- Sun to part shade
- Feed
- Every 45 days
- Humidity
- Average
- Hardiness
- Hardy — a very cold winter RHS H6, to -20°C
- Size
- 1.25 m tall · 1.25 m across
- Lifecycle
- Shrub
- Origin
- Western Europe
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsNothing recorded against it
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
PeopleNot checked yet
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-07-31. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- Puckered red-and-yellow blisters raised on the upper surface of the topmost leaves in late spring, with pale aphids sheltering in the hollows underneath.Currant blister aphid · pest
- A few buds on last year's wood swelling round and loose through winter while the rest stay slim and pointed.Currant gall mite (big bud) · pest
- Fat buds stripped from the bare stems in late winter, and later a whole truss taken in a morning wherever the net has lifted.Birds · pest