Part of the Summer collection
Hardy Berries and Currants: Summer Field Notes
Field note · July 2026
red lake currants with heavy rooting after just over three weeks
red lake currants with heavy rooting after just over three weeks. these had some bottom heat for the last week, I have a few heat mats and move things around, it's tricky to bottom heat whole benches and still have good drainage, and most softwood doesn't need it, in fact it can be detrimental if your mist doesn't run for any reason. for anything that needs more than four weeks to root, bottom heat is a good addition. here I have several clumps of rooted cuttings about a dozen to each small pot, the spacing is fine to get them to start and then I carefully pull them apart and pot up into a better mix with far less perlite. this explodes the space required, and takes some planning. this year I may need to expand the shaded zone where these are hardened off for a week to solve a traffic jam.