The currants always taste fine, but the leaves on my bushes were full of orange rust spots. Spraying with Actinovate (organic bacterial product) stopped the rust. I also made a huge difference on my apple trees.

Linneaj said:The currants always taste fine, but the leaves on my bushes were full of orange rust spots. Spraying with Actinovate (organic bacterial product) stopped the rust. I also made a huge difference on my apple trees.

I am glad you found something that works to get rid of the rust.

The Currants look delicious!

When I first moved to Georgia I was advised to not plant Currants here. As beautiful as they are, the Red Currants cannot be planted in parts of some states. It is an alternate/intermediate host for the disease known as White Pine Blister Rust (wpbr). While the wpbr doesn't do much damage to the Currants, the disease can destroy Pine trees.

Check local restrictions before planting in your area or the local population of White Pine trees could be in danger; look for wpbr restistant varieties. There are efforts to breed wpbr resistant Pine trees and Currants. In this article you can read a better explanation.

http://www.twisted-tree.net/ar...

I didn't know this. I am so glad you brought this to everyone's attention.

I do know that Red Currants have been growing in this yard since I was a small child. We seem to have mainly Oak trees and Maples around here.

Time for a jaunt with Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Okay, no mention of Scotch pine that I have quite a few of or apples that get a different rust.