[wbmkk]

I've just got three blackcurrant plants in pots.

Each lant is basically a one foot tall, straight single stem, with a few sprouting buds at the top, with several dormant buds at the base.

Am I correct in assuming I should not let the lower buds sprout, so as to give me a few inches of clear stem, or is this theory of mine incorrect ?

thanks

[New shoot]

Blackcurrants grow as a thicket and you prune out the oldest wood each year from the base, as the newer wood is more productive and you want to give it room.  When you get a lot of branches it is easy to see what are the oldest as they are much darker in colour.

With a new plant, I would leave it alone. The buds at the base will be new branches and the long single stems will be the leaves that power the production of more branches from the base. You can cut them down or even out next winter if you feel they are too tall or in the way.

[Nobbie]

Standard pruning for a young blackcurrant is to cut it down to a couple of inches above ground level to encourage new growth from the base. You want those dormant buds to break and form new stems that will bear fruit for the next few years. The buds at the top of the stem may well bear fruit which you don’t want as it will divert energy from building a strong framework of branches.