Blackcurrant bush

[Timide]

I'd like to buy a nice big bush of blackcurrant as a present for someone. Where would you recommend to buy? Which sort is bigger and tastier? Anything else to consider?
I'd like the bush to remain in a big pot for now. Very new to gardening 😅

Anyone?

You're probably best going to a local garden centre. You'll be able to see the actual plant that way.

Blackcurrant bushes can grow pretty big over time.

I have one on my allotment. It smells wonderful and produces an abundance of berries every year. It was originally a small £1 plant from Wilko.

Ben Sarek is recommended for containers as it's more compact than other varieties. But... when you plant a new blackcurrant bush it's best to cut it all down to a few inches from the ground, so that for its first year it concentrates on making good strong roots. It's a lovely idea to buy big bushes that are ready to fruit but I'm not sure they're available anywhere.

I didn't have the heart to do this when I first grew blackcurrants, and the bushes never did very well. I'm now more ruthless and the bushes are better for it.

One plus from cutting them back is that if you half bury the cuttings in a pot of compost, by the autumn they will practically all have rooted and you will have numerous new plants. If the recipient is a gardener they will be thrilled by this, but if they just want a nice bush with lovely fruit then perhaps something like a little citrus tree might be more suitable.

Thank you for all advice!
It is for my dh. He adores blackcurrants and will probably be happy to take care of it. Pot - as we need to move at some point this year and would like to take it with us.
No car, thus will be ordering online.
Any advice on the soil for it? How to protect it from the slugs?

I bought my white currants as bare roots from James McIntyre and I'm really happy with them. As advised above I cut them right down on planting, and now in year 3 they have berries.
I didn't know about cuttings rooting themselves but I evidently left a couple of sticks lying on the ground when I planted it and they rooted by being totally neglected and not even stuck into the ground. Now I have three for the price of one 😃

I have all the slugs in my garden and haven't had any issue with my white currant. I don't think they like them. I did have an issue with the bloody ants farming bloody aphids on them, but I adopted a cba attitude this year. I have many ladybirds and they appear to have done their work as the aphids are all gone now.

They're strong plants and will be fine in most soils. If you're keeping it in a pot for some years, probably best to use a loam based mix rather than multiple purpose compost. Easiest to grow in the ground tho!

But they're really easy to grow! Slugs won't bother it, but aphids might, a bit.

Bigger doesn't necessarily equate to tastier. My biggest currant (fruit not bush) is probably Titania, which isn't really the strongest tasting. They're all nice however.

www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/ben-sarek-blackcurrant

I've used these people for trees and they were fine. But they only have this 1 bb variety left in stock, although free p&p currently.

Blackmoor Nurseries, Pomona Fruits, Primrose and Chris Bowers I've had good results with fruit trees, bushes etc.

Chris Bowers has lots of varieties (don't know if they're all available at the moment as they're getting ready to fruit) but has good descriptions so you could choose one you like the sound of even if you order elsewhere.

What about a blueberry instead? They are ericaceous so are often grown in pots. You could get something like this james-mcintyre.co.uk/shop/blueberries/blueberry-hortblue-petite-3l/ . It says it comes in either a 3 or 5L pot so will be a good size plant already.

Otherwise, if you're looking for a sharper flavour what about lingonberries? They are shrubs that are apparently also ornamental, but again are ericaceous so are often grown in pots anyway.

Sorry, have only just seen your update. I have. Big Ben and a Ben Lomond. Of the two, the Big Ben established more quickly and has given bigger harvests (I didn't cut down to the ground on planting), although 4 years on the other one is finally catching up. It's apparently sweet enough to eat from the bush, but even as someone who likes sharp fruit I'd say that's a bit of a stretch. It is however, sweet enough to eat with yoghurt.

Oh yes the plan is to use it for porridge and freeze the leftovers. So ideally it needs to be sweet.
What about mildew? Is it a problem?

I'm so glad I've asked. A lot of useful information here!

I'm reading that Ebony is the sweetest.
Any lucky owners here?

No experience of Ebony, but a quick Google suggests that at least some people think Big Ben is sweeter www.gardenfocused.co.uk/fruitarticles/blackcurrants/variety-big-ben.php . For me, Big Ben is fine in porridge but then I make it with milk.

I've had no issues with mildew, the blackcurrants are by far the most robust of my fruit bushes. Mine also haven't needed netting, unlike redcurrants the birds don't go for them enough to be a problem. I've had a bit of leaf curling which I think is aphid related, but it's always been limited to a fairly small part of the part and hasn't spread so so far I've been able to ignore it.