Talkback: Gooseberry bushes - Talkback

01/01/2007 at 00:00

I love gooseberries!!I bought two gooseberry bushes earlier this year and put them in pots. One is supposed to have red fruits the other green. They have grown and they look lovely and healthy but there are no signs of fruit....HELP!What should I do ditch them and start again or hope they fruit next year??

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15/01/2008 at 08:29

I have been given a pot grown Gooseberry of about 4ft I do not know the variety, It looks as if it needs attention so pruning is a decision, Would you wait and see or prune, if the latter which is the right way. thank you for any help...

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15/01/2008 at 10:29

I grow gooseberries as standards with an open framework to increase air flow but it also enables me to pick from underneath and reduce damaging my hands. I use prunings to protect bare soil from cats. I usually puree the fruit as my family are fussy about pips and the puree is great mixed with most other fruits.

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16/01/2008 at 08:21

We grow Invicta which has thorns but my husband loves the flavour of the fruit as he usually eats them raw. We have a system to pick the fruit. I usually get my husband to pull back the branches of the plant while I pick the fruit, at least then I have a chance to get the fruit to the freezer/pot before he eats them all.

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17/01/2008 at 19:15

I love green gooseberry jam, the berries picked when the fruit is fully grown but not fully ripe. We have moved house and I want to plant two or three bushes here but I never knew the name of the variety in my last garden. Can anyone please tell me best variety to use? We live in the north east, near the sea and have heavy clay soil

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04/02/2008 at 19:19

Can you please tell me how far apart to plant the small blackberry variety Loch Tay?

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11/02/2008 at 18:49

Pax is another thornless variety.

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23/02/2008 at 15:29

Gooseberries...Last year (2007) was an exceptional year for most soft fruits producing an abundance of crop. I have eight Gooseberry bushes on my allotment of assorted varieties, but one variety called Invicta won me First prize at local garden shows, along with Firsts for Strawberry and Raspberry jams. Gooseberries do not require much work once planted, though they need to be mulched and kept weed free, and a light pruning in the centre to allow light to filter in. But even as an experienced gardener I was really surprised at the abundance of Blackberries. I had bought two plants (domestic thornless variety) and planted them in February, 2007, that same year we had an early summer and was picking extremely huge delicious blackberries by end of July.

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31/05/2008 at 08:47

I'm new to having an allotment but have planted three gooseberry bushes which until recently seemed to be doing very well. All have started to bare fruit but on on of the bushes the fruit is covered with some sort of white mildew. Can anyone offer any advice on what I should do?

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10/06/2008 at 21:23

I planted a gooseberry bushes in March this year and now got some berries on but how do I know when they are ready to pick? Can anybody help?

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16/06/2008 at 21:00

Question! I have had my allotment for just 18 months. I'm over the moon and growing successfully, but have a couple of questions. I planted my fruit bushes last year and it looks like I'm going to get a decent crop this year.Can I take cuttings to propagate new plants?If so, when is the best time? Other tips most welcome.Alex

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30/07/2008 at 11:15

A week ago our early gooseberries needed a few more days to finish ripening. Today not one berry remains, not one fallen beneath the bush, in fact no sign that there were ever any berries at all. What on earth has happened to them? Are they liked by any creatures apart from humans?

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22/11/2008 at 13:17

What weed killer can I put round my gooseberry bushes to get rid of couch grass, which is growing up through the bushes?

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07/08/2009 at 14:19

this is my first year of growing gooseberries and it has not exactly gone to plan beacause some sort of garden pest had being eating the leaves, this perticular bush has thorn so i doubt thats its slugs , please help me out as to what it might be.

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13/08/2009 at 23:09

It's slugs. Or anyway, that's what's doing for mine. all three, including the Invicta.

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17/09/2009 at 09:04

My gooseberry plants have been devastated by sawfly caterpilaars this year, got some fruit early on by picking off caterpillars but they have no leaves left on them can save save them somehow or do I have to start again. I don't want to use chemicals hence trying to pick them off but this only works if you don't go on holiday!

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12/01/2010 at 17:28

hi all see some of you are having trouble with yer gooseberrys. it takes a couple of years before it fruits,you can use round up to kill couch and then mulch it.birds are your promblem with disappearing fruits,gooseberrys need covering with nets.hope that help

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10/03/2010 at 20:02

a friend of mine suggested planting gooseberry bushes through black weed supressing mats, so helps to deal with the thorny issue of weeding: doesn't help with the picking though!

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20/04/2010 at 18:42

Gooseberry mildew - your compost or especially manure has got to be well rotted! Any that is still rotting down in the soil around them will encourage fungal disease, this goes for all plants, but gooseberries are very susceptible. Spray the soil around them with nettle tea, it strengthens plants and helps them resist and it drives the fungal activity back down into the soil where it belongs. Compact BLACKBERRY varieties like Loch Ness & Loch Tay have 4 foot spacing recommended, the standard ones get 8 to 13 depending on variety and not just because of the length of their canes but so the roots are not competing if they are different varieties and one is stronger than the other. There are probably modern options for growing them a bit diferently, by pruning the new canes somewhat so they fruit mostly on sideshoots, worth experimenting perhaps?

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27/04/2010 at 18:52

i need to know how to look after the soil where i have my gooseberry plants, and what is the best additives to use to get a good crop from the plants