gooseberries

[snowdrop]

Has anyone grown Gooseberries? If so could you help with times of planting, general care, and any tips you generous folk may have.

Thanks.

[Hedge Witch]

Mine died But they're not supposed to be difficult to grow.

But I know they like a cool soil, they seem to have no problem with clay, preferring this to a sandy soil (that has a tendency to be warmer and drier).

My Father used to grow them near the north-facing side of a cabin (in a fairly heavy clay soil (I should know, I had to dig the oeoeoe stuff) in the North West of England). Here they grew very well. A mulch of compost will not only feed them, but keep the soil cool.

They do not like a water-logged soil.

Good luck.

[Kayleigh]

I dug mine up...if the sawfly didn't get them the mould did lol..

[Mercadante]

We've grown them for the past three years, and they seem to be doing OK so far. However we've probably been helped by all the rain - they're said to be prone to mildew if they dry out (although they don't like to be soggy, either). Our soil is poor and sandy, so we give them a good compost mulch in spring, and regular doses of liquid from our wormery. In the winter we prune very gently, just to stop them getting tangled - we'll prune them harder when they're bigger.

But the sawfly larvae are the biggest menace; if you let them strip a bush, which they'll do very quickly, you won't get much if any fruit from it the next year. I have heard that bushes are less vulnerable after they're three years old, but can't tell you whether this is true. In the meantime you just have to be vigilant about checking regularly and picking the larvae off, and decide whether you really want a summer holiday more than gooseberry pies

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by snowdrop

Has anyone grown Gooseberries? If so could you help with times of planting, general care, and any tips you generous folk may have.

Get Winham's Industry. It's a gooseberry that ripens to dark red and is great for cooking, jam and raw!

Like all gooseberries, it's prone to mildew.

Jim

[snowdrop]

Mercadante........decide whether you really want a summer holiday more than gooseberry pies. LoL.

Thank you all for your replies. Hmm, mildew..warmth..sandy soil and sawflies..Sigh!

Still, he who dares. I've been given half a dozen ribes uva-crispa, so fingers crossed.

[volence]

Mmm i love gooseberries. We used to have a latge wild bush at the bottom of our garden since before my mum and dad moved in. We used to eat the berries straight from the bush and try to get butterflies from the caterpillars ( sawfly but we were too young to know why they disappeared and we had jars of flies). That bush died but my dad has started one white and one red bush in it's place. They are growing like weeds thanks to the manure from our chickens, best fertilizer ever! And the couple of gooseberries we got this year were superb yum yum

[snowdrop]

Nice one Jim ............And the couple of gooseberries we got this year were superb.