Help with gooseberry varieties?

[Seahorse]

hi careless is definetley PRE- 1864, (eighteen sixty four)
one of the many older ones still holding its own against the newbies
think is was bred by someone called crompton,
stew

Oooh, could deffo be the one then! Thanks Swaine!

[swaine]

if your looking for flavour, go for
YELLOW CHAMPAGNE,if you can find a supplier, another golden oldie, highy suseptable to midew, BUT with my older varities i grow in large pots and move them into a polytunnel thru spring early summer when warm moist outside this seems to aggrivate the mildew, being under cover helps mine stay free from mildew, easily one of the best goosgogs ive tasted ,
small yellow berries, on an erect bush, think its thornless aswell,
also the QUEEN OF TRUMPS, great taste also good for exhibition,
stew,

[southlondongardener]

if your looking for flavour, go for
YELLOW CHAMPAGNE,if you can find a supplier, another golden oldie, highy suseptable to midew, BUT with my older varities i grow in large pots and move them into a polytunnel thru spring early summer when warm moist outside this seems to aggrivate the mildew, being under cover helps mine stay free from mildew, easily one of the best goosgogs ive tasted ,
small yellow berries, on an erect bush, think its thornless aswell,
also the QUEEN OF TRUMPS, great taste also good for exhibition,
stew,

How many varieties do you grow ??

What do you do with all the berries ?

I am growing (as of November 2007) Leveller gage, Hinnomaki red and Leveller (Leveller only a cordon). What are they like ?

Have you ever grown guido ? I am thinking of buying it from
here as it the same name as my brother in law
Rougham Hall Nurseries - Gooseberry Availability

[swaine]

for southlondongardener,
about 40 varieties of gooseberry, more if i had the space,and i will find more space,lol

the varieties you mention will all do well,
as for GUIDO, i grow it and would recommended it,
has very dark red berries, with good flavour and is quite big so doubles up for possible exhibition,
i like fruit you can attach to peoples names, as your from london
why dont you try LONDON gooseberry,v.large dark red in colour won the heaviest gooseberry for about 20 something years, pre 1850 i think,
stew

[veg4681]

Seahorse,

The recommended mildew resistant type (from my book) are:
Rolanda.
Remarka, Rolanda & Invicta produce the biggest berries.
But I have no idea about the colour/growing habit nor any other info.
Momol

I bought my Rolanda from a GC (easy enough) and I found it much tastier than the average ordinary green gooseberry. The fruit is bigger although a little hairy, juicy and sweet enough to eat straight from the bush without cooking them to make dessert. I neglect them (not too keen on the fruits) so I don't know what goes on with them bush .

[southlondongardener]

for southlondongardener,
about 40 varieties of gooseberry, more if i had the space,and i will find more space,lol

the varieties you mention will all do well,
as for GUIDO, i grow it and would recommended it,
has very dark red berries, with good flavour and is quite big so doubles up for possible exhibition,
i like fruit you can attach to peoples names, as your from london
why dont you try LONDON gooseberry,v.large dark red in colour won the heaviest gooseberry for about 20 something years, pre 1850 i think,
stew

Do you sell the excess ? 40 bushes should give 100+ kg I guess.

[swaine]

my pastry chefs soon make sort work of the gooseberries,lol
what i dont use myself goes to work with me,given away, or frozen,
the variation of the varieties still amazes me, to answer a previous collection
i grow them on my allotments,
just seen some more gooseberries bushes with great names! i want so just got to make a little more space now,somewere,
just going slightly off a little i found two runt looking seedling gooseberrys
growing on the pathway on my way to the allotment that had been sprayed by the weedman and not looking to clever a couple of years ago , i lifted them washed them , and potted them up, they flowered last year but didnt fruit, so this year they my throw up a suprise goosgog,
also anyone try growing goosgogs from seed , they dont come true to type but this is how new varieties get bred in currants and goosegogs,take about 4-5 to fruit but worth a try! give it a go,
stew

[southlondongardener]

Swaine,

What other varieties would you suggest ? What is the best you have ?

Also can you grow them in a greenhouse ? Also how do you grow them in pots ?

[swaine]

hi,
for flavour,my personal favourite is YELLOW CHAMPAGNE for taste, its small yellow hairy berries, HEDGEHOG, GREEN WALNUT, EARLY SULPHUR, IRONMONGER,BROOM GIRL, all mentioned for flavour (available from rougham,)
i have a book called THE FRUIT MANUAL, BY ROBERT HOGG
cost £40 but anyone with an intrest of fruit varieties should get it,
its a victorian era book 1884(reprinted of course)
list 100s of gooseberry verieties and believe me the victorians knew there gooseberrys, the book lists for flavour/size etc,the pots i use are up to 24x24 inches wide and about a good 1 1/2ft deep if not a little bigger,
i dont grow in the greenhouse all year ,i put them in there early spring to avoid the moist/warm weather which seems to aggrivate mildew on the old verieties, and them bring them out after cropping, be carefull to leave doors open of greenhouse to much heat and the fruit may not set,
also i think they need a certain chill temprature to produce fruit (like most fruit does),the fruit and leaves seem better condition, it works for me,STEW

[gardenplot]

I got a gooseberry twig given last summer, think it was a cutting someone grew on in a pot, I have re-planted it in to a bigger pot and left the pot outside, it just looks like a twig still but it as got some buds coming on it and got loads of spikes.
So fingers crossed it grows in to a nice bush
I haven’t got a clue what mine is apart from it’s a twig

how will i know what it is wait till it grows up

[swaine]

let the bush fruit and you might be able to narrow down the variety
due to berry size,shape,colour, etc, trouble is gooseberries are semi difficult to take cutting off, and take a few years to bare fruit, stick with the twig
should grow into a fruitfull bush,

[gardenplot]

Thankyou swaine will keep you posted of any change, is it ok in the pot or would it be better in the ground.
ohhhhhhhhh my twig will someday be a beautiful fruit bush cant wait knowing my luck it will take years

[swaine]

id personally keep it in a pot for a couple of years,
choose a good compost so should be sterile so no soil born disease etc, also you can check on root development etc,better to control soil moistness to avoid root rot etc, it should fruit from about 3yrs, sometimes earlier or a little later,
keep us updated, stewart

[gardenplot]

sure will stewart
Thankyou

[southlondongardener]

hi,
for flavour,my personal favourite is YELLOW CHAMPAGNE for taste, its small yellow hairy berries, HEDGEHOG, GREEN WALNUT, EARLY SULPHUR, IRONMONGER,BROOM GIRL, all mentioned for flavour (available from rougham,)
i have a book called THE FRUIT MANUAL, BY ROBERT HOGG
cost £40 but anyone with an intrest of fruit varieties should get it,
its a victorian era book 1884(reprinted of course)
list 100s of gooseberry verieties and believe me the victorians knew there gooseberrys, the book lists for flavour/size etc,the pots i use are up to 24x24 inches wide and about a good 1 1/2ft deep if not a little bigger,
i dont grow in the greenhouse all year ,i put them in there early spring to avoid the moist/warm weather which seems to aggrivate mildew on the old verieties, and them bring them out after cropping, be carefull to leave doors open of greenhouse to much heat and the fruit may not set,
also i think they need a certain chill temprature to produce fruit (like most fruit does),the fruit and leaves seem better condition, it works for me,STEW

Where did you get such big pots from ? I could not find them in homebase.

Also what did you put in the soil ?