What to grow?

[growingkasbar]

I havent tried growing any fruits yet. Is it too late to start now, should i wait untill next year? Does anyone know of any easy fruit to grow for a beginner? thanks

[cinnpie]

Hi there-
You never said what you wanted the fruit for so it's a bit of a mixed bag for an answer I guess..

In my own experience,(an enthusiastic amateur) you get what you pay for re fruit plants. I only started buying fruit plants in late '07 so this is my experience of it..

The free way, get cuttings from a friend/ family member/ and wait maybe 1-3 years.

or, and this works, buy a punnet of currants , let them dry out, plant the seeds in a seed tray and forget about them and next year you'll have seedlings. How long it will take for them to produce fruit, hmmmm, well, dont hold your breath.



The low cost way..If you buy from the like of Aldi or Lidls dont expect any fruit for maybe 1 or more years as the plants are generally the previous years cuttings, rooted. I have a whole bunch I bough in '07 that may produce a bit of a crop this year but by next year should be fine.

seeds.. I've bought but not yet planted strawberry seeds. A bit dubious about the whole thing..

If you pay more for a mature bush in a garden centre there is no reason why it wont fruit this year.

I've done a mix of all of the above, so have some with a lot of fruit due, some with a little and some that wont do anything for at least another year.

Use
If you want fruit you can go into your garden and graze on - raspberry, blackberry (and its family, logan and tayberry) red gooseberry and of course strawberries are great. Black currants too and red currants (both high in vit C) are great but will be a bit tart to most peoples tastes but great as part of a desert, jam, syrup over icecream or pancakes etc. Yum.

Red gooseberry is lovely but if you choose a gooseberry be sure not to plant it or keep the pots where it will keep getting knocked. The gooseberries seem quite fragile on the plant and seem to drop off quite easily if bumped, much to my horror last year as it seemed half the harvest had fallen off due to kids, dogs etc..

I didnt realise when I bought the fruit stock that they needed acid soil and potted them in regular compost and as a result they didnt do so well. I re potted them a few weeks ago and wow, the difference! I saw a piece of advice re blue berries as they need quite acid soil, that if you an have a good layer of pine needles around the base it will give the plant an acid boost. I think this was for blueberries only, regular erracaceous (forgive spelling) compost is fine for the raspberries etc.

John Seymour authour of the 'guide to self sufficiency ' stated unless you have one foot in the grave there is no reason why not to get fruit bushes, compared to fruit trees which can take years to produce fruit.

I currently have raspberry X 7, blackcurrant X 7, redcurrant X 7, Blue berry X 3, red gooseberry X 3. 3 apple trees (saplings) & a pear. Plus my sad sacks as listed below..

I also planted a small rhubarb crown in a car tire 50/50 compost manure. I have no idea what happened but it wilted almost immediately. I think because it got full sun, but I might have over watered it.. I was gutted

I just bought some sad and sorry last stock (raspberry, tayberry and green gooseberry) from a shop, reduced in price. I have no idea how they'll do, if they survive my attempts to nurture them back to health it will be maybe 2 years..... But since I have a lot already there's no rush.

I'm still unsure of cutting it back come winter but I'll get there.. (dont cut back blueberries, I know this from bitter experience...)

So what it comes down to if you want to eat the fruit fresh or cook it, cheap but wait, slightly more expensive but crops this year and make sure you have the correct soil / compost type or all your work and money will end up with frustrating results.

Whichever you choose to do, it's a bit of kick to check up on your plants and see everything developing. Good luck and have fun!

[growingkasbar]

Wow that answer gave me loads to think about and lots of fruit ideas thanks. I think strawberry plants may be the way forward. I am growing in containers and dont want to plant in the ground as we have moved into my parents house for a short time and they are not keen on me adding permenant things to their garden. Thanks again

[rana]

IMHO the best investment for a quick return is raspberries and strawberries. Strawberry plants are reasonably cheap and you can probably still buy raspberry canes to put in now for next season. Again these are cheap if you buy bare rooted stock. Once established these will reward you for a number of years as will rhubarb which is best planted in autumn.

[bluemoon]

If you're growing in pots then I have to recommend a blueberry. Sorry, I love them so I do tend to go on about them, not just for the berries, but for the colour of their leaves in autumn, the pretty stems in winter and the gorgeous scent of the blossom in spring. The berries are almost an added bonus. Oh, and they do really well in containers as long as you use the correct compost (ericaceous, you can buy it just about anywhere; garden centres, B&Q and the like). And try to avoid tap-water if you live in a hard water area. If you get a big enough pot you can grow a cranberry in there too as the blueberries are tall and bushy and cranberries are low and trailing, but both like the same conditions.

[glut]

I don't have the patience of some, so would go for established stuff from garden centres like strawberries that you will get something off this year and hold off til you are in a garden you can stay in for anything else. I've got blackcurrents, boysenberry, apples, plums, rhubarb, stawbs and raspberries, and have a mix of things that will crop this year and some that won't until next year.

[starloc]

I would go for the older plants from garden centers if you want something this year, eg. blackcurent bushes, a small stick is about £1 in places like netto, a garden center or BQ have 2 foot high ones with 3 branches in pots for about £5 , garden centers also have them a year older for between £5 and £10 , when i start on a particular fruit, i tend to get a couple of older ones and loads of young ones, the £9 one i got last year had over 2L of fruit on it, the small ones from last year for £1 each are now forming loads of fruit this year but none lst year
Apple trees are the same, you can get bare root trees in november for about £10 , get one in a pot for 10-20 pounds, a year or two of growing you can still get them for 20-£25 , usualy full of fruit in the garden center in july so you can see how much you will have, older plants are usualy better value as you dont need to wait

[cinnpie]

Glad to help, just FYI, all the bushes and fruit trees mentioned are in pots as 1, I'm renting 2, the soil where I am is very poor. Now they have the correct compost, they are thriving!

Cin

[FB.]

Strawberries in pots.

[growingkasbar]

Thanks guys. I think it will definately be strawberrys then. my cousin is growing a strawberry plant this year and so i may wait and ask for a cutting off that to grow my own next year. It is my first year growing anything and i dont want to take on too many projects. Does anyone know how to go about taking a cutting from a strawberry plant?

[FB.]

Most varieties of strawberry naturally produce "runners" - they are shoots which will root into any ground that they come into contact with and form a new plant. Runners will be available in the autumn. Some varietis produce more runners than others; Pegasus and Symphony produce lots of them. Florence seems to prefer dividing it's crowns into 2-3 plants. Alpine strawberries also tend to divide, rather than produce runners.
Very young plants don't often produce runners; they need to be 2-3 years old for good numbers of runners or fruit.

Many nurseries are selling strawberries now; you could get several or more plants for a tenner, plant them into pots or tubs (or even the ground) and get a few fruits this year, although don't fruit them too hard or they won't fruit well in later years (pull half of the flowers off in their first year).