Gooseberries

[scotti]

Just received one of my three ordered soiless rooted gooseberries from a company. They say that 2006 was not a good year for this crop and that is why they have to wait to supply the other two. (Different variety). I only had one in my garden this year and did not fruit. That is the reason I ordered three more because I thought it was a fault of my own and liking this crop, I wanted to ensure 2007 would be more profitable. What was the problem with the 2006 crop, and has anyone else exprienced this problem and if there is one, how do you know what year is going to be a good year?

[pigletwillie]

The dry weather during the summer caused all sorts of problems and gooseberries suffer with all sorts of mildews be it dry or wet weather. I have 8 bushes and picked not one this year primarilly to birds scoffing the fruit whilst it was still small. You may well have lost your crop in the same way without noticing it happening.

Do net your plants in the spring to prevent this from happening. All in all they are very hardy and bounce back from most problems. With 4 bushes you should produce a bucketful of fruit when they are mature.

[Alison]

I got about 1.5 lbs off my single bush this summer (which is less than usual) but had the usual problem of the leaves being stripped bare. It always seems to recover OK the following year but looks pretty bad in the short term - don't have much of a problem with birds nicking the fruit as they're far more interested in the red currant bush a few foot away!

[JennieAtkinson]

I'm hoping to grow fruit next year, and have heard that gooseberries and currants do quite well here. Your discussion about gooseberries has raised a couple of questions I wanted to ask:

1. At what age is the plant mature (ie start fruiting)?
2. Do you need more than one bush for pollination?

I'm an absolute beginner on this one, so any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!

[Alison]

Seem to remember I got a bit of fruit of mine the first year but it definitely did better the following year. Also, I've only got one so guess they're self fertile. As with many of my posts, other grapes will probably be able to advise better!

[Lesley Jay]

I grow Leveller and Invicta gooseberries. They are both dessert varieties rather than culinary varieties but the Invicta is picked early while still firm to make jam and the Leveller is eaten as they come with ice cream. I got 9.5 lbs of fruit from one bush in it's second year!

[JennieAtkinson]

Thats interesting Lesley - thanks. I didn't realise there was a difference between culinary and dessert.

[Alison]

Oh yeah, forgot about that difference. Mine are Invicta and have been used in pies, jam, a really yummy ice cream and mixed with other fruits and eaten with yoghurt.

[Waffler]

Can't answer any questions, but we have 3 bushes and they produced well this year. That said, this was our first year at this house (gooseberries already well-established), so don't know how the harvest compared to previous years.
My leaves were also stripped by saw fly!

[nick the grief]

I had 3 bushes as well Leveller, Invicta & Pax (red one ) between the sodding sawfly, bloody birds and mildew I gave up in the end & dug them out. They used to produce quite a lot though aroud 10lbs per bush I bet on a good year but the last 3 years .....zip. Now I've moved plots I may try again but not sure yet.

[Waffler]

The birds haven't really bothered with ours. Maybe because of the cats - though they rarely catch anything.

[burnie]

I had a good crop on the second year bush,don't know what variety,but it's a dessert(red) one.The new one was stripped by saw fly so I've moved it to a more open spot as the origional spot was sheltered by my raspberries, hope it blows the wee blighters away.

[Nicos]

We had jays knicking off with them one at a time!

[Snadger]

We had jays knicking off with them one at a time!

Yeah...I've told Lesley before to leave other peoples gooseberries alone and pick her own! LOL

[Nicos]

She's even more petite than I imagined if it was her!!!
Good one!!