cape gooseberries

[stigoftheplot]

Has anyone grown these? I've got lots of little seedlings but although I've read they're about 3 ft but can get up to 6ft, I have no idea whether they're bushy or tall & thin. How close do I plant them etc. If they're quite bushy I may have too many. Also whats the crop like.

[Nicos]

I grew these in the greenhouse a couple of years ago.
Planted them in growbags.
You have started earlier than I did - which is good-because mine were just about flowering as the Autumn set in!!!!
We ripped them out as a dead loss,having left them to die, only to find out that you can overwinter them and they produce even more fruit the following year!!
Ours grew just under 4 ft high.
Maybe you can pass on your advice to me next year , and I'll have another go!!

[pigletwillie]

Big plants indeed and very bushy if you let them. We have overwintered ours and they are just starting to come up again. We did very well fruit wise but they were grown in a greenhouse.

[stigoftheplot]

so do they come back year after year or is it 2 years & that's it. How far apart do you think I should plant them? I hadn't planned on putting them in my greenhouse. I'll have so many toms cucumbers melons peppers grapevine etc and its only 8x6! May have to evict some things as it is!!

[pigletwillie]

They come back year after year if you dont lose them in a very cold winter. You would get 6 in an 8 x 6 greenhouse. They also do ok in a sheltered place if grown in pots where space is an issue.

[stigoftheplot]

I think as I'm growing them outdoors that I may dig up & pot the best half dozen to over winter in the greenhouse. Mind you, the way I'm going I'll be needing a 3rd plot & another greenhouse, which brings us back to the seed-a-holic thread!

[mat]

I saw a piece in GYO a couple of months back which suggested that cape gooseberries couldn't be grown successfully as annuals. I was surprised, because I always grow them as annuals, and get big crops - in fact, I think they're probably the most productive fruit of all for container growing. I have tried overwintering them, but I don’t find it worth the bother - and besides, the space in my small greenhouse is all needed for winter salads.

I think there are three main things likely to be causing problems for people who find capes difficult to grow to fruition in a single year:

1. Sowing too late. It’s got to be February; even March is too late.

2. Growing them in the ground, or in containers that are too large. Capes will grow and grow, given the chance, and never get stressed enough to fruit. Pot them on until they are finally in 12” or 15” pots - no bigger. I grow them on the patio - they dry out too quickly in the greenhouse in summer.

3. The wrong variety. The capes offered in most seed catalogues are, indeed, useless as annuals. You need dwarf capes. I know of two: Suttons’ Cape Gooseberry Little Lantern, and Thompson & Morgan’s Golden Berry Pineapple.

[serenity]

thank you for your post mat. i have wanted to try these for a while now but have been put off by bad reports. will definately give these a go 2008. Thanks for the tips

serenity

[George Gray]

Cape Gooseberries

We have grown them for several years as annuals.They are easy to grow, relatively free of pests and usually give us a bumper supply of fruit. However they really need growing in a cold greenhouse to be sucessful. Since they are long and lanky plants select a miniature compact variety. Grow from seed from March onwards . They don't need a lot of fertiiser (that makes them produce too much leaf and less fruit). Otherwise grow them like bush tomatoes. The fruit is ready to eat when turned orange. They also keep fantastically well. We have been eating fruit in January that was just left in a basket in the house and harvested in October!

[stigoftheplot]

oh wow. Think I'll have to give it another go. A friend grew 2 plants this year, 1 in a pot in her garden & 1 up her allotment. I only ever saw the pot 1 which stayed fairly compact. She did give me 1 of the fruit & it was delicious. Mine were not so successful. I sowed quite a few which I hardened off & had most demolished by slugs. I did rescue half a dozen plants which are now 4-8 inches tall, sitting on my kitchen sill and going nowhere fast. I thought I may pot them on & stick them in the greenhouse (unheated) to overwinter. I'm definately doing more next year but these 1s may do something, maybe, hopefully......

[George Gray]

Cape Gooseberries again!

Stigoftheplot
They are only as hardy as tomatoes so they wouldn't have a chance overwintering in a cold greenhouse. Just grow them from seed each year as they are dead easy to germinate and grow on. The seed is available from many of the standard seed companies and lasts several years . But remember pick one of the compact varities or they will take over the greenhouse!

[Snadger]

Stigoftheplot
They are only as hardy as tomatoes so they wouldn't have a chance overwintering in a cold greenhouse. Just grow them from seed each year as they are dead easy to germinate and grow on. The seed is available from many of the standard seed companies and lasts several years . But remember pick one of the compact varities or they will take over the greenhouse!

Hmmmm...........I got my cuttings in spring off a plant that had been overwintered in a cold greenhouse in NE England. I have one healthy plant in each of my cold greenhouses at the mo and am hoping to split one of them up (like a herbaceous perennial) in the Spring to give me more plants. They don't like drafts but as long as the pot and roots don't freeze they should be ok methinks!