moving/digging up jostaberry

[kerryp]

Weve had a jostaberry plant/bush for about 3-4yrs now (which up until this year had never produced any fruit) but now im facing a nightmare.... weve just bought a new house & i want/need to take it with me! When or can i dig it up? its rather on the large side (if i had remembered i was going to take a pic of it) but i really want to take it with us!
any ideas/help would be appreciated
thanks

[roitelet]

If it is large it may not survive the move so take some cuttings from it to root before you try and move it. You will have to cut it back anyway before the move. You could dig it up now and put it in a large container.

[Speed Gardener]

As with all currants, now is the time to move or plant them as they are dormant. I would try and get as much of the rootball out of the ground and into a big pot or one of those flexible plastic trug things. If that proves too heavy to move, you could wash most of the soil off and transport the bush with a bag over the roots - afterall, that's how they send out bare-rooted plants mail order. Just keep the roots moist and get it in the ground as soon as you can when you get to your new place. Give the bush a good prune to reduce the demand on the roots and water it in well and you should be OK.

[FB.]

As the others have suggested; take some cuttings - about pencil-sized pieces just stuck into a small pot o compost will do.
However, cuttings need to be kept outside in pots - they probably won't "take" if you bring them indoors and the rooting will be inhibited by strong light if you take the cuttings out of the pots before they have leafed-out next year.

As for the old bush - use a fork to go all around the "drip line" (the soil under edge of the canopy) to loosen the soil all around it.
Then gradually go deeper and under the bush until you can lever it up.
If you do it well, you should be able to get most of the main roots because of the fork having loosened the soil all around before you did the final lifting out.
The bush will need additional care for its first season - adequate nutrients and water, plus don't let it fruit too much or its roots will be too busy supplying berries to be able to save any nutreients for their own regrowth/repair.

[kerryp]

oooo this all seems very daunting for someone who has only once tried to grow a cutting (rosemary) &.... it died! Ill take a pic when i can & see what you guys think....

[roitelet]

The cuttings are very easy just poke them in the soil and be patient and most of them will root then you will be giving them away!