For the love of fruit

[Moopmoop]

I've only gained an interest in growing fruit fairly recently but my dog it's addictive. As of earlier on today I have a 5th blueberry plant winging it's way to me in the post so including that I'll list below what I have fruit wise.

5 blueberries - there's at least 1 pinkberry in there but I've had no fruit yet and am not sensible enough to label so there could even be two, memory isn't too sure either.

3 rhubarb crowns - possibly Victoria but again memory can't confirm.

1 gooseberry - red hinnomaki which I only discovered the variety after the first year of fruit this year.

1 blackcurrant just purchased earlier on this summer - unknown variety.

21 strawberry plants - mixture of plants, possibly mainly elsanta

5 pineberry plants, another 2 or 3 possibly in the making.

That's it I'm afraid, although I'm sure if I report back next year I'll have a lot more. I do grow in pots so I try and be sensible regarding what can happily live in them

My question is who would like to tell me what fruit they have (if any)?.

[Vince G]

Hi Moop,

Our fruit selection is quite similar to yours.

Rhubarb: inherited with the allotment, but it had designs on becoming a tree so dug it up, gave large chunks away and re-planted 4 sections in a shady spot behind the polytunnel. We forced one plant and got a nice number of pretty pale pink stalks which we found had a very different flavour to the normal stuff, nowhere near as sour and almost a bittersweet taste to it. Not picked from that plant since so it regains its strength, and going to force each of the plants in turn (i.e. every 4 years).

Blueberry: 1 plant which outgrew its container on the patio, so we created a pit for it at the allotment. Dug a hole about 1½ feet deep and put a bit of plastic at the bottom which we put the fork through a few times, so it retains water but doesn't waterlog. Then re-filled with a mix of the dug out soil and ericaceous compost. It clearly loves it as we've had 3½lbs of fruit off it with a few more berries yet to ripen.

12 strawb plants of unknown variety supplied by neighbouring plotholder as runners. Will be their last summer next year before I replace them.

1 raspberry. Thought we'd killed this! We dug it up from the garden of our old house when we moved last May and plonked it in the fruitcage down the allotment, but this summer it has chucked up nice new stems ready for next year.

1 Tayberry. Get one of these, they're like a really big aromatic raspberry, quite a perfumed taste, very unusual. Grow/prune exactly as raspberries.

3 gooseberry plants. Again we transferred from our old house. They also sulked for a year but came back strong this year and produced 20lbs of fruit between them.

Polytunnel: Emir melons, looking healthy 3 plants, 3 decent developing fruit on each.

At home: new garden is going to be for looking at not eating, but even so we've got a goji and a blackthorn (sloes).

Think that's about it!

Thinking of getting a Pinkberry actually. We had 2 small blackcurrant bushes which look really sick, leaves curled up and very brittle branches so might replace with a pinkberry. Will be interested to taste these and they'll provide a pollination partner for the blueberry.

Forgot the apples! 2 cider varieties, in their 3rd summer. Looking like we'll get a couple of pounds of fruit this year.

[KarlB924]

I've got a fair few myself Not counting the cuttings I recently took, I've got:

- 15 Gooseberry, about 3 of which are Hinnonmaki Red
- 12 Blackcurrant, unknown variety (started as 2 plants 2 years ago)
- 1 Whitecurrant Versailles
- 3 Redcurrant, 1 Red Lake & 2 Jonkheer van tets
- 3 Jostaberry
- 9 Autumn Raspberry (started as 1 cane), 2 are still in pots and fruiting prolifically
- 2 Rhubarb, one's probably victoria, I've got the info somewhere
- A fair few strawberries, currently getting some extras from the runners and I might add a few, only got 1.5kg this year, need more!
- 1 Tayberry, bought this year, hasn't really done much. Kinda disappointing
- 2 Thornless blackberries, 1 bought this year (hasn't done much), the other 2 years old and after cutting the thornless primocane back, it's grown back incredibly thorny and hasn't flowered. Will be getting rid of it I think, very disappointing.

Hoping this autumn/winter to get two or three fruit trees, probably a couple of apples and a plum. My nephew's also suggested I get a grapevine or two, but who knows where the heck I'd put them!

[Vince G]

Hope you like gooseberries Karl !!!

Wondering about getting a tree for the new garden. There's a low hedge towards one corner and the area behind it (about 10' x 10') doesn't get any sun at all on the ground, so thinking of planting it up with wood anemone/bluebells etc which wont' mind the shade, but would like to stick a tree in there too. Would like a nut tree but squirrels would get the lot, not a fan of plums, so thinking maybe a peach or apricot as it will get plenty of sun, just not at ground level - don't suppose that would be a problem...

[Moopmoop]

I'm considering buying a cherry tree, I've had two before but they've died immediately after planting. I've now decided that in a pot is the way to go as I'm guessing it's the soil. I recently saw a cherry tree in my local BnQ, it was already in a pot smaller than the one I have already allocated at home for it. It was £20 which I didn't think was bad. I can't remember what variety it was though, I would like a cherry that is sweet enough to eat raw and not have to be cooked. Is there anyone that has cherries at home that could shed some light on what varieties to look out for please?

[Nicos]

Various apples,pears,greengage,plums,black cherry,wild cherry,peach( and Hazelnut tree)
Young grapevine,strawberries,raspberries,blueberries,gooseberries,red /white/blackcurrant,and thornless jamming blackberries ....and of course the compulsory rhubarbs!

[Small pumpkin]

Raspberries
Logan berries
Tay berries
Strawberries
Blue berries
Joster berries
Gooseberries
Red & black currents
Plums
Apples
Pear
I think that's it

[Alison]

Worth thinking about space before you get things. Soft fruit bushes (currants, gooseberries, etc) need ideally to be planted 5 or 6' apart in order to harvest when mature and cluster spacing will bake this very hard and reduce airflow - does seem a lot when they're little though

[Kirk]

Unless the cherry is small and you can net it then the birds will get most of the fruit.
I never realised that sparrows like blueberry's until I watch one eating as many as the greedy well stuffed little whatsit could get down it's throat 30 minutes ago.

Newbiggin? My uncle came from there.

[Strawberry patch]

Autumn raspberries
Blackcurrant
Blackberrie (Have had no fruit from it yet)
Gooseberry, Hinnonmaki Red
Strawberries

[lyndapet]

agree about the sparrows and blueberries. a young sparrow got trapped in my greenhouse and stripped all the blueberries that i had moved under cover to stop the birds stripping them bare .it must be karma .But a least it survived until i removed the net cover in the door way


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[Moopmoop]

The cherry tree was approx 4 foot high and it had fruit on so I'd definitely be able to net it. I have a pot that is a lot larger than the one the shop was selling it in so I'd transfer it into there and leave it in there so it couldn't grow ridiculously big, it must have been a dwarf tree anyway to be that small and have fruit on.

[KarlB924]

Hope you like gooseberries Karl !!!

They're okay... I much prefer keeping our neighbours from parking in front of and walking over our lawn

I'm training the gooseberries and blackcurrants into hedges, so having them fairly close isn't an issue.

[Moopmoop]

Unless the cherry is small and you can net it then the birds will get most of the fruit.
I never realised that sparrows like blueberry's until I watch one eating as many as the greedy well stuffed little whatsit could get down it's throat 30 minutes ago.

Newbiggin? My uncle came from there.

It's a small world Kirk, where do you live? Have you ever been to Newbiggin before? If not I'd recommend having a visit, there isn't that much to do around here so wouldn't come for 2 weeks but a weekend is perfect. I quite often forget how beautiful it is around here and do take it for granted, it's only when I meet people that tell me how lovely it is coming up here when they live in London etc that I appreciate it that little bit more.

[Kirk]

I am way down South, parents are from Ashington and Seahouses.
Uncle came from Newbiggin, Derek Bowness. I do not actually recall ever visiting Newbiggin oddly.
Uncle died some years ago, I still think it was the shock of Newcastle scoring a goal that did it .