cape gooseberry

[the big lebowski]

hi all,im going to do swap of some chillis for a couple of cape gooseberrys with a mate up the lottie ,never grow them before anyone got any tips on what to do ? pot sizes things like that, i do have a greenhouse in the back garden that i can put them ,any advice welcome ,cheers

[Nicos]

I tried a few years ago with no success.
I think I sowed mine too late for them to flower and fruit, so ended chucking them out.

BUT!...found out too late.....

They are in fact half hardy perennials...if I'd kept mine frost free I would apparently have had a decent crop the following year!

[the big lebowski]

when did you sow yours ?(monthwise) like i said im getting them from a mate so i dont really control when they are sown

[Alison]

The woman on the plot opposite to me just grew them outside in lottie beds. She got quite a good crop and the plants got quite big. I'm not keen myself do don't grow them

[Nicos]

when did you sow yours ?(monthwise) like i said im getting them from a mate so i dont really control when they are sown

Sorry not really sure , probably March

[Thelma Sanders]

I'm growing them for the first time this year.

I sowed them at the end of March, but they seem very slow growing, they are still only about an inch high, with just 2 real leaves. They are doing the out to the greenhouse/in at night thing with the tomatoes, so should be warm enough

[Scarlet]

I've grown them for a few years, they make lovely jam and I love them fresh. Personally I think they give the best crop in the GH as they start fruiting late and can be hit with Sept frosts.( in the GH they hit the roof, huge plants!) Worth a shot once though, even outside.

[veggiechicken]

I grow them as perennials in the GH. Also, if you let a few fall on the soil they'll self seed - so I don't have a sowing date - they work it out for themselves.

[DannyK]

I've had self sown ones in GH for over ten years. If I let them they'd take over an 8X6. Trouble is the mice go for fruit! Must get humane traps as frogs and birds go in GH which is kept at 5deg.

They, apart from mice, have been pest free.

Just sown a variety called Goliath which is supposed to have larger fruit.

[Spunky]

I grew a plant in a 10 litre pot there not frost hardy but I found there better than toms etc at taking a slightly lower temperature
I started some from seed and didn't even get a crop the first year but ovewintered the plant same as chillies and got absolutely tonnes the following year

[marchogaeth]

I tried a few years ago with no success.
I think I sowed mine too late for them to flower and fruit, so ended chucking them out.

BUT!...found out too late.....

They are in fact half hardy perennials...if I'd kept mine frost free I would apparently have had a decent crop the following year!

I've grown them for a few years, they make lovely jam and I love them fresh. Personally I think they give the best crop in the GH as they start fruiting late and can be hit with Sept frosts.( in the GH they hit the roof, huge plants!) Worth a shot once though, even outside.

The year I got my poly tunnel, the very nice lady at the cat sanctuary who "conned me into coming home with 4 cats when I went for one" gave me two "Chinese Lanterns" by way of compensation. I didn't want flowers so stuck them in the least attractive corner of the tunnel - cold, a bit shady. Well one died but the other one was covered in lanterns and I waited and waited for them to turn orange but, you guessed it they didn't, they turned brown and had little yellow fruit inside! Well it's come up every year despite looking terminally dead at some point every winter! It fills its corner, the roof, the floor and is covered in fruit, it has at least three overlapping crops on a good year if I let it.

If I can be bothered to manage it, I cut it back through the year (prune would be too posh a word) and I've never managed to get the third crop to ripen over winter so I am just going to take all this fruit off from now on. In spring it gets urine and once it has fruit it gets comfrey/tomato feed/nettle tea - what ever's left over. I find cursing at it and praying it has actually dies once and for all because it's such a messy, messy plant is really effective.

Scarlet, please can you put your jam recipe up. I made it for the first time last year - it turned out like toffee but has mellowed over the winter and is now absolutely gorgeous (if still a little chewy.)

I'd say stick it in you greenhouse if you can find room, prune it to suit you and if it doesn't fruit this year just wait.

[Scarlet]

Scarlet, please can you put your jam recipe up. I made it for the first time last year - it turned out like toffee but has mellowed over the winter and is now absolutely gorgeous (if still a little chewy.)

The recipe for all my jams are pretty much the same. My rule of thumb, is equal measure sugar/fruit (500g/500g) and squeeze lemon juice to help it set. Though for the Cape gooseberries I soften them up in water on the stove before I add the sugar (same with gooseberries) so a good splash of water in there too - if it went toffee like my guess is you cooked it for too long. Setting point is reached very easily with this fruit. I always add a blob of butter to stop the foamy bit on the top.

[muddled]

I am told (though not tried it myself yet) that cape gooseberries are a delicious addition to green tomato and other chutneys.

The reason I've not tried this is because my youngest daughter scoffs EVERY SINGLE ONE, sitting cross legged on the ground and methodically and thoroughly seeking them out before I get anywhere near them!

[marchogaeth]

- if it went toffee like my guess is you cooked it for too long. Setting point is reached very easily with this fruit. I always add a blob of butter to stop the foamy bit on the top.

I kept testing for a set and not getting one but you must be correct (I must buy a jam thermometer). The butter tip is a really good one but I have to use something lactose free but it also worked.

[bobbin]

They are quite slow growers. But well worth a shot. I grew some in the green house and some outside. Don't underestimate the size these plants can grow to. You need a good sized pot or the will get unruly and flop. You will need to stake them. The fruit is slow to ripen but quite abundant. I've a seed tray full of them and they are only just pushing out a second pair of leaves now and I planted mine end of February. The fruits are expensive to buy so it's a real fun crop. I am biased as I absolutely love them and can polish off a carton from the supermarket in minutes. Please please have a go..its what's gardening a all about. You can of course be smug when you tell your allotment pal about your amazing success with them!