Gooseberries doing well

[Jonny.D]

Got given a tatty looking bush in 2014, potted it up and looked after it, last year had a good few off it, this year going to have a bumper crop

[happyhumph]

That's great! Have just rescued mine from the sage nearby which has turned into a triffid. Sage scented compost anyone?

[SaraJH]

Looking good!

[Jay-ell]

I've a gooseberry that's only just breaking bud. If it doesn't pull it's socks up it'll be gone next year.

[Bigmallly]

They look great Jonny, I'd be tempted to throw a fine net over them, it would be a shame to lose them.

[chrisdb]

Have you had any problems with sawfly? The first caterpillars of the year arrived on one of my bushes a few days ago. I was quite pleased it took them til the end of June to show up.

[BUFFS]

the iffy weather has made sure the goosegogs have not been short of water, most are up to the size of the old gobstoppers, I will wait til they turn a red/burgundy colour before picking, as they do get a lovely sweeter taste, then its raw, jams, mousses, jelly and maybe some into a fruit loaf when I get my fresh yeast, I must stop now as I keep dribbling onto the laptop...

[Jonny.D]

Have you had any problems with sawfly? The first caterpillars of the year arrived on one of my bushes a few days ago. I was quite pleased it took them til the end of June to show up.

Had no problems with any pests since I got it in 2014

[Jay-ell]

The goosegogs I'm training as a fence will most likely not produce ripe fruit this year. This is partly because as I'm training them into a triple cordon I gave them a heavy prune earlier this year to shape them so there isn't too much mature wood but mostly because I can't resist eating them before they're ripe as I do like the sour taste and the way they turn my mouth inside out.

At the minute it's hard to see how much fruit they have because my pineberries have grown tall enough that the gooseberries are currently the under-story but they are putting up a lot of new growth at the leaders (I've nipped off the tips of the side laterals) so that shouldn't be a problem next year although I will still prune out any laterals below the verticals and shorten the spurs on the cordons so it'll be another heavy prune to create shape - after that they should be about the right height pruning will focus on creating fruit.

[chrisdb]

Had no problems with any pests since I got it in 2014

You're lucky! Sawfly larvae can completely strip the bushes of leaves if you don't keep an eye out for them. They're the only problem I've ever had growing gooseberries, but unfortunately they're voracious.

[happyhumph]

I've had my gooseberries stripped bare of leaves by sawfly in previous years but not so bad this year. Strangely my neighbour has been really badly hit....

[Bal]

They look great OH is so envious. Hoping to get mine in this autumn.

[BUFFS]

We have loads of the small birds this year that are constantly searching the bushes to feed their young with any grubs they can get so only a few leaves gone from over 10 plants.....luckily..