Gooseberry Fruit Plants

Gooseberry fruit plants are easy to grow and maintain. If bushes are trained against a wall or fence this can take up less space for a smaller garden, they can even be grown in containers.

Planting

Bare roots should be planted in November to marc as this is when they are dormant. Avoid waterlogged or frozen ground. Dig a hole the depth of the pot and a little bit wider tease the roots from the root ball and place in the hole back fill with compost and soil.
Plant about 4-5 feet apart for bush gooseberries and 12-15in apart for cordons.
Plant each cordon tied to a 1.7m (5 1/2ft) bamboo cane.

Problems

American gooseberry mildew. A powdery grey-white fungus appears on thye stems and leaves. This fungus can also affect the fruit which causes problems with ripening.

Remedy

Spray with systhane or plant rescue fungus control fungicide.
Always read the label.

Gooseberry sawfly

A pale green larva. This can often reduce bushes to bare stems by the harvest time.

Remedy

Inspect plants carefully from mid spring, removing any larvea by hand. Infestations can be sprayed with a pesticide when you first notice the larvea.

Birds

Cover bushes with a fine garden netting.
Other pests and diseases to look out for are Aphids, currant blister aphid and grey mould.

Harvest

Gooseberries are ready for picking from July gather any under ripe fruits in June, picking every other berry and the rest will swell in to ripe sweet berries.

We hope you have found this information on Gooseberry fruit plants useful. If you need further assistance please contact us for more advice and information. Don't forget you can also get many types of plants and trees delivered straight to your home. Call us on 020 8421 5977 to find out more about our delivery price and delivery areas or see here for more detail

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