Gooseberry is a traditional fruit shrub, willingly grown in home and allotment gardens. Its fruits can be eaten raw and in preserves, have numerous he alth properties and are among the first during the growing season, as they ripen in June. Relatively easy care and low requirements of gooseberries are other advantages in favor of planting gooseberries in the garden.
Gooseberry is a fruit shrub that is perfect for growing on a plot and in a home garden
Gooseberry - characteristic
Gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa), sometimes also called the northern vine, is a thorny shrub belonging to the Grossulariaceae family, reaching up to 1.5 m in height.
Originally, gooseberries grew on well-lit forest sites in Europe and Asia. Currently, it is grown on a large scale and available in many interesting varieties.Gooseberry bushes grown in our climate bloom from April to May, and bear fruit from the end of June until the beginning of August. They are therefore typical summer fruits.
Gooseberry - varieties
The gooseberry varieties sold by Polish nurserymenare usually frost-resistant enough and we don't have to worry too much about choosing gooseberries for our garden. In home and allotment gardens, however, we usually want to avoid the use of chemical plant protection products, therefore the main factor is the resistance to gooseberry diseases, of which the American gooseberry mildew causes the greatest losses.Therefore, I strongly advise against cultivating such varieties as: 'Biały Triumf', 'Czerwony Triumf' and 'Rzeszowski', as all three are easily affected by mildew.
Remember!When choosing a gooseberry variety for your garden, pay attention to the variety's resistance to the American gooseberry mildew. It is best to plant varieties that are completely resistant to this disease.
In order to enjoy the gooseberry fruit as long as possible, it is worth planting varieties ripening at different dates in the garden.
Apart from choosinggooseberry varieties , it is also worth considering whether you want to plant plants growing in the form of shrubs, or we prefer standard forms, i.e. grafted on a trunk. Stem gooseberry resembles a miniature tree, its crown is slightly narrower, so the bush takes up less space. You don't have to bend so low when picking the fruit. When cultivating standard forms, it is also easier to weed the soil under the shrubs.
Gooseberry
Green-fruit gooseberry varieties
Invicta - a medium-early, high yielding variety. Medium-sized fruit, covered with fluff. Not very susceptible to mildew.Resistenta - a variety that ripens at the end of the first half of July, it yields profusely. Fruits are small to medium-sized, without any moss. Very tasty, wine-sweet. Resistant to gooseberry mildew.
Red-fruit gooseberry varieties
Kamieniar - an early variety, producing medium-sized fruit with a delicate red skin. The good taste of the fruit and the total resistance to the American gooseberry mildew make this variety suitable for amateur crops.
Niesłuchowski - an early variety. Its dark red fruit is valued for its unique taste. Resistance to American gooseberry mildew is quite high.
Pax - early, high yielding variety. The fruit is large, quite tasty. Slightly susceptible to mildew. An additional advantage of thisgooseberry varietyis the reduced number of thorns. Hinnonmaki rot - a small gooseberry with red fruits, very tasty, typically dessert. It matures in the first half of July. When ripe, the fruit does not break or fall off. Resistant to gooseberry mildew and highly frost-resistant.
Gooseberry - cultivation requirements
Gooseberry grows best in sunny and warm places, sheltered from cold winds. Ideal are plains and slopes of light hills with a west or south-west exposure. Forgooseberry cultivationis suitable for sandy loam or loamy soils, fertile, rich in nutrients and organic substances, and adequately moist, slightly acidic (pH 6.2 - 6.7).
Gooseberries should not be planted in very light or extremely compact and waterlogged soils, in places in depressions of the terrain, where frost pools form or frequent mist falls.
Planting gooseberries
When to plant gooseberries?
Gooseberry bushes intended for planting are most often available as plants dug from the ground, the so-called exposed root. Such gooseberry seedlings are best planted in the fall, in the period from mid-October to November. The autumn dategooseberry plantingis recommended, because then the root systems of the plants will regenerate before the onset of winter and this will accelerate the development of shrubs in the spring.If you decide to plant them in spring, you should to be done as soon as possible, as soon as we prepare the position and get seedlings (March - April). Remember then to water the planted plants regularly, because in the first year of cultivation they will be more susceptible to drought than fruit bushes planted in autumn.
How to plant gooseberries?
Before proceeding toplanting gooseberries , the planting site should be properly prepared. The soil should be cleared of weeds and deeply tilled.
For plants, we dig holes large enough to allow the roots of the plants to fit freely in them (usually about 40 cm deep).On very light soils, compost or manure must be added to the bottom of the hole. And in the case of very heavy soils, mix the soil with sand to loosen it a bit.
Remember!Plants are planted 5 cm deeper than they grew in the nursery, and the distance between the bushes should be 1 to 1.5 m. which do not grow that wide.
After planting and filling in the holes, water the plants abundantly and then mulch the soil around them. The stem varieties are tied to stakes so that strong gusts of wind do not break the stumps.
During further cultivation, the basic tasks ingooseberry careare: weed removal, irrigation, fertilization and pruning.
Gooseberry
Cutting gooseberries
Pruning gooseberriesis an extremely important procedure in the care of this shrub.The first pruning, right after planting, promotes the branching and development of young shoots. Subsequent cuts are to prevent the bushes from becoming too dense and ensure good fruiting. If the shoots are too dense, the gooseberry fruits are smaller and less mature, and the plant is easily attacked by the American gooseberry mildew.
Pruning after planting
The firstcutting of gooseberry bushesis performed in the first spring after planting. Shrubs planted in autumn are cut in the next spring, and planted in spring - cut immediately after planting. In bush-shaped plants, all shoots are pruned at a height of 2 - 3 meshes. On the other hand, the annual increments are shortened by half of their length.
Further cutsGooseberries should be shaped and pruned in the same way as red currants, because they also bear fruit on shoots. However, gooseberry bushes are more viable than currants, so only five or even 6-year-old main shoots are cut.It is worth striving to ensure that the bush has a maximum of 12 main shoots, and the crown should be formed quite loosely (too thickened, it is easy to attack the aforementioned American powdery mildew).
Harvesting and use of gooseberries
Gooseberries are harvested from mid-June to early August, depending on the gooseberry variety. The fruits should be picked when they are soft and bend under the pressure of a finger, but before they take their final shape. The harvest date should also be adapted to what we want to use it for.
Remember!Still green fruit, with a hard skin, will be perfect for processing into jams, preserves and jellies. Almost ripe - perfect for juices and marmalades. And for consumption raw, gooseberries should be harvested only when they are fully ripe, because then they are the sweetest.
