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Gooseberry Probs

dave125dave125 Posts: 178
in Fruit & veg
After World War Two my Grandad went to work in a chemical factory in Cheshire. Nearby was a wood and legendary in this wood was the magnificent wild Gooseberry bush which fed many a man who was slacking off. About five years ago I re-found said bush and took a small offshoot home. It took ok but has never flowered or produced a single Gooseberry. It's in a container with Strawberries around it (they fruit fine) regularly fed and watered but only in partial sun. Other than move it is there anything I can do. 
Luv Dave


Posts

  • HelixHelix Posts: 631
    Gooseberries don’t need too much sun, so just a few hours a day will do them.  But I’d remove the strawberries as that’s not a huge pot for a gooseberry and they are hungry things. 
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Agree and goosegogs are always better in the ground.  Possible in a large container but won't compete with any other plants in the same pot.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • mrtjformanmrtjforman Posts: 331
    it will do best in the ground where worms and bacteria visit the plant that you don't get in a pot.

    It can do ok in a pot but like said the strawberries are taking all the water and nutrients from the gooseberry.
    Give it a size up if you can't plant in the ground and move the strawberries. 

    Then this year prune it hard. Cut away any growth that looks clustered and try to end up with about 5 or 6 new shoots.
    These shoots should be emerging from the bottom of the plant, are smaller and light green compared to a year old growth or older. The plant will focus all its energy on these new shoots. I can see you have some old clustered growth that will just sap energy next year and not produce well.

    I know pruning can be offputting but it does help lots as I discovered myself recently. Start with any long brown bits, avoid any green stems, then once that it done, you can start on the green stems, trimming any that overlap or growing towards the center of the plant, you want branches spreading outwards, ending up with the 5 or 6 best new shoots. 

    Then try to find a spot that gets plenty of sunshine. The more sunshine the more likely it should be to produce fruit.



  • dave125dave125 Posts: 178
    That's all brilliant info guys, thanks very much for taking the time it is always appreciated.
    Luv Dave
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