I have young (1 year old) gooseberry plants, very healthy, varieties Black Velvet and Hinnomaki Yellow that I'd like to trade for gooseberry plants of varieties I do not have. If interested, let me know what you are looking to trade. I can post a pic before the trade if you would like to see the plant. I am not looking for Poorman, Red George, Captivator, Glendale, Whitesmith, Tixia, Hinnomaki Red, Silvia (not a complet list). I am looking for Clark, Oregan Champion, and a number of others I don't have. Need plants, not cuttings, but can help you to propagate for next year.
Gooseberries anyone?
Krowten,
I have Oregon Champion and would be interested in your help in propagation for next year such that I might be able to trade with you. I have never tried Black Velvet or Hinnomaki Yellow. I prefer a tart gooseberry so I am not sure which of those is more tart. The other one I have not mentioned in your "do not want" list is Invicta.
My plants are loaded with fruit right now. Just let me know what I need to do and when I need to do it for propagation, and I shall give it my best shot.
Claire
Claire, Both the varieties I mentioned are sweet flesh with tarter skin. Not sure if they would fit your tastes, but I find them to be among the better varieties. A ripe H. yellow reminds a lot of people of apricots. I have other varieties if you do not want these, but we should probably discuss privately as to what it available.
To propagate (I'll post here for the benefit of all) I do not follow the traditional methods. Instead, I take a ziploc bag, sandwich size or quart size depending. I cut a hole (usually around 1")in the bottom center of the bag just large enough so that I can slip the bag over a young (relatively) shoot of the plant emerging from the bottom of the pot. Most gooseberries will send shoots after a year or two and in fact the recommended pruning procedure is to periodically (annually) remove wood that is more that 3-4 years old. Anyway, fill the bag with quality soil, prop the bag with rocks so it does not fall over if needed. Water the bag regularly and perhaps a bit more than the plant itself. At the end of the growing season, you should have another plant. Just cut the stem under the bag and transplant. I typically wait until the spring to do this, especially if I do not know how easy the variety is to propagate, as some are difficult and will not have set roots until the next spring anyway. However, this method has been very successful for me. I believe it would be considered a variation of "layering".
I also will plant any cuttings or broken stems during the year that I run across, if it is a kind that I would like to have more. Strip off any leaves except for the top two and bury so that the all of the stem except for the top two inches. Keep the cutting in a protected spot. do not soak, but do not let dry out. Some will grow, others will not.
Both varieties that you have are ones I want to get. I tried to buy Invicta earlier this year but they were sold out.
Thanks for the offer. If you intend to try my bag method, you should start now but remember to watch the thorns!
OK, so the stem will root while in the bag? Mine are in the ground - not in pots - but I will choose a younger shoot on them. I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes. Should there be fruit on the stem I choose, or not? If they root for me, we can figure out which variety to trade at that time. I'm sure it will take a while for them to do their thing!
I might try a couple of cuttings at the same time, just to try both methods.
Thanks!
Would it be possible to post pictures of your bag on the stem?
Mittsy, I'll take a look this weekend to see if I have any this year. I cut and transplanted the ones from last year and haven't made decisions about what to start for next year. However, I'll set one up to take a pic if there is an appropriate choice.
Cmoxon, fruit on stem does not matter. I try to choose based on value to the paretn plant and vigor, straightness of the shoot for bagging (can I get one on it without creating a problem...)
While you are photgraphing could you please take a close up picture of a leaf.
While on the topic of gooseberries, this property that I moved to in February has some woods, and in those woods, there are wild (?) gooseberries. I didn't know they grew wild in Iowa. There was a farm at the location many years ago. I wonder if they are escapes? There are a lot of them. Should I try digging some up and moving them into the garden? Do you think they would be any good?
If you are interested, I have a DG article on gooseberries that will be published Wed. July 23rd. Lots of photos. Krowten is largely responsible for increasing my interests in growing more unusual or old-fashioned fruits and I have other articles on berries and tree fruits due in August or September.
Thanks Darius - I'll have to take a look at that!
Wonderful! Looking forward to the article. Hope it also has some tips on canning the fruit.
Sorry, mittsy... no canning tips. I forget what recipe I added, though...
I never have enough left to can. I freeze some. I make gooseberry fool and gooseberry jam and eat some fresh and then they're all gone. :-(
I'm a little worried because I leave for vacation on Friday and am away for a week. I think they will still be OK when I come back - they are fairly firm still. I don't want to lose them all because I'm not around to pick them!
Here's a picture of the bag method. This is my Red George plant that I have not propagated yet. However, I did notice tonight that there are two recent stems at the base of the plant that are relatively young, probably from some time last summer. There are two stems in the bag, one is substantially shorter than the other. I will leave the stems in the bag for this one until next spring (because Red George is a little difficult). By that time, the bag will be starting to fall apart from exposure to sun and weather. I'll take my pruning shears under the bag, feeling carefully with my other hand for the stem, them clip it. I immediately transplant the "cutting" with the dirt from the bag by peeling off the plastic bag without disturbing any roots that may be in the soil. I will usually put cuttings from this method into a 1 gallon nursery pot. New plants get extra attention and extra water for a month or so until I am sure they are growing OK. Typically the plants will start to produce fruit the next year, if everything goes OK. Because there are two stems in this bag, I will likely have two additional plants in the spring. I did this with Red George last year using an older stem and took the cutting from the plant in the fall. It had not developed sufficient roots and the cutting died.
Cutting the plant in the fall works for many gooseberries, but has some minor risk in that some cuttings/young plants do not survive their first winter. However, taking the cutting in the fall does give you an independent plant ready to take full advantage of the spring growing season which means more growth that season.
I like this method for a number of reasons:
1) You do not reduce the size of the original plant until you already have a growing second plant.
2) You can start smaller plants by bagging young shoots as they start growing (you do not have to take a larger cutting from the plant to help assure rooting success)
3) You do not prevent the parent plant from growing and producing fruit during the process.
4) It is more reliable than taking cuttings.
5) You start with a single, usually straight, stem that continues to grow during the rooting process. This helps result in more upright initial plants.
Disadvantages are that you have to wait for your mother plant to start to send up root shoots and you can only produce one or two extra plants per year per plant.
Sorry to get off the trading thread here but some questions were asked.
I hope this also a good enough picture of a leaf.
I have Pink Catawba grapes and have not been able to root from cuttings. I think I will try your method and see if it will work for me. Thank you so much for the explaination and picture.
Mittsy
C, I think you might find it worthwhile to transplant, but may want to check out the ripe fruit first. I'd be curious to learn if they are truly wild or just naturalized from the earlier farm. I might be interested in a trade for one of them with more information - there are many varieties of old gooseberries apparently lost from cultivation.