Topic: Growing Blackcurrants, Gooseberries in a container

[davholla]

Has anyone ever done this ?

[Jeannine]

No,  but I have 10 blueberries in containers and they grow big bushes, they do very well. XX Jeannine

[debjay]

No,  but I have 10 blueberries in containers and they grow big bushes, they do very well. XX Jeannine

Sorry to jump on the thread but how big are your containers for your blueberries ?
Debs :)

[Paul Heath]

I have blackcurrants in containers in my garden and these seem to do better than the bushes in the ground !!

Have given up on gooseberries because I always manage to kill them within weeks  :(

[davholla]

I have blackcurrants in containers in my garden and these seem to do better than the bushes in the ground !!

Have given up on gooseberries because I always manage to kill them within weeks  :(

Do you kill all gooseberries or just those in containers ?

How do you keep blackcurrants in containers ?  What size soil etc ?

[Paul Heath]

I have blackcurrants in containers in my garden and these seem to do better than the bushes in the ground !!

Have given up on gooseberries because I always manage to kill them within weeks  :(

Do you kill all gooseberries or just those in containers ?

How do you keep blackcurrants in containers ?  What size soil etc ?

It's all gooseberries with me....guess i'm not supposed to grow them (not a major problem as it's only my wife who likes them  ;) )

The blackcurrants are in containers that are around 45cm diameter and filled with general compost (and a bit of soil from my mole hills) - they have been if for about 2 years now and seem to be doing well.

[jennym]

Haven't grown blackcurrants or gooseberries in containers for cropping purposes, but have for "storage".
If you intend to keep the blackcurrants in a pot for more than a couple of years, you will need a very large pot, at least the 45cm mentioned, because they can get to around 5 ft high and same in diameter. A nice mix of say, half clay soil and half well rotted compost would be good, they do like a moist soil and do plant them deep when you put them in so that you get all the stems coming up from below surface.
Gooseberry should be fine for a number of years, and again I'd say a 45cm pot. For the soil, I'd use something like 1/3 clay soil, 1/3 well rotted compost and 1/3 of a gritty mix.

[manicscousers]

hiya, Paul, welcome to the site..we have gooseberries ( cuttings from our 'pax'  bush), in pots, we're gradually giving them away to be planted in the ground  ;D
they seem to be okay

[Jeannine]

Sorry to be so late, my blueberries are in18inch pots

[davholla]

I looked at the rhs fruit book and they said :-
"A pot must be at least big enough for a plants' root system but no more than 3 inches wider ?"

Why ???  Why 3 inches and not 2 or 4 or 5 ?   After all if you were to put them in a very very big pot it would be the same as putting them in the ground ?

[delboy]

I've always wondered about the ground thingy..

The other argument is about how deep the pots should be..

I can see root restrictions for figs etc are spot on, but ...

[jesssands]

I have just a solo blackcurrent, never pruned it, is this necessary? I mean am I supposed to do it?

[davholla]

I have just a solo blackcurrent, never pruned it, is this necessary? I mean am I supposed to do it?

I think you re meant to prune a 3rd every year.

[jesssands]

if thats the case, could someone tell me where to prune plz?
Cos he must be about 5 years old now!  :-[

[rentawreck]

Have a goosegog in a pot.....er well everthing I grow is in pots or troughs as I have a Patio Allotment!

Gooseberry in 18" hexogon pot from Wilco's in peat bassed compost.

First year last season and just got established.   Prunned to about 3ft high (pot compost level that is) and kept within bound this year.

Had a standard gooseberry (these do well in pots but more expensive) but it never broke (it failed to wake up in the spring after I had planted it).

It seems to be doing ok (look prety good too) at the minute but the test is seing the fruit.

As a rough guide of thumb I would say keep gooseberry bush pruned to not more than 'hight = 3x the depth of the pot' and 'width = 1.5 x the diameter of the pot' so for a pot 18" diameter x 18" depth keep plant within 4ft 6inch tall x 2ft 6inch across.   This way you can trim/prune your plant to fit the pot.

Don't have a blackcurrant as they tend to more spindley and open.   They don't always look tidy in a pot.   I am trying and do have other fruit though.

[manicscousers]

they're all really hungry plants so would need rich soil and feeding  :)

[davholla]

they're all really hungry plants so would need rich soil and feeding  :)

But I thought too much particulary manuare is bad for gooseberries.

[davholla]

Have a goosegog in a pot.....er well everthing I grow is in pots or troughs as I have a Patio Allotment!

Gooseberry in 18" hexogon pot from Wilco's in peat bassed compost.

First year last season and just got established.   Prunned to about 3ft high (pot compost level that is) and kept within bound this year.

Had a standard gooseberry (these do well in pots but more expensive) but it never broke (it failed to wake up in the spring after I had planted it).

It seems to be doing ok (look prety good too) at the minute but the test is seing the fruit.

As a rough guide of thumb I would say keep gooseberry bush pruned to not more than 'hight = 3x the depth of the pot' and 'width = 1.5 x the diameter of the pot' so for a pot 18" diameter x 18" depth keep plant within 4ft 6inch tall x 2ft 6inch across.   This way you can trim/prune your plant to fit the pot.

Don't have a blackcurrant as they tend to more spindley and open.   They don't always look tidy in a pot.   I am trying and do have other fruit though.

Did you get any fruit last year ??

[rentawreck]

No I didn't get any fruit last year.   It was a new plant last season and it spent the last year establishing.

You need to get a plant "established" in it's permanent position before it will fruit.   It was also only a young (new) plant and needed some growth added to it's small size.   It looks good now (in leaf but no flowers yet) but is still not up to the size for the pot as I outlined in my last post (it's still a little on the small side about 2ft 6inch high and 15inch wide in a pot 18inch diameter x 18inch deep).

I have a friend who got a standard gooseberry.   This fruited quicker and was quite ornamental.    The fruiting part of the plant is kept quite small though and crops are very limited.    When you buy a standard they are older plants and have usually been trained/established in the nursery for longer.

It is not unusual for fruit plants to need time to establish as they often come with very small root systems.   It's the roots that need more growth in order to produce the fruit along with sustaining the main plant.

Equally if you need to move a plant, the dormant period is the best time to do it, that is why we find lots of plants and fruit bushes for sale in the winter time.   Do NOT plant or move during frost or snow but rather wait for a milder day and/or pop plant under cover.

If you keep plant in pots you also need a special feeding regime.   When the roots are restricted you can help the plant by supplying additional plant food.   This too will help crop production, plant growth and plant health.

[jennym]

if thats the case, could someone tell me where to prune plz?
Cos he must be about 5 years old now!  :-[

Have a good look at the plant. Always take out any dead or damaged stems first, but the normal regime is that the oldest stems, i.e. those that are thicker and darker are the ones to prune out. With blackcurrants, cut these stems right down to soil level. On an annual basis, as davholla says, you cut out one third of the stems, always the oldest ones, and cut them down to the ground.
You could grow 3 or 4 bushes and cut all the stems off a different one each year instead.
Blackcurrants are hungry feeders, and require good moist soil and plenty of feeding. Gooseberries like lighter, slightly more well drained soil (although a pot should provide this anyway, so don't underwater in a pot) and don't require the heavy feeding that blackcurrants do, or you get excessive leaf and stem growth on them and they will have a tendency to get mildew.
Be careful when "trimming" fruit bushes to fit pots, if you continually trim ends off, you may take off fruiting portions of the plant so you won't get any fruit. You can also end up with long lengths of bare stem that are unproductive. For a gooseberry, the fruiting stems (more like branches on a little tree) are more permanent than a blackcurrant, but saying that -  they do get old - so you need to do renewal pruning occasionally, to take out any very old unproductive branches and allow new ones to come to take their place.