Topic: Fruit Cage

[1066]

evening all  :D

I'm planning on sorting out a fruit cage for my plot. But the area which would be most convenient (for me) gets some shade from trees in the summer afternoons. So would it be ok to use that area for fruit, or should I use the area for something else? I was planning on black currants, red currants, gooseberries, blueberries and strawberries

Thanks

1066

[Unwashed]

I'd suggest that the currants and goosgogs are kind of woodland plants anyway so they might tolerate the shade reasonably well.  Bilberries are also woodland plants so the blueberry might also be OK, though I can't get mine to thrive even in the sun!

There's not much that we grow that particularly enjoys the shade so if it was me I think I'd put the soft fruit there and see how it got on.  Not so sure about the strawbs, but they're pretty vigourous so I'd guess they'd be OK.

[Mr Smith]

I think that would be ideal after a glorious summers day beating down on your fruit bushes and then they could chill out in the afternoon shade, :)

[1066]

Thanks for the replies - and the thumbs up  :)
I'm sure I read somewhere that strawbs are essentially a woodland type plant (but then I could be completely off target there!)

I think the 1 thing I was wondering most of all was if the currants would prefer more sun, but hey nothing tried nothing gained  :)

[sunloving]

I had done some reading up about fruit earlier in the year
the shade tolerance (from those who will thrive in shady to those that will sulk) goes from morello cherry, red currant, raspberry, rhubarb, blackcurrant ,gooseberry, apple, pear, plum, to strawberry. Hope that helps.
x sunloving

[1066]

Yes it does Sunloving - thanks  :)
I've also been doing some more reading up and was beggining to think it was a bad idea. But I'm a bit stuck for space at the moment, and the fruit bushes are in pots. So I I'll give it a go this year and look at having a re-org in autumn

[GrannieAnnie]

I once had gooseberries on the East side of the house, they only rec'd morning sun and fruited well.

[matt987106]

my fruit cage will be put where it only has afternoon sun

they still get daylight, so it cannot be all that bad