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I lost all my container grown gooseberries to sawflies last year. I have heard that rhubarb leaves at the base of the plant can stop them.🌻
the problem with growing long standing plants such as currants and gooseberries in pots is ants ants can ruin plants as they make their home in pots standing on the floor then there is the feeding and of course watering if you do decide to plant in pots my advice is to put bonemeal in the mix and stand the pot on bricks with maybe a sprinkling of ant powder over the bricks and you should be OK for a few seasons then go up a size of pot however you must water regularly even if its been raining containers dry out very quickly even in winter hope this helps
Quote from: johhnyco15 on February 07, 2016, 14:21:48the problem with growing long standing plants such as currants and gooseberries in pots is ants ants can ruin plants as they make their home in pots standing on the floor then there is the feeding and of course watering if you do decide to plant in pots my advice is to put bonemeal in the mix and stand the pot on bricks with maybe a sprinkling of ant powder over the bricks and you should be OK for a few seasons then go up a size of pot however you must water regularly even if its been raining containers dry out very quickly even in winter hope this helpsDo you grow in pots? If so which varieties?
Has anyone tried that thing with the rhubarb leaves?
I've had a go at gooseberries in pots over the last 3 years, because I can't place them where I want them yet.The bushes (grown from cuttings from previous allotment) have produced really well to my surprise. I'm getting over a kg to a small (2ft high) bush. They were a red gooseberry, afraid I don't know the variety. The mother bushes did OK over my last allotment on heavy clay, but not brilliantly.Into the pots I put a mix of roughly roughly 1/2 of the sandy loam from the soil here, 1/2 multi purpose compost, a good brand, and a bit of bone meal and a bit of growmore. About once a month from spring to late autumn, I fed them with a cheapo version of Miracle-Gro, probably bought from Tesco or Home Bargains. Just read the ingredients on Miracle-Gro and look for cheap alternatives with the same ingredients.The pots were about 12" to 18" (30-45cm) wide at the top and about 12" deep.The pots were placed on deep gravel trays about 3" inches high sidewall, I think I bought them from Wilko. It made it easy to water, I just filled up the trays, the plants wouldn't have got waterlogged because the pots were so much higher. I think the thing it, they need plenty of water when they start flowering through to when they finish fruiting, but they don't like being waterlogged.I did the same with redcurrants, they did OK, so did ornamentals like box, lonicera nitida, passion flower, penstemon, and fruit rasps and loganberries.I net them off to stop sawfly, or if really efficient squish them by finger daily, but use debris netting usually. its fine meshed and cheap. Also have done spray with one dot of washing up liquid and rest cheap veg oil, just half a litre, works well when you discover a real nasty infestation suddenly.Hope this helps.Jenny
You need to put some sand/grit into the bought compost, roughly 50/50. My soil here is quite sandy, that's why I use it, but if your's isn't you need to add it.50/50 seems like a lot, but it's essential I reckon.