Jostaberry

[KittyKatt]

Has anyone grown jostaberries? If so, please could you give me advice on planting - are they very fussy regarding soil? Would they cope with a fairly exposed site? Are they fairly amenable plants, or do they attract all the pests and diseases? Would one plant be OK, or does it need a "friend" for pollination? I'm growing red and black currants on the allotment already, and they seem to be OK, but I really fancy something a bit different. Finally, I know taste is subjective, but do they taste as good as they look? Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

[KittyKatt]

[jennym]

Yes I have jostaberries - they aren't fussy about soil and will probably cope reasonably well on an exposed site. A mulch of well rotted manure in early spring, they like nitrogen for the stem growth. When planting allow a six foot diameter circle for each plant.
Mine seems fairly tough and does not see to get the pests and diseases that blackcurrant and gooseberry get. Don't seem to need pollination partners. although any plant will do better when there is more than one.
Don't buy two, as they grow from cuttings quite easily, so you can increase your stock with your prunings.  Just make a slit in the soil and push the prunings in hard and leave them for a year, they root well.
I prune in an in-between blackcurrant & gooseberry fashion, i.e. I cut out just a quarter of the oldest stems to ground level in winter, each year, and also reduce tips of some other remaining stems by about a quarter in summer after fruiting to make the plant produce some spurs, but they do seem to bear fruit on newish stems too. This seems to work, as they bear a lot of fruit.
Jostaberries taste good, more like a blackcurrant than a gooseberry, slightly milder than a blackcurrant. The fruit looks like a very large pale blackcurrant. I don't know of any specific named varieties.

[real food]

I have attached this item from my forthcoming web site on the berry.
JOSTABERRY
This berry is well worth growing as the flavour is intermediate to Blackcurrant and Gooseberry. However, it is a big plant and requires a lot of space. Even with pruning, allow a 1.5 m x 1.5 m by 2 m high space. It is a true hybrid being a blackcurrant / gooseberry / ribes divericatum cross, bred by the Max Plank Institute in Cologne, and released to the Public in 1977. It is spineless and the leaves have no scent. As it flowers early, it can suffer frost damage in frost prone locations, though personally I have never seen frost damage. Its great advantage is that it is resistant to American Gooseberry Mildew, gall mite, blackcurrant leaf spot, and the White Pine Blister Ant. The fruits are the size of a large Blackcurrant, and are high in vitamin C.
I found that it took about 3 years to get into its stride for fruiting. Makes very good jelly and icecream. Remember to net against the birds, if they already go for your Blackcurrants. One plant is enough, and it is self-fertile, just like Blackcurrants and Gooseberries.

[saddad]

They aren't kidding, they get huge about 8' in all directions, I've never had a cutting not take....
I posted four to people last weekend KittyKatt..... gets a bit expensive on the old P+P...
;D

[KittyKatt]

thank you all for your help. I'll definitely put it on my list of things to grow.
KK

[Mrs Ava]

Yup, they do grow into huge bushes, but are well worth it for the flavour.  Tough as old boots, mine grow in the dappled shade of our apple trees and I still have enough fruit to leave some for the birds.