Jostaberry pruning

[davholla]

Does this need pruning like blackcurrants ?  Or like gooseberries ?

[davholla]

[jennym]

Good question. I have jostaberry in 2 different areas and they behave differently! One seems to have more actual fruiting spurs than the others, on quite old wood, like a gooseberry would have. Others seem more blackcurrant like.
On the whole, jostaberries seem to not mind being right cut back when the stems get leggy, if you just have a look each year and take out the worst leggy stems, this will keep it in check. They do tend to be a bit vigorous after the second or third year! Some here just cut off the stems that get in the way, and they seem to do very well with their fruit.

[davholla]

Thanks for that.  I suppose the good thing is that I can plant the cuttings and have more jostaberries ?

[jennym]

You certainly can! Or you can be lazy, like me and stick a whole bunch (dozens) of jostaberry sticks in a bucket of water in the autumn and forget about them. They sat in that water for at least 4 months through freezing temperatures, and every single one ended up with masses of roots. They are really tough  ;D

[davholla]

Would it not be better to prune them as soon as they have fruited ?

[jennym]

You can prune them anytime really, they are so tough. I was just tidying mine up in the autumn. If you want lots of extra stems, prune early spring. You may get some stems growing if you prune after fruiting too.

[GodfreyRob]

Jostaberries fruit best on previous years wood - this declines after 2 years so cut out 3 year wood after harvesting. Maybe simpler to just cut out oldest 1/3 of the shoots after harvesting.