cape gooseberries

[Angel2122]

Growing these as annuals for the first time.  Read that itis wise to treat as tomato's - but does this include pinching out of side shoots.  Mine are just flowing - and the striped stems are beautiful - definitely recomment this plant to anyone who hasn't grown it before.  Not sure how much / if any tomato/pineapple flavoured husky berry fruits i should expect tho...

[Angel2122]

[saddad]

Hi, when I grew them I didn't side shoot them... just let them expand...  :)

[Tee Gee]

I grew them for the first time last year and like you I didn' t know what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised!

I more or less left them to their own resources and let them grow naturally,I basically only watered them and fed them when I did my tomatoes!

Last year I grew two plants in 10 inch pots and I must have got around thirty to forty berries off each plant or perhaps more (I didn' t count)

This year I am growing half a dozen plants in the greenhouse border and for the time of the year I would say the plants are bigger than they were at the same time last year.

I didn' t pinch out last year and I have noticed the side shoots are breaking naturally again this year.

I am finding it a very easy subject to grow! In fact I would say it looks after itself!

It is my hope to get sufficient berries to do something constructive with this year rather than just eating them like sweets from the bush as I did last year.

[realfood]

I grew the dwarf ones last year in an old growbag on the bench at the back of the greenhouse and they were so easy and tasty. This year I notice that they have self seeded into the outside borders and I will see if they do a decent crop outside.

[Squashman]

I grow them every year, and so far have not been disapointed. I water daily, feed once a week and leave them alone. Great flavour quite popular.