Planting fruit bushes

[carlby]

Hi
I bought some Aldi fruit bushes (raspberry, gooseberry, blackberry, blubbery, gojiberry) last year.  I replanted them into bigger pots and left them in my back garden.

I now want to plant them at my allotment.  The thing is I will only have one growing season there as we are moving house this year.

Can anyone advise me please?  I was thinking of putting them in bigger pots again and then planting these into the soil, and then digging them up at the end of the growing season. 

I am a complete novice.  Does this sound like a good idea?

Also I have done nothing to them, and they just have spindly looking stalks.  Mostly they look a bit dead.  How do I know if they are still alo=ive or not.  Will I have to prune them if alive?

Thanks.

[carlby]

[Ninnyscrops.]

Well firstly, the old thumbnail test down a tiny bit of the spindly looking stalks, nearer the bottom than the top to see if there is any live green showing underneath.

Personally, I would repot rather than plant on your plot as you are on the move but don't let them dry out at all.

It's not too late to give them a prune back to any healthy looking buds and you can sink the prunings into pots too, two thirds down too.

Good luck

Ninnys

[carlby]

Thanks very much. 

[goodlife]

All those plants that you mentioned drop leaves for winter and look like 'dead twiggs'..so I would not worry.
But as mentioned before..it would be best to repot if the plants have managed to fill the current pots with roots already.
Blueberrey and gojiberry are quite slow growers, so I would not show secateurs for those..blueberry particularly is not too keen with unnessary chopping.
As they are so young plants ..I'm sure you get away without needing to do any pruning for now.. ;)

[carlby]

I just saw that reply, thanks!  I still haven't got around to doing anything with them so if i didn't have to prune that would be great!

[Russell]

I know little about blueberries or gojiberries, but in the last two winters I have moved around quite a few raspberries, gooseberries, and blackberries. None of them really like being dug up unnecessarily, but an enthusiastic raspberry is not easily put off and you may find there is an increase in population. The gooseberry is the easiest to plant and dig up but it will sulk. With the blackberry it pays to go to some trouble to try and get the deep roots but it will still sulk for longer than the gooseberry. I'm assuming here that you plant them out not keep them in pots where they will not grow much.

[Jeannine]

Your blueberry doesn't need pruning till at least age three but it does need acid soil and acid fertilser, it will not do well in regular soil XX Jeannine

[chriscross1966]

One thought on the subject that has served me moderately well in the past.... I've always put perennial plants in big (16") pots for their first year... I've got some big trays so watering isn't an issue and it lets me get them started so that what I plant out are proper plants and I'll not have gaps cos I will have killed the weaklings.... As a result my fruit bed has no gaps at home and has rather better spacing than it would have if the three plants that didn't make it through their first year had gone in as well.... the current batch will be going out on the plot.... YOu don't have to keep them a year in the pots, once they up and looking decent (and you can see some roots) they can go out.....