Allotments 4 All

My gooseberries were planted between 2007 and 2010.  I have never had good yields and this year some bushes have 0-2 bushes.
A) I have been poor with weeding around them
B) I have only fed them once with turbo booster
C) Some have been attacked by sawfly (one was killed by it).

My white currant from 2006 is fine and looks like having an ok crop, any ideas?

Give us some clues Davholla.
Where are you located? What's your soil like? What's Turbo booster?

A you have been poor with weeding.  Suggest weeding and mulching
B only fed once, suggest feeding again
C Saw fly!!!  There has been a recommendation on here about putting rhubarb leaves under the gooseberries and for me this has been so far so good.  Though others on site have been hit.  It does also act as a mulch.

So far I am hoping for my first good crop with four year old bushes.  Seems to me you have answered your own question already. 

They fruit on second year wood so do not like much pruning.  Were they good varieties in the first place.  Though having said that my lidl one is doing very well.

Quote from: Digeroo on May 18, 2014, 19:42:08
A you have been poor with weeding.  Suggest weeding and mulching
B only fed once, suggest feeding again
C Saw fly!!!  There has been a recommendation on here about putting rhubarb leaves under the gooseberries and for me this has been so far so good.  Though others on site have been hit.  It does also act as a mulch.

So far I am hoping for my first good crop with four year old bushes.  Seems to me you have answered your own question already. 

They fruit on second year wood so do not like much pruning.  Were they good varieties in the first place.  Though having said that my lidl one is doing very well.

Sorry I meant turbo fruiter.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B4T09J8/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have to say that the worst bushes are not the worst for weeds, however I will weed and feed more next week.

I have 3  invicta, four years old and full of fruit. Each year I pruned so that they are on legs and I pruned a bit back on the new growth. This year they are very full of branches so I will have to do more drastic pruning this winter ie cut the middle out more, to retain the open goblet shape. I only feed them with a bit of comfrey bocking 14, nothing else. I have added 5 more plants hinnonmaki red, I bought 2 plants but they were bunched together in pots, so I now have 5 good 1 year old plants. It could be the lack of bees where you live, there are hardly any bumble bees around at the moment. The bushes stand on open soil, no weeds and all have a clear distance from branches to the ground. Fruit is dripping off them and I will net this week

Could frost during flowering be the culprit?

Is it a bad year for gooseberries? I had over four pounds from my one bush last year, but this year I can count the fruit on one hand! Foliage is very healthy looking.

Tricia

I moved my bush this winter, as the plot was halved. I must say that it has thrived and is covered in fruit! No sawfly for now, it is next to the rhubarb!!! It had a load of manure over winter and was well pruned to leave only three rising branches as at term I want to tie it to stakes.
Maybe feed it? but I would say that now it is too late to hope for more fruit this year.

Quote from: galina on May 19, 2014, 08:59:44
Could frost during flowering be the culprit?

I doubt it my jostaberry and white currant look fine.  I will have to put canes to support my white currant in a few weeks.

Quote from: antipodes on May 19, 2014, 09:57:59
I moved my bush this winter, as the plot was halved. I must say that it has thrived and is covered in fruit! No sawfly for now, it is next to the rhubarb!!! It had a load of manure over winter and was well pruned to leave only three rising branches as at term I want to tie it to stakes.
Maybe feed it? but I would say that now it is too late to hope for more fruit this year.

Feed it with what?  Wilkinsons have chicken manure.

To be honest  I don't know what to advise: I have bought a gooseberry and I have another that was a 'present' from nature, presumably arrived in a bird dropping - all I had to do was recognise what the tiny seedling was and transplant it.  The unnamed freebie has far higher yields than the named purchased plant.  I don't know how to make the bought plant perform like the freebie. 

"Feed it"
For feeding I only use shop bought granules, suitable for organic growing, usually they are made from stuff like seaweed, bird poo and other yummy stuff. I use this as I dont have access to other material, but i do manure over winter and the fruit all gets a heavy application of that.

I think the yield does depend on the variety. I have two different types of rhubarb and the type of stem (so the yield) is completely different. Some goosegogs have heavier crops than others. I have a red one which does quite well.