Lidl Fruit Bushes Advice please!

Furny

I got seduced in Lidl today by the small 4 for £5 fruit bushes i got, blackcurrant,blackberry,raspberry & redcurrant
The instructions are quite limited.
Will theese be fine in multi purpose compost? (i know blueberrys don't like it so didn't get them)
I'm going to plant them in pots will theese be ok to got outside now?
What kind of feed is needed (potash?)
Thanks so much.

matt987106

funny enough, i purchased some today aswell

i read it ( i only glanced at the sign ) 5 for £4, so i got 6 ( and decided to pay the extra 1.49 )

when it was paying time, of course i had read it wrong, so for a extra 2 quid i got 2 more

so i now have 8 fruit bushes

i plan to put them up the allotment , i might make a fence of pallets and they can be trained up them

Ives

Blackcurrants and redcurrants will be fine in mutipurpose compost in large pots. Bushes look after themselves and just need a mulch of compost in spring. It might be a year or 2 before you get much fruit off as they dont fruit on new growth (water well in dry weather). Raspberries and blackberries are climbers and need to be against a wall, fence or wires. Raspberries have shallow roots and like to spread so would be better in the ground with manure dug in - again it takes a few years to get anything off them, but it is worth it. My 2 redcurrant bushes (4 years old) provided me regular redcurrant and banana smooothies for 6 months. (pick and keep in the freezer in small bags). Best of luck.

Furny

MATT-Nice to know someone else couldn't resist them too.I bet they will be fab on your allotment, pallet idea sounds good!.

IVES- Thanks so much all your advice was so helpful & has made me think where to position them on the decking/patio now i know two are climbers, i hadn't given that much thought.
I also now know what to expect from them which is great or i would of probably panicked.
Hope the rasbberry will be ok in the pot (from what you said) all i can do is give it a go i suppose!.
I really do appreciate all the help so far, i bought them then panicked a bit.
I don't suppose i'll be the only one!ha!

RAS

Furny

Raspberries are not climbers - do you know if they are summer or autumn fruiting? Does it give you a variety?

Blackberries and some of the rasp/blackberry crosses like tayberry and loganberry are climbers.

All of them are cane fruits and fruit on the wood that grew the previous year.

Furny

RAS-The Raspberry is Malling Promise looked it up it says summer fruiting, if that helps.
Thanks for any advice.
Also does anyone know roughly what size containers are needed? thanks.

drayhaw666

i bought a couple of gooseberry ones last year. i bought the ones that had greenshoots already on them. they are extremely healthy looking in my garden at the moment so a good buy. gonna buy some more on saturday. b&q have the same but they are expensive. the ones from wilkinsons i bought last year died so i am staying away from them!

Ives

The raspberries will grow vertically up to 6ft high, they are not bushes. Therefore some kind of support system is needed. The roots spread sideways sending up new new canes every year, so a space of 4 square ft is needed (a pot this size will do for a few years, but best to plant in ground then to get a good patch) The bushes need pots of about 2ft in diameter to flourish. All the best with the blackberry - they get everywhere!

matt987106

as they have green shoot, i guess its not wise to put them out in this cold temps ( with frost )

does any1 know how often to water them in the bag they are in ? ? ? ?

Farway

matt987106 wrote: »

as they have green shoot, i guess its not wise to put them out in this cold temps ( with frost )
/QUOTE]

I don't know where you live, but my goosegogs, outside for over two years, and have green shoots showing at present, and we have sharp frosts at night for last few nights [Hampshire] but no problems, same with my rhubarb

The forecast for next week is mild, so i would bung them in ASAP and should a blizzard turn up then use newspaper & bin liner to protect until thawed out again