Am I too late for raspberry and gooseberry..??

Chimera

My plants from wilkos are well and truly dead. Am I too late to get fruit this year if I buy a plant, if so what am I looking for?

mrbadexample

You might struggle with gooseberries. My bushes are still young at a couple of years old, and this is the first year I expect a decent crop. If I can fight the sawfly off, that is.

Yours showing no signs of life at all? Both of mine are showing plenty of flowers. I've seen bees visiting regularly over the last few days.

Chimera

no sign of life at all, just sticks in the ground - very sad!!

mrbadexample

Chimera wrote: »

no sign of life at all, just sticks in the ground - very sad!!

Well, might as well get one started for future years then. I can't imagine how you killed it - they seem as tough as old boots to me!

noapron

I hope it's not too late to plant raspberry canes because I'm still waiting for my order from Thompson and Morgan. I don't expect much fruit this year but I hope to get them successfully established.

Chimera

mrbadexample wrote: »

Well, might as well get one started for future years then. I can't imagine how you killed it - they seem as tough as old boots to me!

Yep, everything else is flourishing in garden.. think I may have picked up duds from wilko.. off the nursery tomorrow so will have a look see

sazzy6

I hope you haven't dug them up! I thought one of my rasp canes (that I transplanted last spring) was never going to do anything and it did. It wasn't the cane sticking out the ground that grew it was a shoot off the root. Leave them alone (if you're not short on space) and plant more if you can-you might be surprised on both fronts!

Chimera

sazzy6 wrote: »

I hope you haven't dug them up! I thought one of my rasp canes (that I transplanted last spring) was never going to do anything and it did. It wasn't the cane sticking out the ground that grew it was a shoot off the root. Leave them alone (if you're not short on space) and plant more if you can-you might be surprised on both fronts!

Have chucked the raspberry I'm afraid..

I'm hoping tomorrow I can get a healthy specimen - the nursery I go to are really friendly and produce is good - and the bonus is that I sell some crafts in there so can use the money to swap out for plants - love it as it allows me to justify spends on plants that I wouldn't usually get..

WestonDave

I'd second leaving the raspberry - sometimes they don't take but often they can be a bit slow getting going when first planted especially the small plants that Wilko's sell. If you go to a nursery expect to be buying 4 or 5 raspberry canes in one pot - they don't do singles - and normally the price for 4 makes the Wilko's ones look less cheap per cane.

Even with a big nursery plant you'd be lucky to get fruit first year - the Wilko's little ones probably need at least one year if not two to get going. I've got a number of their currant bushes which are about to fruit for the first time in year 3!

Chimera

WestonDave wrote: »

I'd second leaving the raspberry - sometimes they don't take but often they can be a bit slow getting going when first planted especially the small plants that Wilko's sell. If you go to a nursery expect to be buying 4 or 5 raspberry canes in one pot - they don't do singles - and normally the price for 4 makes the Wilko's ones look less cheap per cane.

Even with a big nursery plant you'd be lucky to get fruit first year - the Wilko's little ones probably need at least one year if not two to get going. I've got a number of their currant bushes which are about to fruit for the first time in year 3!

Thanks, here's hoping I have better luck with the new ones - at least I know they've been looked after and will grow at some point! I ahve a lovely blueberry plant from them which I got a few weeks ago - it looks really healthy! It's about 3 foot and was £8.99, but compared to anything from wilkos, well, to be honest it doesn't compare!!

Same goes for the Japanese wineberry I got from them..


Thanks for all the advice guys!

A._Badger

Don't be fooled by raspberries that look like they've been grown in pots. They are often just bare rooted stock bundled together in a bit of peat.

Gooseberries (and other bush fruit) will be fine going in now providing you are buying pot grown plants. Buy from a good source and choose your variety carefully. If you can't get pot grown bushes wait till the Autumn and buy bare root plants from a specialist.