Green gooseberries are a common type of berry from the large family of Ribes. My first encounter with them was when I was a child in Washington state visiting a friend of the family. He had long rows of gooseberry plants along with blackberries and raspberries growing in his backyard. The gooseberries were so beautiful in the sunlight as the light passed through their translucent skin. I must have happened to visit just as they were ripe as I remember the flavor to be be tart but sweet. Years later, one of my daughters bought me my own gooseberry plant. Since I live in the hot and humid climate of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, growing the gooseberries was a little harder. However, I have found a spot where it receives about 6 hours of sunlight per day and some shade during the hot afternoon hours.
Now, since I know that I can root my red currant bushes pretty simply, I found with a little research that gooseberry bushes are also easy to propagate with cuttings.
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| Gooseberry Bush |
First you are going to need a plant pot filled with equal parts of dampened coconut coir and vermiculite or something similar. Press the mixture firmly into the pot with the heel of your palm. Poke a hole into the firmed mixture with a wooden dowel or pencil or screwdriver. The depth of the hole should be enough to leave just one leaf node showing after planting.
Now take your cutting and inspect it after rinsing it. The bottom angled cut should be green and not dried out. Scrape a little section of bark from about an inch or two from the bottom on one side of the cutting. Dip the cutting immediately into some rooting hormone and then into the prepared pot. Repeat for other cuttings. An 8-inch pot can hold 6-8 cuttings. Press the soil firmly around the cuttings to make sure the cutting has good contact with the damp rooting mixture. Water lightly.
Place a cover like a plastic bag or a glass jar or cloche over the cuttings to hold moisture around the stems.
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| Fancy Plant Cloche |
And now comes the hard part - waiting. You will feel like an eternity has passed before you see a little root coming out from the bottom of the pot. Make sure that you check the cutting at least once a week to open the cover and let fresh air in. You can also check the moisture of the soil and add a little water if you think it feels dry.
I keep my cuttings out of direct sunlight in a unheated greenhouse over the winter.
Expect the gooseberry bush cuttings to take 3-4 months to root.
Once you see the roots emerging from the bottom of the plant pot, carefully repot each rooted cutting into its own pot and water. Keep the cutting covered until you see leaves forming. Once the rooted cutting has formed leaves, you can move it outside to a permanent setting either in a large pot or in the ground.
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| Plant outside in permanent position |
That is how you grow green gooseberries from cuttings. Once your bush has grown over a couple of years, you can repeat the process and multiply your harvest simply with cuttings.
You can make a tart gooseberry jam with any berries left over from eating fresh. I like combining raspberries with gooseberries to make a beautiful and tasty jam.
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| Gooseberry jam |
If you need to find a source for fresh cuttings, you can check out my Etsy shop, here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/wildflowerrun, or scan here:
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| WildflowerRun |
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