This seems to be the thread about growing gooseberries in regions with hot and humid summers, so I thought I’d post an update about my planting in 6b Kentucky.
On the whole, they’re doing well. The week before last we had unseasonably hot weather—temps in the upper 80s and lower 90s—but they displayed no signs of stress whatever. This despite a full-sun planting and southern exposure. Again, deep planting (or, in my case, deep berming or hilling) combined with heavy mulch seems to help them cope. Also, irrigation when it’s dry (as it has been).
Here’s some of my planting:
The big bruiser in the foreground is Jeanne. Some report it as being smallish, but in my climate and soil it is vigorous and has a tendency to sprawl—about 5’ at present. It is the most vigorous grower of the lot, and has put out numerous large renewal canes. As reported, thorns are sparse, except on new growth—and then they seem softer than on other cultivars. It has the largest, deepest green leaves of all the cultivars I am trialing and, as reported above, showed amazing resistance to foliar diseases in its first season. It also has set numerous fruit this year.
As @steveb4 has previously reported, Jeanne seems to want to fruit so heavily, even at a young age, that canes end up on the ground (note my makeshift efforts to keep them off the mulch; will install wires next year).
Second most vigorous gooseberry (at right) is Red George (aka Grigory #2). Plenty of nice renewal canes and a heavy fruit set. Thus far, it has the biggest goosberries of the lot.
Hinnomaki Red (middle, back row) is also loaded. As often reported by other growers, it is a smaller, lower vigor plant, but it seems to want to make up for that with fruit:
Many of H. Red’s outer canes also need help keeping off the ground.
Black Velvet (last, back row), which I’ve heard takes some years to really pick up steam, set some sparse and mostly small fruit. It is growing apace this year, though, sending up its first really beefy renewal canes.
Friend (Grigory #1) continued to lack vigor (no renewal canes whatsoever) and dropped all of its fruit. The plant may have been a sickly specimen, so I removed it and replaced it with a Jeanne I propagated from my original bush. I did, however, keep a tip layer of Friend that seems more vigorous than the original mother plant. I am growing it out, and will plant it this fall in an area with afternoon shade, (along with my other new acquitision, Invicta).
Not fruiting in my full sun planting are a new one, Amish Red, and my Hinnomaki Yellow. Hinnomaki yellow was chewed almost to the ground by rabbits over the winter. It is finally coming back, but—as reported by others----it seems to be low vigor with an ultra-dwarf in habit:
No signs of leaf spot yet this year, but it’s been dry. I did spray with copper twice during the beginning of the season, starting at bud break, as a preventive. (Edit: I also make sure to clean up fallen gooseberry leaves in the fall and reapply mulch to cover any surviving innoculum I missed.) I also started a weekly program of potassium bicarbonate (MilStop) + Bacillus amyloliquefaciens earlier in the spring, but stopped it when I found that the gooseberries showed varying levels of sensitivity to the MilStop. Whether it was the potassium bicarb itself or the spreader sticker used in the product, I don’t know, but it caused some leaf discoloration, burning and drop—especially in the two Finnish cultivars. I still occasionally spray B. amyloliquefaciens + kelp extract, and will probably step it up during periods of wet weather.
That’s about it. Now I watch and wait for ripening—which should be coming up later this month (think I see a little blush on a Hinno Red!).
I will add that gooseberries are extremely easy to propagate by tip layer (started spring/summer, then separated from the mother plant the following late winter/early spring).
In that regard, they’re almost as dangerous as figs!