I’m debating ripping mine out. I’ll see how I feel next summer.
4 Likes
If there’s a section of your area that wasps like, plant them by that. I’ve seen the wasps carry the worms and since they made a home on my house, my gooseberries are able to grow.
I finally had some this year and i may keep them but i feel you on how terrible it looks and having to deal with the nasty worms. I planted them in front of my house hoping they could look pretty and be edible…
The look of skeletal plants is not nice 
I’m going to move them after i pick everything.
Someone suggested using a systemic after the flowers are done and that’s what i may try next year because the worms are driving me crazy.
4 Likes
I just tried some ripe Poorman for the first time. First time I tried one, I don’t think it was ripe and it reminded me of kiwi.
This time they fell off when I touched them which surprised me, because I had assumed they would be all pink/reddish when ripe, but I still saw some green.
This time they reminded me of a sweeter less tart version of a kiwi.
They are not bad but to be honest, I don’t think I will get more gooseberry plants. Well, maybe I should wait to see what I think of Black Velvet before saying that…
But after eating good raspberries, strawberries and blackberries, I would not choose a Poorman gooseberry over any of those.
Poorman is the only gooseberry fruit I have tried so far.
3 Likes
Well, Missouri is taking its toll on the ribes plants in my garden. 2 Jeanne plants have croaked (3rd year plants), one Jeanne looks like it’s on death’s door, Poorman (4th year plant) looks like death warmed over, and Jostaberry (3rd year plant) died too. It’s been hot and humid here lately. The short terraces where the ribes are at are mulched heavily with wood chips and have sufficient moisture. Captivator is the only cultivar that seems to be able to take the summers around here.
5 Likes
I tried gooseberries from a farmers market for the first time. The green ones tasted very much like a kiwi and green grape. The red ones tasted somewhat like a sour red grape. Neither has any bothersome seeds or astringency, and we plucked off the hairs.
The cashier looked up that the gooseberries were either hinnomaki red, Invicta, or tixia. There was also a smaller red variety available so I believe the ones I tasted were tixia for the read and Invicta for the green, though the red could have been hinnomaki red. If someone can help me distinguish them, I’d appreciate it . If you know if hinnomaki red or tixia is large or small, that would be helpful.
I’m curious what the other gooseberries that are different colors taste like. I plan to grow many different varieties not because they’re extremely delicious, but because they taste good and can grow without full sun I hear. Hopefully they’ll be easier to grow than grapes!
Edit: I asked the farm and they told me the red one I ate was tixia. “The Red Currant variety is Rovada and the White Currant variety is Blanka. The green gooseberry variety is Invicta. The larger red gooseberry variety is Tixia and the smaller red gooseberry variety is Hinnomaki Red.”
9 Likes
I heard neem oil can keep a whole lot of different things away, along with some other “natural” oil type repellents and insecticides. Hadn’t had too much trouble with bugs in my gooseberries, only things I had severe problems with were cabbage maggots in my bok choi and some of my sugar beets 
Also some kind of odd caterpillar type things on my columbine plants.
2 Likes
I did the same with many of time, gotta get the nice strong ones. But then I’m quickly beginning to realize these things REALLY like to explode with growth once established xD My invicta are still fairly slow growing though. Got two brand new hinomaki red plants next to the strawberry patch too.
1 Like
7b?
I’m gonna recommend Pixwell and Glendale, and plant them in shade or at least a site where they aren’t submitted to baking afternoon sun.
Better varieties are not gonna like your heat, especially if in a full-sun site.
4 Likes
I agree with @Lucky_P pixwell has a nice flavor.
I planted a bit of a variety between my place and my mom’s.
Glendale and poorman are doing great at mine, I killed a hinn yellow and colossal. I also have a “not black velvet” unknown one. It’s thornless so not sure what variety it is.
At my mom’s I got black velvet, hinn yellow, hinn red, pixwell (took over a 12 ft flower bed 2nd season, but animals got all the berries) I may or may not have an Oregon champion. I forget which spot I planted it in of the 2 and one of the hinn red didn’t come out of dormancy.
Also waiting to see if invitica survived its 1st year in the spring.
Also have a josata planted too.
Only gotten stuff from Glendale and my unknown one. Unknown one wasn’t good so giving it 1 more year, Glendale is good and makes a really interesting jam that would be great on a charcuterie board.
do you guys find jostaberry better than gooseberries? or worse? I was considering getting one cause no thorns but idk how the flavor is
1 Like
I just planted it this spring. So gonna be awhile. From reading lots of other posts, people either like it or hate it. The gooseberry thorns don’t really cause me an issue as long as you’re careful for the most part since they are big and not tiny like some brambles
1 Like
The generic sounding “Black Jostaberry” doesn’t seem to get good reviews for taste. I’ve never grown it though. ORUS8 tastes OK (I haven’t gotten to try that many berries off it, it tasted like a moderately tart gooseberry with some black currant flavor sans the funk), but is extremely not thornless. The berries are also on the small side.
Jeanne and Captivator are “nearly thornless” with good flavor and disease resistance. Worth considering
2 Likes
Ill look into it. If you have time to give any thoughts on my apple plan let me know!
It seems most gooseberry pie recipes call for green fruit. I can vouch that they’re quite tasty. Very rich, almost cherry like. I’ve never tried one made with ripe fruit, but would like to sometime. I imagine it would be juicier, the fruit less firm. Green fruit for pie is one good use for ‘Pixwell’, which I always found kind of mealy and bland ripe.
1 Like
I’ve always had luck knocking them back with a little neem and dr bronner’s at the first sight of damage.
1 Like
I like my jostaberries, although I like gooseberries better for their unique flavors. My jostaberries are also more productive than my gooseberries. I must have the ‘generic black jostaberry’ with no thorns. The flavor is kind of generic sweet-sour berry with a little black currant, but there is a big difference in flavor between just turned from red to purple and hanging on the bush until they turn darker almost black. When they are just turned purple they have more acid and a more interesting, sprightly flavor. When they are black they have a muted sweet flavor and are softer.
2 Likes
Our gooseberry pies are made with a mix of ripe and underripe fruits from our several varieties. Using only underripe green gooseberries makes an intense sweet-sour pie that most people expect. Having ripe berries mixed in makes a more interesting, fruity, rounded flavored pie. It’s also easier to pick bushes when I don’t have to wait for each berry to ripen perfectly: I know that the underripe gooseberries I get will be bringing the sour.
6 Likes
That sums up my experience using mostly green berries versus some ripe ones. I like sour stuff, but I prefer the latter myself for gooseberry pie. It’s not something I have ever had outside the pies I made though, so I didn’t have any expectations as to what a “proper gooseberry pie” should be other than “pie that tastes like gooseberries.” 
2 Likes