It’s funny how poorman is supposed to be the best tasting gooseberry, and it’s at the bottom of your list.
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Quick review of the ones I have growing in Southern Vermont. They are currently ripe but not overripe in mid-July in Zone 5:
Hinnomaki Red: Compact bush, loaded with fruit, delicious with crisp texture. Probably my favorite overall.
Black Velvet: Nice complex flavors, really good flavor (more floral than HR), good texture. Second best right now, but might be best once fully ripe.
Pixwell: Productive, pleasant when almost ripe but blah and mealy once it gets fully ripe. OK, but not recommended for flavor. I’ll probably pull it and replace.
Captivator: Basically a slightly better Pixwell. Mild, somewhat mealy, but I suppose it could be what someone out there is looking for.
Jeanne: I recall it being tasty other years, but essentially no crop this year. Not sure why.
Orus 8 (Gooseberry x Black Currant): Young with no fruit yet. Badly infected with blister rust. Probably will treat with fungicide and give it another year, but can’t recommend it at this point. Probably will replace.
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This is my first year having gooseberries. Unfortunately as they began to ripen they were nearly entirely picked off by wildlife, seemingly overnight. I tried the few that remained but am unsure if they were fully ripe - I based my picking them off of their firmness, or lack there of. The variety was black velvet. They had a very citrus-like / astringency. I thought this variety was supposed to be very, so perhaps they were still not ripe enough?
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If they taste bad it’s usually a sign that they are not ripe yet.
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Early in Spring 2021 I planted several individuals of the following gooseberries…I think 13 in all):
Ribes uva-crispa ‘Oregon’ (syn. Ribes nigrum ‘Oregon Champ’)
and
Ribes uva-crispa ‘Hinnomaki Red’
I did this for several reasons. The low hedge of drift roses succumbed to a three year battle with rose rosette disease. I was originally put at the edge of a 1.5 foot retaining wall next to the sidewalk as crowd/animal control. It worked REALLY well until they succumbed. As I like to have multiple functions from the plants I add, I looked for alternatives. I needed something thorny. Pollinator use and maybe fruit were pluses. So, I eventually narrowed it down to gooseberries. They didn’t do much last year but the growth spurt this year has been great. The ‘Hinnomaki Red’ flowered and fruited this year. I had planted the two varieties in alternating fashion given the yard border and thought towards pollination. Given the way fruit set on plants, it may be that I got some ‘Hinnomaki Red’ that was mislabeled from the nursery. It’s hard to tell though since they both turn purple. Anyway, about half the plants did not fruit. I’m wondering if ‘Oregon’ needs some extra time.
Anyway, I’m about to use landscape staples and staple down some longer branches in hopes of getting them to take root and fill the border into a hedge of sorts.
As crowd control gooseberries seem to be working but it’s not as well established as the roses they replaced. Another year or two ought to help with the evaluation. I’ll call that a +1 thus far.
The pollinator activity was brisk while in flower. +1
The fruit set (for those branches that did set fruit) was heavy. +1
These plants are in the hottest portion of the yard during summer. It also is the western most edge of the lot which also means it bears the brunt of all inclement weather. So far, the experiment seems to be panning out.
I may want to add a couple more gooseberry varieties given some of the posts here. But I’m also on the hunt for things to grow in containers. I’ll be trying a few columnar apples but want to also see what else is around and how people have fared.
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I have liked all of my gooseberries better than any of my currants for ‘fresh eating’…but I’ve yet to land a gooseberry recipe that impresses me.
Hinnomaki Red is definitely a great one, but it’s like a Concord grape, sweet inside until you chew on the slip-skin, which is rather acidic.
Amish Red is a fine one. Jeanne is fine. Poorman is stingy, but the taste is fine.
And Pixwell is good as well…but perhaps not quite up to the others.
None of the green/white one have impressed me.
My seedlings of Pixwell…I’m going to get to try some in a few days. Everything else has ripened, so a third leaf seedling is going to have a good first fruiting…and be as late as it’s parent (probably self pollinated seedlings).
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Okay, you’ve got me. I thought I had all the varieties I’d need, but those are huge. Where are they available?
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I just wish I could successfully grow them here.
I’ve never seen, held, or tasted one.
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I got my from Whitman’s Nursery. But I think someone said she stopped selling it. Im happy to send you cuttings in the fall.
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id be interested for sure. that was on my short list. i think she said it was a mildew magnet. ive not had problem with it here, but i suppose all of my varieties are American type hybrids with some resistance?
Ive had bad luck rooting gooseberries. i usually layer them. I wound up with a bunch of gooseberry cuttings from GRIN some years back. They all died, or nearly so, even the ones i grafted thinking to grow them out enough to get them on their own roots. Ive tried a couple of other times too. Anyone else have better luck?
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I’ve had the best luck rooting cuttings by sticking them in the ground just before it freezes or really early in the spring right after it thaws. Otherwise they just leaf out right away.
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I havent tried them in ground much. Might be worth another try. In doing layers, I have noticed that different varieties vary widely in how readily they root.
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It’s been a slow grower and is a smallish plant compared to other gooseberries I’ve grown, but not disease issues I’ve seen in the four or five years I’ve had it.
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That’s the only way I’ve had any success. I tried in pots and indoors but they all died. The thicker cuttings seemed better but my sample size was small.
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This thread is making me want to try gooseberries again. I absolutely love them, but last time I tried to grow one it got completely defoliated by some kind of tiny green worm. I spent hours picking them off just one bush, multiple years in a row, but it was a losing battle. Have moved since then so maybe they won’t show up where I live now.
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Probably sawfly. They can certainly do that and unfortunately quickly. Supposedly John’s prairie and Jeanne are a bit more resistant to them. In addition, while the flavor is somewhat different, Crandall currant is much more similar to gooseberries than actual currants in terms of fruit and are delicious and absolutely care free. I’ve never had any sort of insect problem with them.
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we used to have sawfly bad some years. they can do a lot of damage before you notice anything. they are easily dealt with IME by spraying with a mixture of Neem and insecticidal soap (i generally use castille). once maybe twice should do it, but you have to hit them early before they make much headway. I probably shoukdnt say this but i haven’t seen them in years. IME they prefer certain gooseberries to others, and all gooseberries to other Ribes
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Hello
May i purchase Langley Gage gooseberry cuttings from you for spring 2024? I am in Danby, VT.
Thank you,
Joanna
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now I have a red, a pink and a green variety that are all ok, can’t recall names. but as a kid my aunt grew a nearly white colored one, very very pale green. they were sugar bombs, middle sized. I don’t know what kind they were but I’ve been looking for em or similar ever since I got this garden spot at the house.
the pink ones here were one of the first things I planted ten years ago and they’re the nicest I get. small end size but really flavored, and the birds ignore them.
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