I will consider aurora when I decided to grow more. I have two un-name plants which one had lots of flowers and one had a handful this past season. But both didn’t not have a lot of fruits. This may be pollination problem.
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aurora is partially self fertile. its one of the few cultivars that is but of course will produce bigger berries and more of them with another early pollinator. i like the earler producing honeyberries as they are my 1st fruit in the summer and get done as the strawberries start ripening. i think thats why the birds dont touch them. they ripen when there isnt any native berries to be had so the birds dont know what they are.
I got a couple dormant sticks of gooseberry to root in April…but had quite a bit better results using black currants.
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The gooseberries and currants I just poked cuttings into the ground in October or so all did great and are now nice bushes transplanted into my orchard. The honeyberry cuttings in water indoors got 1/16 inch roots, then all fizzled. The honeyberry cuttings put in the ground in late fall also did nothing. Stool bed would be my next choice, but I don’t really need any more bushes. Another way I have had some success is bending an attached branch to the bare ground and putting a rock on it about a foot from the end. Maybe scratch the bark a little at that point. Just protect it from rabbits and deer.
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October cuttings.
So, unheated, outdoor, cuttings of currants and gooseberries make it and grow next spring? Or, are you talking about in a greenhouse or grow room?
ive just stuck them where you want them before ground freezes, bury with mulch so only 1 bud shows and they usually root and grow come spring
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I didn’t even bury them with mulch, just buried 6- to 8-inch sticks upright about thee-quarters into the ground. The currants and gooseberries nearly all grew. No success with the honeyberries, but it was a different year, so maybe weather was a factor.
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honeyberries are harder to root. better to bury a branch. i put down mulch so frost doesnt heave them up. not necessary but i find it works. keeps weeds from moving in also while the plant is establishing itself.
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An update: I did root the Ribes in Dec and most rooted and are doing fine now in containers. I plan to overwinter them in containers in ground.
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I’ve never had much success
rooting the Crandall Black currants.
The one with yellow
trumpet-shaped flowers.
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me neither. crandalls are harder. best to bury a branch in the fall and dig in the spring
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When you talk of burying a branch, do you mean still connected to the bush, or cut off with much of it in the ground?
I find it very interesting that you (in zone 4) have had issues with cuttings put in the ground in late fall. I am in zone 6 and have had no issues at all rooting cuttings that way.
I haven’t tried to root them, but my crandall seems to sucker a fair bit. I’ve dug up one to give away and have 3 or so more coming up. I’m sure they don’t have much root, but I’ll probably separate some out this Spring before bud break to see if they’ll survive. None of my other currants sucker.
leave it attached until it puts down roots. i put a rock on it to weigh it down. usually if done in early fall it will have rooted by spring. if not leave it till the following fall.
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Gooseberries tend to tip layer or tiproot easily and that’s how I’ve done them. Bury tip in pot and forget about it for a while.
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