Once a year, I like to do an in-depth write-up on some of my plants. Usually, I focus on one variety, but this year I’ll be discussing the broader category of gooseberries that I grow. I personally try to cultivate varieties that are dessert quality and enjoyed fresh, eaten out of hand.
Unfortunately, my area was in the heart of the heavy Midwest cicada brood, and the insects significantly damaged many of my gooseberry bushes, killing two outright. Aside from the cicada issue, which sadly affected more than just my gooseberries, I’ve experienced minimal pest pressure overall. However, each bush did sustain some injury and has since been pruned back to its healthy portions.
Below are some general pros and cons, followed by my thoughts on the specific varieties I grow. I’ve been cultivating these bushes for 4–5 years.
Pros:
Gooseberries are exceedingly easy to grow: plop them in the ground, water during the first year, and they’ll mostly take care of themselves after that.
Aside from the cicadas, I haven’t had any pest pressure. SWD doesn’t seem interested in them, or at least not to a noticeable degree. I’ve never found worms in my berries.
Great for fresh eating once ripe, and versatile for baking when unripe.
Highly productive: you can expect 10+ lbs of fruit from most varieties once mature (unless noted below).
They start fruiting in their second season of growth.
Most have good berry retention and stay attached to the plant even when ripe (which could be a pro or con depending on your harvesting preference).
The flavor is good, none of my friends or family have disliked them, which I can’t say for all the fruits I grow. That said, I don’t think they rival a top-tier raspberry, blueberry, or fig.
Easily pruned to any preferred size.
Extremely cold hardy. I live in Zone 5b and have never experienced winter damage.
Incredibly easy to propagate. I took 12 cuttings of my Black Velvet, stuck them in a seedling tray, and all 12 rooted within a few weeks. I even once tossed a cutting aside and forgot about it and it managed to root through the grass!
All my gooseberries receive only 3–4 hours of sun, and they still produce heavily. I would imagine the yield in full sun is much greater.
Cons:
Thorns. They’re sharp and painful, and they make netting more difficult.
While many varieties are upright, some weep heavily once the berries weigh them down.
The berries retain a dried flower at the end, which should be picked off. Personally, I find the texture unpleasant if it’s left on.
In theory, gooseberries can have pest issues, but I’ve experienced none in the Midwest aside from the cicadas.
They become bird magnets once ripe. You’ll need to net them for a decent harvest. They also change color before they’re fully ripe, so birds sometimes target them early.
Green gooseberry varieties can be tricky to identify when fully ripe.
Some fungal issues may appear late in the season, causing defoliation. However, it hasn’t affected their performance the following year.
If there is a major heat wave while the berries are ripening (100+ F), some of the berries get “burned” and take on a mushy texture and become off tasting.
Notes on individual cultivars. Flavor is rated out of 10. 10 being the best-tasting gooseberry, not necessarily the best fruit I’ve ever eaten.
Black Velvet – By far the most aggressively growing gooseberry. Mine reached over 8 feet tall in just three seasons. Flavor: 10/10, with red/purple berries that have a little extra something other varieties lack. The berries are the smallest among those I grow. Surprisingly, this one died due to heavy cicada damage—it only ever grew one trunk. Lots of thorns, and with its vigorous growth, it can be tough to net. Early ripening.
Poorman – Upright growth habit. Flavor: 9/10, with medium-sized red berries. Lots of thorns but produces heavily. Ripens mid-season.
Hinnomaki Red – Good growth rate but tends to bend significantly under the weight of fruit. Flavor: 8.5/10, with small to medium red berries. Occasionally drops some berries, but still yields heavily. Lots of thorns. Ripens mid-season.
Jeanne – Upright growth. Flavor: 8/10, with medium to large red berries. Very few thorns! Plus, the fruit hangs from long stems, so you rarely brush against the thorns. Ripens very late, extending the harvest by a couple of weeks.
Jahns Prairie – Upright growth. Flavor: 7.5/10, with medium-sized red berries. Also has very few thorns. Not as productive as other varieties but consistently healthier—it never gets the fungal issue mentioned earlier, and cicadas ignored it (possibly coincidental). Ripens mid-season.
Invicta – Upright growth. Flavor: 8/10, with large green berries. Berries have hairs, giving them a less desirable texture than the smooth varieties. Extremely thorny bush. Ripens mid-season. Died from the cicadas, only ever grew one trunk.
Hinnomaki Yellow – Slow-growing with a very weepy habit, a true dwarf. Flavor: 8/10, with medium-sized green berries. Thorns are present but smaller, making harvesting less prickly. Production isn’t heavy overall, but per branch, it’s impressive. I’ve never pruned these bushes; they stay compact and are very easy to net. Early ripening.
Heres a picture of some of the gooseberries from a couple of years ago. The bottom right of the plate has hinno yellow (smaller berries) and invicta (larger berries). The bottom left of the plate has a mix of black velvet and hinno red.
I very much agree, I did mention in my write up on in zone 5 in the Midwest. These are just my own personal observations. Although of course, there are probably many places in the midwest where they will not do as well.
If one of mine flowers (i.e. it’s healthy and has some previous year’s growth to flower on) I seem to get a fruit set proportionate to the amount of flowers. Doesn’t seem picky about the weather. If I give them nitrogen in the early Spring they get aphids (branch tip leaves curl into a ball full of bugs).
Fruit set has been pretty even throughout the years for me. If there is a 100+ Fahrenheit degree day while the berries are ripening, some of them will turn into a mushy texture and start tasting off. Given my climate is pretty cold, I would imagine in a hotter climate, its possible the fruit set may be subpar.
I also have only ever grown them in close proximity. I have read they are self fertile but I’d bet they are more numerous/larger berries with cross pollination.
aphids try to murder mine every year, I started spraying the vines right when it starts to leaf out just at break, and that’s helped. I have Invicta, a pink one and a white berry. (no variety labels)
I’m planning to move one this fall and I am hoping it doesn’t get set back too much by it.
I moved three while they were still dormant in February. Had to cut the Black Velvet back pretty hard, because it was enormous and covered in thorns, but all three are doing well. Poorman fruited for the first time after the move on it’s third year, but it barely survived mildew the first year.
Interesting that our fruit evaluations differ, at least based on my recollections. It could be climate (NE vs midwest) or possibly taste. I don’t mind gooseberries, but they aren’t really a focus for me. If I happen to pass by when the bush is ripe I’ll pick them, but I often miss them without really missing them. Same for red and white currants (Black currants are important for jam and I make an effort for them).
For me:
A: Hinnomaki Yellow & Jeanne
A-/B+: Hinnomaki Red
B: Black Velvel & Poorman
C-: Invicta, Red George, & Tixia
In terms of bush size, we’re pretty close, with Black Velvet growing big and Hinnomaki Yellow staying very small. Jeanne stays pretty small for me as well.
So I’m in Maryland so Mid-Atlantic, I didn’t get to try hinn. Yellow this year or black velvet because I wasn’t at my parents house when they were ripe and animals got them.
And freshly planted this was a few other varieties.
Mine have been relatively bulletproof, except this year I’m having to deal with wooly aphids which killed half of a 4 ft new cane on one. It’s a pain.
My poorman didn’t fruit this year. Glendale did and the taste is similar to grape apple? Skin is tart. The jam I made is good. Has a like grape apricot clove taste. Very unique.
Hinn yellow basically grows like a ground cover for me. BV is big thorns and pretty vigorous. Pixwell grows like a weed and like a trailing raspberry, it goes everywhere. Glendale is pretty upright, same with poorman (but getting a little floppy with long thin branches)
I like the taste of them except I don’t like the seeds. They get stuck in my teeth, I also agree with @BobVance that the black currants for jelly blow pretty much everything else out of the water. I’m trying to figure out how to squeeze one in at my townhouse
I had little green caterpillars strip the leaves off my Hinnomaki Red this year. I sat by the bush and hand picked at least a hundred of those little suckers… my hands were covered with green goo and thorn cuts. the caterpillars only ate the one bush.
@ Adamsmasherz I have not had any success rooting the cuttings i get from Fruitwood Nursery. I’m guessing freshness of the cutting must be the key? I get them to leaf out, but the cuttings just don’t seem to callus.
I completely agree, gooseberries are great- I’m zone 4a Northern WI.
Very interesting! I will say, all of the varieties I have, I enjoy. I’d imagine its all personal preference and/or location dependent. In either case, I wouldn’t discourage someone from growing any of the varieties I have.
Hmm, could certainly be a freshness issue. I’ve only ever rooted any cuttings directly from my bushes. But if you ever want any cuttings of my varieties, I am more than happy to ship some out for you to try and root.
I had the same problem with those “little green caterpillars”, and as my wife found out, these are actually not caterpillars at all but larvae of a gooseberry saw fly. I wouldn’t tell a caterpillar from a larvae if my life depended on it, but BT (a natural insecticide against caterpillars based on a special bacteria) is useless against these guys while spinosad (another natural insecticide, which like BT is based on some soil bacteria but which targets larvae) works like a song. We apply it once a season, in mid-May after gooseberries leaf out, making sure we both spray the leaves and soak the ground around the stems. No damage the whole season. (Disclaimer – late last season, well after the berries were picked, we did have defoliation on two neighboring bushes; we then read that saw flies can have a second flush. This didn’t affect the crop or this year’s health of the bushes, but we may spray with spinosad again towards Fall.)
