I have a goosebery bush I would like to propagate. I am familiar with
layering.
Under the bush I discovered 3 healthy seedlings. Would these grow
"true" to the parent?
There is no other g bush in my garden nor (as far as I can tell) in
the immediate neighbourhood.

Thanks in advance.

Hi

Yes, you have 3 plants all ready to go, which will be exact replicas of the parent! Good luck!

robyks wrote:

I have a goosebery bush I would like to propagate. I am familiar with
layering.
Under the bush I discovered 3 healthy seedlings. Would these grow
"true" to the parent?

Not sure, but are you certain they're from seed rather than vegatative
growth underground? (Not sure if that's called suckering even when the
bush is growing on its own rootstock.)

I've got a wonderfully sweet gooseberry bush that's spread itself that
way over the years. It's not rampant like brambles, but it seems happy
to spread slowly that way. I moved one of the new bushes this spring,
and it seems happy enough so far.

I know gooseberries are supposed to be one of the earliest, but I was
amazed to see a few fruits as big as 1cm long at the end of April!
Surprisingly they haven't grown much since then despite the rain in May,
but that bush usually produces a decent enough crop.

Peter

Hello Rob
As you thought, gooseberries do not come true from seed. They care
usually propogated from hardwood cuttings in the autumn. Usually
insert cutting, around 12-15ins, to half its length into a slit trench
by pushing spade into ground and rock to make trench, insert some grit
sand and insert cutting. Can be done in pots it only a few required,
but want a deep pot, like a rose pot.

As for your seedlings if you have the space - see what they turn out,
could have a good berry on your hands. As Peter said, is it a
seedling or is it suckering from the roots. Gooseberries are not
grafted so you can cut it down to its roots and pot on. If it is
suckering, you want to remove them, otherwise the bush will become too
dense and you will have mildew problems.

Good luck

Clifford
Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire