For the first time I bought 5 bare rooted stems last October, which were
planted out and the woody stems cut back to 3 or 4 buds above soil
level. Three of these plants have just started to signs of life with
shoots emanating from below the soil. On one plant, 1 of these shoots is
a few inches away from the original stem and therefore is probably a
sucker. Should I retain this? It's the only sign of life showing on this
plant. The remaining two plants still look lifeless with no signs of
shoots so far.

When I pruned the stems last year, I kept the prunings and stuck them
into the soil. The buds on a few of these have started to burst, but no
roots have formed. Will these stems soon die or will they root and form
new plants hopefully?

On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 23:41:12 +0100, Frank Booth Snr
wrote:

On one plant, 1 of these shoots is a few inches away from the original stem and therefore is probably a
sucker. Should I retain this?

yes, that's next years fruit

It's the only sign of life showing on this
plant. The remaining two plants still look lifeless with no signs of
shoots so far.

give them a couple of more weeks, but it was a harsh winter for
anything newly planted

Will these stems soon die or will they root and form
new plants hopefully?

Keep your fingers crossed, but unlikely.

On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 23:41:12 +0100, Frank Booth Snr
wrote:

For the first time I bought 5 bare rooted stems last October, which were
planted out and the woody stems cut back to 3 or 4 buds above soil
level. Three of these plants have just started to signs of life with
shoots emanating from below the soil. On one plant, 1 of these shoots is
a few inches away from the original stem and therefore is probably a
sucker. Should I retain this? It's the only sign of life showing on this
plant. The remaining two plants still look lifeless with no signs of
shoots so far.

When I pruned the stems last year, I kept the prunings and stuck them
into the soil. The buds on a few of these have started to burst, but no
roots have formed. Will these stems soon die or will they root and form
new plants hopefully?


I apparently[1] stuck some cuttings in a pot in the greenhouse in the
autumn. Didn't look after it at all - so it's had no water. It's got
half a dozen sprouting plants in the pot now!

[1] I have no recolection of doing so and no one else would have done
it.
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