I'm inquiring into getting an allotment (rapidly outgrowing the little
garden), and amongst other things I want to grow gooseberries,
blackcurrants, white currants and red currants. Fortunately, we have wild
patches of all of those growing locally, so it seems obvious that a good way
of getting plants is to take cuttings.

How and when would I be best to do that with currants and gooseberries?

Cheers,

Colin.

On Wed, 11 Jun 2003 09:55:22 +0100, Colin Davidson
wrote:

I'm inquiring into getting an allotment (rapidly outgrowing the little
garden), and amongst other things I want to grow gooseberries,
blackcurrants, white currants and red currants. Fortunately, we have wild
patches of all of those growing locally, so it seems obvious that a good
way
of getting plants is to take cuttings.

How and when would I be best to do that with currants and gooseberries?


I've never tried cuttings, but can you dig up a few shoots? I did that with
redcurrants last and dug up a new shoot late summer-ish, and they are now
doing very well. Tim.

garden), and amongst other things I want to grow gooseberries,
blackcurrants, white currants and red currants. Fortunately, we have wild
patches of all of those growing locally, so it seems obvious that a good
way
of getting plants is to take cuttings.

I presume you mean feral rather than wild. The problem is that you will not
know the cultivar and its characteristics. It may seem a cheap way to
acquire plants but you may well find it is false economy.

"Peter Crosland" wrote in message
...

I presume you mean feral rather than wild. The problem is that you will
not
know the cultivar and its characteristics. It may seem a cheap way to
acquire plants but you may well find it is false economy.

I kind of do know the characteristics, in that the fruit are good, the
yields are high, and the plants are pretty robust. I've been visiting said
patches of fruit for a couple of years now. As to whether they're wild or
feral, it's awfully hard to tell.

"Tim" wrote in message
newsprqlibtpqwxhha1@localhost...

I've never tried cuttings, but can you dig up a few shoots? I did that
with
redcurrants last and dug up a new shoot late summer-ish, and they are now
doing very well. Tim.

Cheers for that. I'd rather avoid digging shoots out if I can help it,
essentially I'd like to minimise any damage done to the wild plants if it's
possible. All else fails I guess it's a reliable option, though.

On Wed, 11 Jun 2003 09:55:22 +0100, "Colin Davidson"
wrote:

I'm inquiring into getting an allotment (rapidly outgrowing the little
garden), and amongst other things I want to grow gooseberries,
blackcurrants, white currants and red currants. Fortunately, we have wild
patches of all of those growing locally, so it seems obvious that a good way
of getting plants is to take cuttings.

I have successfully taken cuttings of red and blackcurrants, by
sticking pieces in a pot of soil in Autumn and just leaving them to
root. Can be done in open ground also. Be sure the fruit produced
this year by these "wild" plants is worth the effort.

Pam in Bristol

In article ,
"Colin Davidson" writes:
| "Tim" wrote in message
| newsprqlibtpqwxhha1@localhost...
|
| I've never tried cuttings, but can you dig up a few shoots? I did that
| with
| redcurrants last and dug up a new shoot late summer-ish, and they are now
| doing very well. Tim.
|
| Cheers for that. I'd rather avoid digging shoots out if I can help it,
| essentially I'd like to minimise any damage done to the wild plants if it's
| possible. All else fails I guess it's a reliable option, though.

It is no more damaging than taking cuttings for any plants that
sucker, such as raspberries. And it isn't very effective for
plants that don't! I didn't know that redcurrants suckered but,
if one does, it is a perfectly respectable method. Probably
illegal, of course.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Colin Davidson" wrote in
:


"Tim" wrote in message
newsprqlibtpqwxhha1@localhost...

I've never tried cuttings, but can you dig up a few shoots? I did
that
with
redcurrants last and dug up a new shoot late summer-ish, and they are
now doing very well. Tim.

Cheers for that. I'd rather avoid digging shoots out if I can help it,
essentially I'd like to minimise any damage done to the wild plants if
it's possible. All else fails I guess it's a reliable option, though.

Removing a rooty cutting of a redcurrant will not do it any more harm to
the parent than taking an ordinary stem cutting, and does give you a head
start. They usually root from the tips of the stems, so if you take a rooty
tip off for yourself, the remainder will shoot quite happily from the next
bud down.

Raspberries won't mind either, though as they usually spread from the
bottom you may need to be a bit more vigorous with them to get your rooty
cutting out. Look for a stem that has run a bit away from the clump.

I am not sure about blackcurrants and gooseberries, though I doubt you will
kill the blackcurrants whatever you do to them - very robust plants!

To encourage you, I can report that the raspberry plants I disentangled
roughly from my hedge and planted in a well-fertilised row have twice as
much fruit on this year as the plants I bought mail order.

Victoria

On 11 Jun 2003 12:12:56 GMT, Nick Maclaren wrote:


In article ,
"Colin Davidson" writes:
| "Tim" wrote in message
| newsprqlibtpqwxhha1@localhost...
| | I've never tried cuttings, but can you dig up a few shoots? I did
that
| with
| redcurrants last and dug up a new shoot late summer-ish, and they
are now
| doing very well. Tim.
| | Cheers for that. I'd rather avoid digging shoots out if I can help
it,
| essentially I'd like to minimise any damage done to the wild plants if
it's
| possible. All else fails I guess it's a reliable option, though.

It is no more damaging than taking cuttings for any plants that
sucker, such as raspberries. And it isn't very effective for
plants that don't! I didn't know that redcurrants suckered but,
if one does, it is a perfectly respectable method. Probably
illegal, of course.

Well, the ones in my garden don't produce the classic suckers like
raspberries do, or at least not as obviously, but they do produce young
vigorous shoots from the base, or just around it that can easily be snicked
off with a spade or trowel.

Tim wrote in
newsprqltloacwxhha1@localhost:

It is no more damaging than taking cuttings for any plants that
sucker, such as raspberries. And it isn't very effective for
plants that don't! I didn't know that redcurrants suckered but,
if one does, it is a perfectly respectable method. Probably
illegal, of course.

Well, the ones in my garden don't produce the classic suckers like
raspberries do, or at least not as obviously,

They don't sucker exactly, but they do reproduce if you don't keep them in
order. Mine were neglected for many years, and they grew great long arms
that bent over and rooted at the tips.

Victoria

On Wed, 11 Jun 2003 14:27:06 +0100, Victoria Clare
wrote:

Tim wrote in
newsprqltloacwxhha1@localhost:

It is no more damaging than taking cuttings for any plants that
sucker, such as raspberries. And it isn't very effective for
plants that don't! I didn't know that redcurrants suckered but,
if one does, it is a perfectly respectable method. Probably
illegal, of course.

Well, the ones in my garden don't produce the classic suckers like
raspberries do, or at least not as obviously,

They don't sucker exactly, but they do reproduce if you don't keep them
in order. Mine were neglected for many years, and they grew great long
arms that bent over and rooted at the tips.


Mine look like they're going to do that next year - they are pretty old and
came with the house I bought last year, I'd better get snipping later.
Tim.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

It is no more damaging than taking cuttings for any plants that
sucker, such as raspberries. And it isn't very effective for
plants that don't! I didn't know that redcurrants suckered but,
if one does, it is a perfectly respectable method. Probably
illegal, of course.

They don't sucker as such, but when you find a wild patch of them there tend
to be lots of little plants from where young shoots have bent over and
rooted.

But yes, probably illegal. Although as there are some plants on a patch that
might be about to have a guided busroute planted on top of them, that might
sway my decision to rescue some.

"Victoria Clare" wrote in message
. 240.11...

Removing a rooty cutting of a redcurrant will not do it any more harm to
the parent than taking an ordinary stem cutting, and does give you a head
start. They usually root from the tips of the stems, so if you take a
rooty
tip off for yourself, the remainder will shoot quite happily from the next
bud down.

Raspberries won't mind either, though as they usually spread from the
bottom you may need to be a bit more vigorous with them to get your rooty
cutting out. Look for a stem that has run a bit away from the clump.

I am not sure about blackcurrants and gooseberries, though I doubt you
will
kill the blackcurrants whatever you do to them - very robust plants!

To encourage you, I can report that the raspberry plants I disentangled
roughly from my hedge and planted in a well-fertilised row have twice as
much fruit on this year as the plants I bought mail order.

Cheers for that... I'm much encouraged by your success. Now all I need is
the allotment people to get back to me