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19 Jan 12, Carol (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

My gooseberries has taken off and are quite large bushes. I have an ongoing battle with little cucumber beetles (I think). I have grown them in three different suburbs around Toowoomba (different plant sources) and have always got this annoying and persistent beetle making a mess of the bushes. Pyrethrum seems to keep them at bay but not eradicate them. The berries look great until I open the paper pod and there is only a tiny shriveled up thing inside. Is the pyrethrum destroying the berries or the bugs? Or maybe would there be a problem with soil nutrition? Does anyone know?

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20 Jan 12, Canh (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi Carol, My guess is your plant isn't getting enough water and/ or manure. My cape gooseberry which is now in the green house has gone wild, it's taken over the greenhouse. Not that I mind because it is loaded with fruit. Occasionally I squeeze the green husks to feel how the fruits are developing. The husks that developed in early December has fruits the size of a marble. I don't think they are going to get much bigger than that. New side shoots are still emerging just like the tomato plants and new fruit are developing with these new shoots. How I look after my goose berry is I try to get keep the soil around the plant moist but not damp if you know what i mean. Occasionally I let the soil to almost dry out but never completely dry so the root system can breathe. If you see the leaves starting to wilt from dry soil this will affect the berries in the pods. Try putting dry leaves around the base of the tree to preserve moisture. I don't need to mulch mine because the plant is so bushy it's shading the base itself!! I feed the plant with horse manure. How i do it is, I have a plastic bin about 40 litres with a cover. I put about a supermarket size bag of raw horse manure in the bin then filled it up with water, put the lit on and let it sit for about 2 weeks. I then scoop 4 or 5 cups of this mixture including the grassy bits of the manure from the bin and put into a 10 litre bucket. Fill the bucket up with fresh water, stir them together and water the plants. I feed the plants once every 2 weeks. simple as that..

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31 Jan 12, margaret (Australia - arid climate)

I have two cape gooseberry bushes the problem i am having that some of the branches are half green and the other end of the branch is brittle dry like hollow from inside it looks as if the plant is dying. It is not starving from water or fertilizer so what could be the reason. Both these plants are near the hedge. Thanks margaret

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07 Feb 12, Jackie (Australia - temperate climate)

I have a plant and it nearly died.After some TLC and lots of water it has thrived and now fruits like mad. It has also self seeded and has become ferrel.It must love the scorching Summers in this part of the world. I believe it is good for diabetics .

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24 May 13, JOSEPH (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Yes you are quiet correct I planted a Cape gooseberry for a friend who is a diabetic and she loves eating them straight from the bush. The Cape Gooseberry is queit hardy but does love a fair amount of water to give you a really good crop. As to the people commenting about their fruit dropping prior to maturity, my personal belief is the lack of consistent or regular watering. Hope you all have success

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14 Apr 12, Ian (Australia - temperate climate)

Where can I buy Cape Gooseberry seeds for planting?

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11 May 12, Georg (Australia - temperate climate)

All my goose berries are being eaten inside the mantel and fall off before they are anywhere near ripe. What spray can I use to overcome this pest? We have not been able to harvest one, even though the bush produced abundant fruit! Thanks for your help! Georg.

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26 May 12, Nikos Nianiop (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi,i wanted to ask you how many years the plant lives? how many gram per plant is produced? What about distances between plants? What about cold winter under -10 celcious . I can grow it at 2 different palces . At Ionanina city we have a lot of rains at the spirng low temperanture at the winter but not to much hot at the summer. Opposite at the town of Karditsa we have less rains , mpre hot days at the summer and not to much at the winter. Also Karditsa is nearer to the see level comparing to Ioannina at 490 m high. Sorry for my bad Enghlish. I hope you can helpnig and if you can to suggest me a good suplier of seeds

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27 Jul 12, adam (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Yassou Nikos. You treat the Cape Gooseberry the same as Tomato. Same conditions, same soil, same same. Hope this helps.

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03 Jun 12, Tessa Cairns (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)

My Cape Gooseberry bush is almost 2m tall, very healthy and full of fruit. But it wont ripen. I planted the bush in about March and it was about 30cm tall at the time. now we are in June- going into winter. Is it to cold for the fruit to ripen, or must I be patient? And should I cut the hieght down a bit?

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