Your comments and tips

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

G;day Tony. i know my climate is different to yours, but I treat Cape gooseberries the same as tomatoes. They often need staking like tommies, and the same fertilizer and conditions as tommies. Chicken manure diluted into a soup works wonders just watered down and poured around the roots every month or so. You should get a massive crop where you are. Mildew can really attack if you water the foliage too much, but if you water at ground level, shouldn't be a problem. They make great Salsa.

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02 Jul 12, Hilton (Australia - temperate climate)

SATOOZ has Cape Gooseberry seeds available, too - they're on the web .Got Cape Goosberry going well in Melbourne

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18 Jun 12, Deona Spies (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)

Tessa, I have a similar problem. Lots of fruit that are not ripening. I'd also like to know if I can treat the plant as a perrenial and cut it back now (June) or should I pull it up and plant new ones in spring?

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11 Jul 12, Chris (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

It grows well as a perennial. I've kept it going over a couple of years with frost protection in an Australian mountain region, until drought killed it!

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09 Jul 12, Lionel (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)

Where did you get your seed from? Some seed sold commercially give this problem. Maybe it is time to name and shame these seed companies.

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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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09 Nov 12, (New Zealand - temperate climate)

be patient with ripening and ease up on the watering.a good shake of the bush and the ripe ones can be collected off the ground.I cut mine back to about knee height leaving at least 3 or 4 side shoots on each stem .

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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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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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