Fruit - Raspberries, currants, rhubarb, crabapple etc

[Melworthy]

Hi All,

Last year I moved into a new home which is quite rural and has a lot space to it (overall about 4 acres, but most of which is taken up with goat/sheep paddocks and woodland). The remaining space had at one time been used as an allotment, and a lot of fruit trees/bushes had been planted. However, it has been neglected for years so I started doing it up last autumn, but am in need of some advice.

There is a row of about 6 currant bushes, none of which have fruited in the last few years apparently and I have no idea what type they are (probably black currants). Last autumn I prunned them, and dug out two that appeared dead. Now none of them seem very lively (I know it is early, but they really do appear to have died!), but one had produced a number of healthy runners, which appear to have buds on. They stand at about 6 inches tall, and I was wondering how I should best transplant them, as I would like to put them elsewhere in the garden and completly remove the old bushes.

I planted a rhubarb plant, and noticed it has some shoots coming out of it. Is it too late to force it, and what can I use as a cheap forcer? (I like the look of those terracota ones, but they are at least £60!).

There is a nice old crabapple tree, which I got a good crop off of last year and made loads of crababpple jelly. People have even said i should sell it, and I was thinking of planting some new trees. I have seen a website which sells bare root trees that are about 1m tall, and only cost a couple of pounds. Would you recommend this sort of plant for its crop, or should I go for a more expensive potted plant?

I also want to plant raspberries ans strawberries. Is now the right time to do so? and how many plants would be adequete for a crop of a few kilograms as I only really have myself and a few friends to share it with! Would raspberry canes that are 2 years old in the shop, if planted now, produce a crop this year?

By the way, the house is in quite a sheltered, but remote part of East Yorkshire in the wolds. Generally, we are two weeks behind the rest of country and it often stays colder here longer, so that effects planting. I have a number of seeds ready to sow, but just wondered how the location might require some adjustment to the recommdations on the seed packets. Even in the greenhouse, the temperature has rarely gone above 10 degrees celsius so far this year.

Thankyou in advance for taking the time to read this, I hope you can help me!

Michael

[domart]

Michael

I am also new to all this and also from East Yorks so have little knowledge to impart but as regards to Rhubarb forcing i cant tell you if its too late but when you look at the jobs to do list for Feb on BBC Gardening site forcing Rhubarb is still on there and i put an old large tub over mine back in January and had a peek last weekend and there is lovely pink shoots of about 6inches already.

Peter

[Nicos]

Hi there- and welcome to the Vine!

....could you please pop your location on your profile- cos we'll all soon forget otherwise- and it does make a difference when peeps try to give helpful advice!

[Hans Mum]

welcome i'm in Leeds so not a million miles from you. I 'try' and sow seeds at the later times shown on the packets (sometimes I cant resist trying though).
I put an old dustbin stuffed with some straw over my rhubarb and its coming on a treat. Ive planted bare root trees from the cheapo supermarkets and they;ve been absolutely fine. If your currants are showing signs of life then see what you get this year and then prune them accordingly later this year/early next.

[Vixxihibiscus]

Blimey!

You have been busy!

Raspberries/Strawberries - Plant them now while they're dormant. The ground needs to be weed free, I have mine planted through weed suppressing fabric. If you have a tunnel or greenhouse I'd leave a few in pots for indoors to get an earlier crop.

Currants - Chop them back to the ground, weed them well and give a good mulch (I use card for the weeds and then a mulch of poop. I admittedly have never heard of currant runners??? To multiply my currants I take hardwood cuttings in Autumn and they have rooted by spring which you could then plant elsewhere.

Rhubarb - Needs at least three years before it's picked, at least 5 before it's forced. If you do anything before these times you'll weaken the plant and risk killing it. Even after the 5 years you must only force each plant every 4 years. With that much ground I'd plant a few more crowns. I have 8, 2 to eat, 2 to force and 4 resting (meaning they are just left to grow for a couple of years after forcing to rejuvinate them)

Crabapple: Buy bare root trees now and plant before mid March. Bare root is fine in the winter. Pots are more expensive and only really a necessity when plants are in leaf.

Otherwise, starting off seeds...I have an unheated greenhouse which does make a difference but I am in Inverness so it's pretty bitter!

I have spring peas, sweet peas, garlic, a tray of rocket and another of spinach all started off in cells in the greenhouse with no heat.

I also have a tray of leeks, 2 kinds of Italian Tropea Rossa onions, brussels sprouts, spring cabbage, savoy cabbages and that I started in the house (a bit extra heat to aid germination) last month and have now been moved to the unheated greenhouse.

My chillis, aubergines and peppers are on a bright windowsill in the house

Today I started off my tomatoes, physalis and tomatillos but they're in the house to germinate too.

The tomatoes, physallis, chillis, peppers, aubergines and tomatillos won't go out to the GH till the end of April by which time they'll be big and tough enough to pot on.

Sweetcorn, pumpkins, courgettes, cucumbers and french/italian climbing (I've never tried runners admittedly) beans I start off in the GH late April as the shock of indoors to outdoors often kills them and they grow pretty fast anyway.

Good Luck!

[Jono]

I didn't know that you should only force rhubarb every five years, ta.

Good luck Michael.

[Dottie]

I didn't know that you should only force rhubarb every five years, ta.

I've read that you shouldn't pick for 2 years after forcing, in order to allow it build up it's strength again, but not read anywhere about needing to leave it 5 years before re-forcing. As it happens I just take it in turns with my plants, just using a black plastic bin to cover and force, no 5 year break though.

My rhubarb is from an old root I dug up when I took over my plot, it wasn't doing well when I found it, covered by junk and couch grass. But I split the root and replanted it in front of a row of blackberries. That area/bed was just lumps of clay, so I added loads of leaf mulch, then later that autumn I got hold of a loads of straw/chicken manure and put that on the bed, even covering the rhubarb crowns (books say this will rot the crowns). I do feed the area in spring, last year growmore, this year it will be blood, fish and bone meal. A new/different mulch added most years in the autumn, and I couldn't ask for a better plant/s, it gives me no trouble and never fails to produce huge amounts of rhubarb. Starting picking on the 2nd year and may have even had a few sticks the 1st year too, so my old root/s really hardy and survives regardless.

[Melworthy]

Thanks for that info! its a big help.

The 'runners' on the current are perhaps more like additional sprigs that have come off the plant. It looks like a shoot off the mother plant has dug run along the gound, partially rooted, then grown back upwards and looks similar to the little currant plants u see in shops atm, but is still attached to the main plant. Anyway, i think those plants are gonners, I will be digging them up to make way for a pumpkin patch! Some of the 'runners' i cut off and planted in another location in the autumn, and they seem to have rooted well and have buds on them! But i guess it will be a couple of years before i find out for sure what type they are!

And I didnt realise that about the rhubarb. I think i shall buy at least 2 more plants, with the aim of doing the rotation you suggested. I like rhubarb, but not enough to have 8 plants I think!

There is also an orhard in the garden with a number of apple and pear trees. Is now the best time to start digging in bonemeal/manure around the base?

[Vixxihibiscus]

Hi Mel,

Anytime is good for bonemeal and mulching. One thing I will say is you shouldn't mulch frozen ground as it works and an insulator and keeps the cold in!

To clarify on the rhubarb point you should only wait 5 years from seed to forcing. Then give a couple of years between forces. I have a four year rotation simply because I have enough plants. Year one (on mature plants) force, years two and three, rest, year four pick normally back to forcing the next year. Just to keep the plants healthy but I imagine you could safely force in the fourth year.

Vixxi

[Jono]

Thanks Vixxi.

My own rhubarb is going into its third year. I picked quite a lot last year, and it coped okay.