Berry Fruits

Raspberries and Brambles

These fruits bear on shoots that grew last year and need trellising for support. Raspberries can be tied to a simple two wire fence with wires 70 and 140 cm above the ground. Better, is growing them between two such fences. The shoots of brambles are tied to a two wire trellis, the wires being 60 and 120 cm above the ground. The new season's bramble shoots are best trained one way, last year's fruiting shoots being trained the other way.

Most raspberries are planted 40-60 cm apart, and 80 cm for the more vigorous Williamette. Brambles need 2.5-3 m between plants. Allow 1.5-2 m between the rows. They should be planted out in winter.

Mulch and compost the plants heavily in ground that is free of perennial weeds.

Pruning consists of removing the shoots that have just fruited as soon as possible after harvesting has finished. Some of the autumn bearing raspberry canes are pruned back to 60 cm in spring, to encourage the autumn crop. These are removed after harvest, leaving the unpruned canes to crop the following summer.

Raspberries and bramble berries ripen over about a three to four week period in late spring and early summer, with a lighter crop in the autumn for some varieties. The fruit continues to ripen after picking, but fruit ripened on the canes tastes best. Fruit harvested for market must be under ripe, or it will decay too quickly. The berries must not be picked when wet. In hot weather it is necessary to harvest every two or three days.

Black, Red and White Currants

Currants are propagated from sticks taken in winter, which readily take root in the soil. They can be grown in a nursery bed for a year at a spacing of 30 cm, or planted direct where they are to grow in rows 2 m apart with 1.2 m between plants. They should be composted and mulched heavily. Perennial weeds can be a problem, so plant them into ground free of them.

Black currants are pruned by removing the wood that bore last year's fruit, and removing the weaker shoots. Red and white currants bear their fruit on permanent spurs, so they are pruned to an open vase shape and the extension growth shortened by about half. The stem should be 30-40 cm and up to eight leaders are retained to create the vase. After the fourth year, two of the old shoots can be cut back every year and new shoots selected to replace them.

Yields are of the order of 2-3 kg per bush when they are mature. Red currants are avidly consumed by birds, so they need protection. Harvest thetrusses of fruit when the ripest commence to fall. The berries can be removed from the trusses by pulling them through a kitchen fork. Red and white currants ripen in early summer, followed by black currants a few weeks later.

Gooseberries

Gooseberries are not as popular as they once were. They are a versatile fruit, making excellent jams, pies, tarts, jellies and wine. They are the earliest fruit, ripening at the same time as cherries and do not need soil as fertile as that needed for brambles, raspberries and currants. Their chief disadvantages are their thorny nature, which makes harvesting difficult and mildew. The mildew appears to be controlled readily by a 3% solution of waterglass (sodium silicate) spray.

Gooseberries grow well wherever apples thrive, but need shelter from wind and hot sun. Excessive rainfall near harvest will crack the fruit.

Mulching is essential to maintain an even water supply, though drainage is essential to prevent waterlogging, which gooseberries will not tolerate. They do not need the copious quantities of compost that other soft fruit requires.

Gooseberries are generally propagated from one year old cuttings with at least five buds. These are taken in autumn and planted out in a nursery bed 30 cm apart, or where they are to grow on in rows 3 m apart and 1.25 metres between the bushes. Gooseberries are usually pruned to become an open vase on a short leg of about 30 cm. After the framework has been developed, pruning consists mainly of tipping back the leaders by about one third. All weak and competing shoots are removed. After about five years, one leader per year should be cut back hard and another trained in its place. Weeping varieties need to be cut back to an upward facing bud when tipping.

The berries are harvested for use in jellies and pies, but the home gardener will prefer to wait for them to ripen. There are red and yellow fruiting varieties. Harvest by cutting the fruit stem with secateurs or scissors. Wear stout gloves, the thorns are sharp. Yields vary between 2.5 and 4 kg of fruit per mature bush.

Blueberries

Blueberries grow well where summer nights are cool and the days warm and sunny. They need cold winters. They are sensitive to late frosts. They need acid soil and will not thrive where the pH is above 6.0 Their preference is a pH between 4.5-5.0. Compost and mulch the soil well and maintain constant moisture. Drainage must be good.

Blueberries grow into tall bushes and are planted in rows 2.5-3 m apart with 1.5 m between plants. Perennial weeds must be eliminated before planting out. Trickle or flood irrigation is best as the fruit can split if the berries get wet.

Most varieties are self fertile, but cross pollination increases yields and growing different varieties spreads the harvest.

Remove the flowers on bushes until they are three years old. No pruning is required until they are four years old, when the centre of the bush can be pruned out to create an open shape. Weak shoots should be removed at ground level. Propagation is by taking cuttings of last year's growth.

Maximum yield is attained by the eighth year and should be about 5 kg per bush. The fruit ripens in early summer and is hand picked. Roll the fruit off without squeezing. They will keep for up to two weeks in the fridge, but are best frozen for long storage. Birds are a pest and control measures are essential.

Grapes

Grapes account for nearly 40 % of Australian fruit production, most being made into wine or dried fruit. Warm dry summers are needed to attain reasonable production, though areas such as Tasmania, previously believed unsuitable by the experts, are winning medals overseas for wine. The reason for this is that although yield and sugar levels are lower in cool conditions, the flavour is not cooked out by excessive heat. Table grapes, which need a high sugar content, are confined to warmer areas.

Grapes grow on a wide variety of soils, forming a deep, extensive root system. Badly drained soils should be avoided. They will not abide wind and sheltered areas are a requirement. If the area is frost prone in spring, shelter belts of trees must not impede frost drainage. In such an area, a site sloping east, or north east will delay the onset of bud burst, reducing the chance of frost damage. Otherwise, a north facing slope is best, since it will be warmer. Mulching increases the chance of frost damage, though this can be offset by the use of sprinklers on frosty nights. Many vineyards are clean cultivated to reduce the chance of frost damage, though this can lead to soil erosion. Growing winter cover crops and tilling them in in early spring would offset this problem where the bulk of rain comes in winter.

Nutrient requirements of grapes are low, so heavy composting is not needed. Indeed, excessive vine vigour can be a problem as foliage is produced at the expense of fruit production. Closer planting in more fertile soils is used to offset this potential problem.

Grapes are grown on their own roots except where the pest phylloxera is a problem There the vines are grafted onto root stocks of American vines (Vitis rupestris), which are resistant. Propagation is generally by cuttings (about 30-40 cm long), which are taken at pruning time in winter. These can be stored in a refrigerator wrapped in wet newspaper and enclosed in plastic. Plant them out in spring, where they are to grow with three buds below the ground and three above.

Vines are generally grown on trellises about 2.5-3 m apart. The spacing between plants depends on the quality of the soil and generally varies between 1.5 and 3 m. The trellis needs to be substantial to carry the load of fruit and foliage. The most common trellis is a two wire fence with the first wire about 1 m from the ground and the top wire 40 cm above that. Better is a T shape trellis with two wires about 70-90 cm apart. This exposes the vines to the sunlight better and gives higher yields.

Train the most vigorous shoot toward the low wire by using baler twine. In winter, remove the competing shoots and prune the leader to three buds. In the following summer, the strongest shoot is trained on the twine to reach the lower wire. When it reaches the wire, it is tipped by removing the topmost buds, leaving two lower buds, or four in the case of the T trellis. The shoots from these buds are tied to the wires to form the arms. In winter, the arms are pruned back to leave three or four buds and all other laterals are removed.

Fruit is formed on new season's growth which comes from last year's canes. Shoots from mature wood rarely flower. The aim is to produce new shoots each year and to keep excessive foliage in check. There are two main systems used to achieve this goal.

In cordon pruning, all last season's shoots are removed except for a number of stubs on the arms. These stubs, or spurs, should be spaced 20-25 cm apart and carry two buds. Each bud produces a cane in spring which grows on to produce fruit. The following winter, one cane is completely removed and the other cut back to two buds and this is next year's spur. All other shoots are removed. The length of the arms and number of spurs is determined by the vigour of the vine and its distance from the next vine in the row.

Rod, or cane pruning is necessary with varieties that do not produce fruitful growth from the basal buds. Here 8-12 buds are left on three or four canes and three or four canes cut back to the basal buds. The basal buds produce next year's canes.

Tipping back fruiting laterals and removing unwanted shoots, shortly after flowering, diverts maximum energy into fruit growth. Removal of some grape bunches to improve size is practised, especially on young vines. In cooler areas, leaving too many bunches retards maturity and the grapes may fail to mature.

Yields vary considerably, between 5 and 15 kg per vine. Irrigation dramatically increases yields, but the quality of wine grapes suffers. Australia's most famous red, Grange Hermitage, is made from unirrigated grapes.

Grapes must be full ripe at harvest as they do not ripen off the vine. Harvest by cutting the bunch stalk with sharp secateurs.

Birds are avid consumers of grapes and netting, although expensive, can pay for itself in the first season of use. In the home garden, the bunches can be protected by enclosure in paper bags. Fungal diseases can be controlled by the use of the copper fungicides (e.g. Bordeaux) and wettable sulphur. Many neophyte grape growers mistake the powder on young grape leaves for powdery mildew. Powdery mildew is on the underside of the leaves only, the natural powder on both sides.

Varieties

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Copyright Jonathan Sturm 2003