Plant / fruit id?
- Thread starter Polecatsteve
- Start date
Incidentally I have never eaten them from the plant. I was about 90% sure what they were when I ate one 
. That was one of 3 large stalks growing at the edge of the water. All appeared just as fruitful. I shall gather some up for the freezer to mix in my porridge then.
Thanks guys, got a couple more for ID coming up.
. That was one of 3 large stalks growing at the edge of the water. All appeared just as fruitful. I shall gather some up for the freezer to mix in my porridge then. Thanks guys, got a couple more for ID coming up.
Almost daily Janne. Without sounding stupid can you elaborate how I would do that? The most Iv ever grown was a a water cress potato head. It died.
Ok here's the other two from a different route I take.
1)
2)
The top one kind of resembles the black currant
1)
2)
The top one kind of resembles the black currant
Besides cherries, apples and grapes (and pears next door), I've got black currant bushes like most everyone else in the district.
Can't give them away.
Very frost tolerant to -30C. Mine began as a chunk axed out of a homestead ranch bush estimated to be 85+ yrs old when I got there.
If and when the bush gets too big, start pruning off 1/3 to 1/2 of the gray wood every time you harvest. Strip the fruit and toss the wood.
Or, fool with it and see if you can get a bunch of cuttings to start (should be very easily done.) Plant those on your walks!
Can't give them away.
Very frost tolerant to -30C. Mine began as a chunk axed out of a homestead ranch bush estimated to be 85+ yrs old when I got there.
If and when the bush gets too big, start pruning off 1/3 to 1/2 of the gray wood every time you harvest. Strip the fruit and toss the wood.
Or, fool with it and see if you can get a bunch of cuttings to start (should be very easily done.) Plant those on your walks!
The top one might be red currant but I can't be sure. I've seen and eaten and picked white, red and black currants.
I propagate and sell grape vines here at 53N in the mountains. About 70-100 each summer. Black currant cuttings are even easier to start.
1. wet soil in disposable containers (like 500 or 750ml plastic yoghurt containers, cut down milk containers, you name it.)
2. BIG branch from a currant bush. Spring is good. Make cuttings of the twigs 4-6" long.
3. Strip off all the leaves except the top 2 or 3 at the branch tip. This reduces water stress as the cutting has no roots.
4. Hole in the soil with a pencil, bury 1/2 the cutting in the hole and pack the soil.
5. Set out in the shade to avoid water stress.
6. 6 weeks = still green? pull one to see the root development.
Cuttings from some species ( like the grapes) need a little plant hormone help to get the new (adventitious) roots started.
I use a 0.4% powder of IBA (indole butyric acid). Touch the end of the cutting to the powder and into the hole.
I propagate and sell grape vines here at 53N in the mountains. About 70-100 each summer. Black currant cuttings are even easier to start.
1. wet soil in disposable containers (like 500 or 750ml plastic yoghurt containers, cut down milk containers, you name it.)
2. BIG branch from a currant bush. Spring is good. Make cuttings of the twigs 4-6" long.
3. Strip off all the leaves except the top 2 or 3 at the branch tip. This reduces water stress as the cutting has no roots.
4. Hole in the soil with a pencil, bury 1/2 the cutting in the hole and pack the soil.
5. Set out in the shade to avoid water stress.
6. 6 weeks = still green? pull one to see the root development.
Cuttings from some species ( like the grapes) need a little plant hormone help to get the new (adventitious) roots started.
I use a 0.4% powder of IBA (indole butyric acid). Touch the end of the cutting to the powder and into the hole.
I gather that Polecatsteve might be looking for something really simple.
Take one of the branches, easiest with one growing low down, and bend it down until it touches the earth (scrape a wee bit clear if necessary or partially lift a turfy bit and put the branch under it and peg it back down with a wee bit of stick shoved through the turf) and pin it down someway or other. A bit of willow folded over like a wooden clothespeg, (or a bit of fence wire, or an old tent peg) shove both ends into the ground one either side of the branch you're pinning down, works too.
Leave it alone and by Autumn it'll have grown roots underneath the bit that's touching the earth. Cut it free from the main plant and lift out your rooted cutting. Keep it moist (not hard here) and plant it somewhere else.
Result = new plant without killing or uprooting or splitting rootball of the original
M
Take one of the branches, easiest with one growing low down, and bend it down until it touches the earth (scrape a wee bit clear if necessary or partially lift a turfy bit and put the branch under it and peg it back down with a wee bit of stick shoved through the turf) and pin it down someway or other. A bit of willow folded over like a wooden clothespeg, (or a bit of fence wire, or an old tent peg) shove both ends into the ground one either side of the branch you're pinning down, works too.
Leave it alone and by Autumn it'll have grown roots underneath the bit that's touching the earth. Cut it free from the main plant and lift out your rooted cutting. Keep it moist (not hard here
) and plant it somewhere else.Result = new plant without killing or uprooting or splitting rootball of the original
M
Midsummer: shove some cuttings into pots of soil.
Abandon them, forgotten, in the back of the garden shed, until next spring after a -25C winter.
Dig holes and plant. Water. Enjoy.
Abandon them, forgotten, in the back of the garden shed, until next spring after a -25C winter.
Dig holes and plant. Water. Enjoy.
I gather that Polecatsteve might be looking for something really simple.
Take one of the branches, easiest with one growing low down, and bend it down until it touches the earth (scrape a wee bit clear if necessary or partially lift a turfy bit and put the branch under it and peg it back down with a wee bit of stick shoved through the turf) and pin it down someway or other. A bit of willow folded over like a wooden clothespeg, (or a bit of fence wire, or an old tent peg) shove both ends into the ground one either side of the branch you're pinning down, works too.
Leave it alone and by Autumn it'll have grown roots underneath the bit that's touching the earth. Cut it free from the main plant and lift out your rooted cutting. Keep it moist (not hard here
Result = new plant without killing or uprooting or splitting rootball of the original
M
I am a gardening novice but that is fascinating. I will document my efforts. Should I pot my cuttings in autumn or just plant them? Definitely going to "layer?" The 3 that are there and try to propagate them. Be green fingered in no time.
Blackcurrants are excellent to root like this. I do half a dozen a year from my own plant, and just pass the cuttings on to friends.
If the new roots are gripping hard enough into the earth that removing the 'stake' doesn't shift them, you can cut the cutting free from the main plant and just lift it and plant it elsewhere.
You can pot it up if you like, but so long as it's kept well watered until it settles into it's new home, it'll be fine.
The branch you layer needs to be in touch with moist ground….or tangled through very damp grass…before it'll root.
That's pretty much it with blackcurrants. Easy to grow, excellent fruit, lovely tea from the leaves, all good stuff
Robson Valley's method makes really good cuttings from the start off though….just that you need pots, etc., and will be excellent on his grape cuttings. The layering is the lazier method, but it works very well indeed.
M
If the new roots are gripping hard enough into the earth that removing the 'stake' doesn't shift them, you can cut the cutting free from the main plant and just lift it and plant it elsewhere.
You can pot it up if you like, but so long as it's kept well watered until it settles into it's new home, it'll be fine.
The branch you layer needs to be in touch with moist ground….or tangled through very damp grass…before it'll root.
That's pretty much it with blackcurrants. Easy to grow, excellent fruit, lovely tea from the leaves, all good stuff
Robson Valley's method makes really good cuttings from the start off though….just that you need pots, etc., and will be excellent on his grape cuttings. The layering is the lazier method, but it works very well indeed.
M
Beaver Plastics makes a great range of styrofoam seedling (and cutting) starter blocks. The Superblocks have 45 x 350ml holes, I'll guess they are 16" x 24" x 8" thick.
I use a cheap plastic sandwich bag as a liner, fill with soil and ram a big screwdriver through the bottoms for a drainage hole. Rinse with the hose and recycle. Cost? = $4.00 each.
Very convenient, cheap and reusable. I bought a case of 4 Superblocks for a 180 cutting capacity.
Then, I was gifted about 150 of the 750ml size yoghurt and cottage cheese plastic containers. Drilled 3 holes in the bottoms and simply gave them away with the sales.
While that meant there was a lot more room for root development, I don't think it mattered as much as tilling the site prep and subsequent watering.
Read about root hairs and water uptake. The whole transplant shake-up grinds the soil against the root hairs and the young plant has no end of troubles until new root hairs develop.
I use a cheap plastic sandwich bag as a liner, fill with soil and ram a big screwdriver through the bottoms for a drainage hole. Rinse with the hose and recycle. Cost? = $4.00 each.
Very convenient, cheap and reusable. I bought a case of 4 Superblocks for a 180 cutting capacity.
Then, I was gifted about 150 of the 750ml size yoghurt and cottage cheese plastic containers. Drilled 3 holes in the bottoms and simply gave them away with the sales.
While that meant there was a lot more room for root development, I don't think it mattered as much as tilling the site prep and subsequent watering.
Read about root hairs and water uptake. The whole transplant shake-up grinds the soil against the root hairs and the young plant has no end of troubles until new root hairs develop.
Okay, found a nice new bendy stalk and bent it over, pegged it down with a v shaped old dead part of the same plant and buried it about 1 inch in soil/moss. Tip of about 4-5 inches poking out propped against the 2nd plant. ....
Think I followed your instructions pretty accurately. But how long shall I leave it? 2months or more?
I do plan to clip it off and take to the garden and HOPE to start it fresh again.
I know it's easier to just buy a cutting or plant from a garden centre. But i wouldn't have learned any of this!
Would the same process work with Raspberry vines(?).
Thanks again guys. Very informative.
Think I followed your instructions pretty accurately. But how long shall I leave it? 2months or more?
I do plan to clip it off and take to the garden and HOPE to start it fresh again.
I know it's easier to just buy a cutting or plant from a garden centre. But i wouldn't have learned any of this!
Would the same process work with Raspberry vines(?).
Thanks again guys. Very informative.
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