If like me, you've never ordered a bare root plant by mail order, it is intriguing to see how it is packaged and sent to you. In my post this morning, I finally received my Blackcurrant 'Ben Sarek' which I ordered bare root from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.
It arrived in a tightly rolled jiffy bag with a sticker saying URGENT - Bare Root Plant Open Immediately...
It arrived in a tightly rolled jiffy bag with a sticker saying URGENT - Bare Root Plant Open Immediately...
Once out of the jiffy bag, the stems were carefully tied with twine and the roots were wrapped in black plastic...
I unravelled the plastic covering to find a very established looking, wet, root ball...
The instructions basically were to plant it straight away, which is what I have done. I've decided to grow my blackcurrant bush in a container so that it can be moved around the garden to find the best sunny spot for it.
When planting, the uppermost roots need to be at least 3 inches below soil level as they produce many shoots from just below soil level. Lateral shoots should be trimmed back to 2 buds to encourage new growth and they like a high-nitrogen fertiliser.
So fingers crossed, the summer months should see a nice little harvest of juicy blackcurrants...
3 comments:
Thats a healthy looking root ball. :) We bought a few different bushes from Lidl last Autumn and they didn't look anywhere near that healthy. I wouldn't be surprised if they sit in the ground dead come spring but we'll see... :)
The great thing about getting plants direct from a nursery is the quality... unfortunately I think most plants in garden centres etc haven't been very well cared for so are usually pretty inferior...
I'd highly recommend the organic gardening catalogue for veggie seeds/plants etc... : )
How exciting. I am itching to get started on the planting - we have such plans for fruit bushes now that the sheep have moved to a new home. They even ate my gooseberry bushes!
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