Spacing & sowing

Plant spacing

19 ft 8 in

In-row spacing

19 ft 8 in

Between rows

23 ft

Square-foot density

Not suited to SFG

Growing

Type

Fruit · Perennial

Botanical family

Mixed / other

Sunlight

As much light as you can give it, supplemented through winter.

Watering

Water regularly, but let the top of the soil dry between times.

Feeding

A balanced feed every 6-8 weeks through the season.

Frost tolerant

Yes

Flowering

February

Pruning

Pinch the growing tips while it is young; do any real pruning in spring.

Overwintering

Bring it in before the first frost and hold it above 10°C.

Through the year

• Feb–Mar Bud Break
• Mar–Apr Flowering
• Apr–Oct Fruit Set
• Oct–Nov Harvest
• Nov–Dec Growing
• Jan–Feb Growing

Companions

Comfrey, Nasturtiums, Lavender

Pests & problems

• Scale insects Scale insects along the stems
• Spider mites Spider mites stippling the leaves in dry air
• Anthracnose Anthracnose spotting leaves and fruit
• Phytophthora root and foot rot Root rot (Phytophthora) in ground that stays wet

Garden allies

Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. ★ companion plant

• Ladybird (lady beetle) Coccinellidae
  Hunts Scale insectsSpider mites

  The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCilantroCosmosDillFennelYarrow
• Big-eyed bug Geocoris spp.
  Hunts Spider mites

  A stubby 3 mm bug with enormous wrap-around eyes, working the soil surface and the low foliage for aphids, mites, thrips and insect eggs. It is the main natural check on chinch bugs in a lawn and it is killed outright by insecticide.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCloverCosmosGoldenrodSweet alyssum
• Green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea
  Hunts Spider mites

  Its bristly larvae — "aphid lions" — impale aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mite colonies, eating hundreds a week. Adults feed on nectar and pollen from small open flowers and overwinter in hollow stems left standing.

  Plant nearby CilantroCosmosDillSunflowerYarrow
• Hoverfly Syrphidae
  Hunts Scale insects

  Bee-mimicking flies whose legless larvae graze aphid colonies clean while the adults pollinate. A ribbon of shallow, nectar-rich flowers kept in bloom all season recruits wave after wave of them.

  Plant nearby CalendulaChamomileFennelFrench marigoldPhaceliaSweet alyssum
• Minute pirate bug Orius spp.
  Hunts Spider mites

  A pinhead-sized true bug that is the best natural check on thrips, and happily spears aphids, mites, and insect eggs too. It needs pollen when prey is scarce, so keep something flowering nearby.

  Plant nearby CosmosFennelFrench marigoldSweet alyssum
• Predatory mites Phytoseiulus & Amblyseius
  Hunts Spider mites

  Fast orange mites that hunt spider mites egg-by-egg, and cousins that clear thrips and fungus-gnat larvae. Sold as a biological control for greenhouses; outdoors they follow humidity — mist and mulch, don’t dust with sulfur.

• Rove beetle Staphylinidae
  Hunts Spider mites

  Slim, quick beetles with short wing cases that hunt in soil and litter, taking root-fly eggs and larvae, fungus-gnat larvae, and mites. Mulch and undisturbed ground keep them resident year-round.

  Plant nearby MintThyme