How to Grow Perennial or Annual Cape Gooseberries

Seed Growing

• 1

  Gather fruit from a mature cape gooseberry plant in late summer once it turns golden-yellow and the papery husks split open.

• 2

  Wrap the fruit in cheesecloth. Crush the fruit inside the cheesecloth. Run water over the pulverized fruit to rinse away the pulp. Pick out the tiny, flat seeds. Store the seeds in an airtight container away from direct light until spring.

• 3

  Sow the cape gooseberry seeds in spring. Sow them to a depth of 1/4 inch in individual 6-inch plastic pots filled with 3 parts potting soil and 1 part perlite.

• 4

  Water each pot of soil using a spray bottle or a garden hose with a mist nozzle attachment. Keep the soil moist to a depth of 1 inch at all times.

• 5

  Watch for sprouting in seven to 10 days. Keep the cape gooseberry plants in their pots until soil temperatures reach 68 degrees F, then plant them in a sunny bed.

Cutting Growing

• 6

  Select a 4- to 6-inch-long cutting from a healthy, mature cape gooseberry plant in spring before the plant forms flower buds. Sever the cutting just below a set of leaves using a pair of sterilized floral snips.

• 7

  Strip off the bottom two leaves to expose the internodes. Dip the defoliated end of the cape gooseberry cutting into 0.2-percent IBA rooting hormone.

• 8

  Stick the cape gooseberry cutting up to its lowest set of leaves into a 6-inch pot filled with perlite. Spritz the perlite with a spray bottle until water begins to trickle from the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot.

• 9

  Place the potted cape gooseberry cutting near a source of strong yet diffuse light. Keep temperatures surrounding the pot around 68 degrees F.

• 10

  Mist the foliage once or twice a day to keep the leaves from drying out on the edges.

• 11

  Check for roots in 21 to 30 days by gently pushing aside some of the perlite to reveal the internodes. Look for spindly white roots emerging from the internodes.

• 12

  Transplant the rooted cape gooseberry cutting into a 6-inch plastic pot filled with garden soil. Place it outdoors under partial shade for two weeks to help the plant acclimate to outdoor conditions.

• 13

  Plant the cape gooseberry plant in a permanent bed with slightly sandy soil once it begins to put on significant height and foliage growth.