Do Gooseberries Need Ericaceous Compost?

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If you are a reader native to Britain, we’re sure you’re already familiar with how amazing gooseberries are. If you’re from the U.S., maybe you’re playing catch-up and trying to grow a gooseberry shrub yourself.

Flowering shrubs love compost, so does ericaceous compost work too?

Ericaceous compost is very good for gooseberry shrubs because gooseberries prefer soil that is more acidic. Ericaceous compost does well at making the soil more acidic while also providing the nutrients gooseberries need. However, it should not be added if the gooseberry is already in acidic soil.

Gooseberries have specific needs, even though they aren’t too picky. Keep reading to see what gooseberry shrubs need from their soil to survive and thrive and whether ericaceous compost serves their needs.

Table of Contents

What pH Level do Gooseberries Need?

If you aren’t too familiar with the pH scale, we will quickly break it down. Soil pH measures how acidic or alkaline a sample is. The scale that pH strips use and any laboratory that you send a sample to will choose a number between 0 and 14. Any number from 0-6 will be acidic, 7 is neutral, and any number from 8-14 is alkaline.

Whether the soil is acidic, neutral, or alkaline is important because it determines what nutrients the Gooseberry shrub can absorb at a given time. When soil is acidic, the Gooseberry will absorb more

Nitrogen
Hydrogen

Sulfur

To name a few important minerals. Meanwhile, when the soil is alkaline, the shrub will absorb more

Calcium

Phosphorous
Magnesium

Again, naming only a few essential minerals.

So, what do gooseberries need? Gooseberries thrive in soil that has a pH value between 5.5 and 6.5. This is pretty acidic, which is good because ericaceous compost has an acidity of 4 or 5.

That is more acidic than gooseberries want, but you never plant anything with just compost. Here is how to increase soil acidity naturally if you find it too alkaline.

What Soil Consistency do Gooseberries Thrive in?

What does this have to do with ericaceous compost? Well, if you plan to add compost to the bed or container your gooseberry is in order to feed it, you want to make sure the compost isn’t compromising the soil’s consistency.

Gooseberry shrubs aren’t picky about the dirt they’re planted in, but they prefer soil that drains well.

Loamy soil usually has the best consistency for shrubs that don’t like their roots soaking in a swamp. It has equal parts sand, silt, and clay that aerate the ground and give the roots room to grow and retain moisture. Large particles, like sand, are necessary for the soil to drain properly.

All gooseberries really demand from the soil they’re planted in is that it’s full of nutrients, which makes compost good to add. However compost particles can start out large, but they get smaller and smaller the more the compost breaks down.

The finer the particles get, the harder it is for water to drain. This can be a big problem because gooseberries, like other shrubs, don’t like to have their roots sitting in water. They get water-logged and rot.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t add compost, though! Even though ericaceous compost will break down like any other compost, it won’t change the consistency of the existing soil, so long as you don’t add too much.

How Much Ericaceous Compost Should I Give Gooseberries?

It’s well and good to say, “don’t put too much compost in the mix,” but how much is enough? If you want to put your gooseberry bush in a container, make sure ⅓ of the container is filled with the ericaceous compost. That should provide enough food without getting your gooseberry feet too soggy.

If you’re putting them directly into the ground and you’ve already tested the soil’s pH level, mix in about 2-4” of compost. If you have worms to help break down the compost faster, you can just set the compost layer on top and let the worms work.

When Shouldn’t you Give Gooseberries Ericaceous Compost?

Be careful not to add much more than ⅓ of the volume of the container or the recommended amount for beds. Yes, the compost can make overwatering a problem, but it can also make the mixture too acidic.

Earlier, we talked about how acidic and alkaline mixes make different nutrients more soluble to allow your plants to absorb them better. Well, gooseberries need the pH level of the ground or potting mix to be between 5.5 and 6.5 because that’s the optimum level that will allow the bush to absorb all the nutrients it needs.

But, if your gooseberry bush is already in acidic soil, the ericaceous compost will make it more acidic, which won’t benefit your gooseberry.

By a pH of 5, the gooseberry won’t be able to soak up the goodness in the soil, especially calcium or magnesium. If this has happened to you, you need to lime out the area if you planted directly in the ground or pour out the mix and start again if you used a container.

Are There Alternative Composts for Gooseberries?

If your soil mix is already fairly acidic but could use more nutrients, it’s recommended to supplement the mix with a 12-12-12 commercial fertilizer. That’s a ratio of 12% nitrogen, 12% phosphorus, and 12% potassium.

Acidic soil mixes are naturally high in nitrogen already, which is good because that’s what will make your gooseberry thick with green foliage. The phosphorus and the potassium will keep the pH a little more balanced as well as promote the health of the gooseberry’s roots and greater production of flowers and fruit.

Don’t be surprised if you have to add more fertilizer frequently than usual. Gooseberries have shallow root systems, so it doesn’t take long for the roots to absorb all the nutrients at the root’s level. Gravity doesn’t help.

Gooseberries need fresh fertilizer at least three times:

First, in early spring, when it’s first planted
A second time when it flowers
A third time after the first harvest of the fruit.

It may require biweekly fertilization with manure to raise the pH.

How to Make Ericaceous Compost For Gooseberries

Making your own ericaceous compost is an excellent idea. It’s cheap because the necessary materials are readily available in the United States, and making it is very easy to do. To make your own, you need to

Make a basic compost mixture

Allow it to begin decomposing
Add acidic elements
Test the pH regularly

Once you have your compost pile starting to decompose, you want to abstain from adding anything like lime, wood ash, or manure will make compost alkaline. Instead, add things like oak or beech leaves, green pine needles, peat moss, coffee grounds, and citrus fruits.

There are a couple of benefits to making your own compost. For one, you can continually check the pH to be however acidic you need. This is very useful if commercial fertilizers have made the composition too acidic or too alkaline before.

Conclusion

Don’t be intimidated into thinking that gooseberries will be hard to grow because it’s different. Two reasons why ericaceous compost works so well with gooseberry shrubs are that it makes the ground the acidity they like, and it has all the food the gooseberry needs.

The only thing to watch out for is making sure the soil still drains properly. If you added too much, don’t worry. You can add a pipe to help drain excess water somewhere else.

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