Ribes × nidigrolaria (F)

Synonyms

Ribes × nidigrolaria 'Jostaberry'
Ribes 'Josta'
Ribes jostaberry

Fruit Edible

Buy this from RHS Plants Shop
Buy online from £21.99 Buy this from Plant Nurseries
7 Suppliers

A cross between a gooseberry and a blackcurrant, combining the size of a gooseberry with the flavour of blackcurrant. The self-fertile bushes produce good crops of fruit that matures in July or August. You can eat fruit straight from the bush or use it in desserts and preserves. These deciduous bushes are vigorous and spineless.

Position

Full sun, Partial shade

Soil Types

Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand

Max Height

1.5-2.5 metres

Max Spread

1-1.5 metres

Size

Time to Maturity: 2–5 years
Max Spread: 1-1.5 metres
Max Height: 1.5-2.5 metres

Growing Conditions

Chalk Clay Loam Sand

Moisture: Moist but well–drained
pH: Acid or Alkaline or Neutral

Position

Full sun Partial shade

Aspect: East–facing or South–facing or West–facing
Exposure: Sheltered
Hardiness

Hardiness Ratings

All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets

H1A: under glass all year (>15C)
H1B: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
H1C: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20): H5

Colour & Scent

Season	Stem	Flower	Foliage	Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Botanical Details

Family: Grossulariaceae
Native to GB/Ireland: No
Foliage: Deciduous
Habit: Bushy
Genus: Ribes can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs, sometimes spiny, with simple, usually palmately lobed leaves and small tubular or bell-shaped, solitary or racemose flowers borne in spring or summer, followed by juicy, sometimes edible berries
Name Status: Correct
Horticultural Group

Horticultural Classification Codes

Horticultural Classification Codes are often given to genera which have a large number of species or cultivars. They are used to categorise cultivated plants based on specific, shared characteristics such as shape, colour, size or flowering time, and can be displayed as letters or numbers

For example:
Dahlia ‘Sunset Kate (Sin) = Single flower
Rosa ‘Marigold’ (HT) = Hybrid Tea: This genus produces fruit, but not necessarily edible fruit

How to Grow

Cultivation

Jostaberries prefer a sunny site with well-drained but moisture-retentive soil, but will cope in most other soil conditions and tolerate light shade. Mulch annually with well-rotted manure or compost and apply a general purpose fertiliser in spring. Grow as blackcurrants so please see our blackcurrant cultivation page for more growing tips

Propagation

Propagate by hardwood cuttings in the dormant season

Suggested planting locations and garden types

Cottage and informal garden
Edible fruit

Pruning

Prune when dormant in winter. Aim to keep an open centred goblet shaped bush, removing some of the older unproductive stems each year.

Pests

May be susceptible to birds eating fruits

Diseases

Generally disease-free, resistant to gooseberry leaf spot and gooseberry mildew