[Middlesexbloke]

Hi, gooseberries don't need too much fertilising and feeding as this encourages leafy growth at the expense of fruit. This growth is more prone to the usual gooseberry diseases. I find a handful of sulphate of potash at this time of year followed by a nice mulch of well rotted manure seems to work fine, I'd sprinkle some chicken pellets later in Spring. Both can be grown in pots but they'll need big pots as they grow fast, plus with the gooseberries you'll have to watch out for vine weevils munching on the roots.

[londongardener]

Quick question all if I plant them into pure compost would that be bad for them?  I don't really want to dig up lots of soil from the garden and have to mix it unless I have to

[Trikidiki]

Compost that you buy in bags would be ok in the short term but it has very little mineral content. It will continue to break down until it is just dust. You may find it is then deprived of air among the particles to the detriment of the plant.

My advice would be to go for a compost soil mix.

[londongardener]

Compost that you buy in bags would be ok in the short term but it has very little mineral content. It will continue to break down until it is just dust. You may find it is then deprived of air among the particles to the detriment of the plant.

My advice would be to go for a compost soil mix.

  Could I mix it with grit and bone meal?

[Trikidiki]

I would go and buy a bag of soil based compost and mix with your compost.

[Yorkie]

I agree with Trikidiki - multipurpose compost only has enough nutrients for max 6 weeks of regular growth and can be difficult to re-wet if it completely dries out.

If you must add compost, go for John Innes formula - preferably Number 3.