I've inherited a rather overgrown Jostaberry bush with the allotment and since I'm going to be removing quite a lot (half of it is growing outside the fruit cage!) I reckon there should be plenty of cuttings for me and some extra to give away...
however, before I get carried away, I have a couple of questions:
I've noticed that some of the leaves have a kind of scaling on them - I've attached a picture of one of the leaves - it's only on the upper side of the leaf. Is this something I need to worry about and should I still be giving cuttings away?
I can't see any visible beasties and the bush produced fruit this year - 2nd pic also taken yesterday - you can see the leaves starting to die back but looks otherwise healthy (to me anyway). This isn't affecting all of the leaves, maybe a quarter or so to varying degrees (the pic is one of the more affected ones)
Is there anything I can do for the bush? - I think it's old due to the size of the lower stems (3-4 inch diameter and 2 foot high which it then bushes out from), should it be replaced eventually with the cuttings I'm taking this year?
Assuming that this isn't anything to worry about, and if anyone wants a cutting, can I get more than 1 cutting per stem? I was planning on posting a 6-7 inch piece wrapped in a bubble wrap envelope thingy by second class (this was how I received my 'ribena-berry cutting and should keep to 'letter' size postage
), is this OK? Is there something I can do to help them survive the journey?
There will only be a finite amount of cuttings so please say if you'd like one then I'll PM for an address when I know how many are available, and that they are safe to pass on.
Lastly, sorry for the long post!