Planting guide

When to plant cape gooseberry

Easy, sweet golden berries in papery lanterns; self-sows readily. In Melbourne it goes in Aug–Jan.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Ready in: 10–14 wks
Spacing: 90 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means cape gooseberry can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant cape gooseberry

Sow seed indoors or buy seedlings.
Plant out after the last frost.
Water well; avoid too much nitrogen.
Pick berries that have dropped or whose husks turn papery.

Cape Gooseberry varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Golden Berry Classicsweet · 10–14 wksThe classic golden berry in a papery lantern
Dwarf Cape Gooseberry Classicdwarf · pot-friendly · 10–14 wksCompact plants for pots

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Basil, Marigold, Bean

Cape Gooseberry by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Tomato · Capsicum · Chilli · Eggplant · Cucumber · Zucchini

Not sure cape gooseberry is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now