Invicta Gooseberry Plants

• Variety: Invicta, the heavy-cropping green cooking Gooseberry
• Latin name: Ribes uva-crispa 'Invicta'
• Sold as: Bareroot plants, and pot-grown in 3 litre pots
• Fruit: Green, smooth-skinned, for cooking. Firm when cooked, and freezes well
• Picking: June
• Habit: Very vigorous and spreading, with large thorns
• Size: 1 to 1.5m tall and wide
• Pollination: Gooseberries are self-fertile: one bush crops alone
• Disease resistance: Some resistance to mildew and leaf spot
• Award: RHS Award of Garden Merit
• Spacing: 1.4m apart, in rows 1.5m apart
• Hardiness: H6, hardy through the British winter
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Pot-grown, all year when in stock. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Invicta is the Gooseberry to grow for the kitchen: heavy crops of smooth green berries that stay firm in the pan and freeze well. The bush is very vigorous, thorny and spreading, with some resistance to mildew and leaf spot, and it holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Invicta Gooseberry Plants

Invicta is a sweet, smooth skinned green cooking gooseberry, staying firm when cooked; it also freezes well. Depending on your palate, it's fine to eat raw as well. It's one of the heaviest fruiting gooseberry bushes available today. The plant is vigorous, spreading and thorny, with great disease resistance. Cropping is early, starting at the end of May or start of June, depending on your location.

Invicta is probably the best variety for growing on wires, so it's ideal for allotments or where space is restricted. Note that the young shoots can be a bit fragile and may be damaged in strong winds if they aren't supported.

Our bareroot gooseberry plants are strong, 2 year old bushes with between 3-5 shoots each, and Invicta is also sold pot-grown in a 3 litre pot. The average spread is about 120cm, so space them at 140cm between plants and 150cm between rows, to give them a bit of space for airflow.

Browse our other gooseberry plants, or our full range of soft fruit bushes.

Growing Invicta Gooseberries:

Gooseberries are tough plants that will grow happily in poor soil, but for the best crop size you should dig in plenty of well-rotted manure or good garden compost. They do well in cold places, but avoid frost pockets, especially those that get the early morning sun: it's better for them to warm up slowly.

Full sun is beneficial up to the start of May, i.e. about a month before harvest. After that, it doesn't matter if other plants cast shade over your gooseberries.

History & Trivia

In addition to the RHS Award of Garden Merit, it is the first gooseberry to win the Special Stock Certificate of Health from the Ministry of Agriculture.

Planting Companions

Invicta is a cooker, so pair it with a dessert Gooseberry for eating fresh: Hinnonmaki Red and Hinnonmaki Yellow are both sweet when ripe. If the thorns put you off, Captivator is almost thornless. Our guide to pruning Gooseberries as bushes and cordons covers both shapes. Dust bareroot roots with Rootgrow as you plant.

Why Ashridge for Soft Fruit?

Ashridge has sold plants since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025. Your Invicta Gooseberry comes bareroot while dormant, or pot-grown for planting in any month. Bareroot plants are guaranteed for 12 months, and so is a potted plant delivered leafless between November and March.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Invicta a cooking or an eating Gooseberry?

A cooking one, and a heavy cropper. Let it ripen fully and you may well like it raw.

Does Invicta get mildew?

It can, but it has some resistance to mildew, and to leaf spot too.

Do you need two bushes for fruit?

No. Gooseberries are self-fertile, so one bush crops alone.

How big does the bush grow?

Between 1 and 1.5 metres tall and as much across, within a few years. Invicta is very vigorous and spreading, so give it room or train it on wires.

Can you grow it as a cordon?

Yes. Gooseberries grow well as open-centred bushes or as cordons, and the young shoots of Invicta are safer tied in, because they can be damaged on exposed sites.

When do you prune it?

Twice a year, like all Gooseberries: once in winter and again in summer.

When are the plants delivered?

Bareroot plants are delivered from November to April, while they are dormant. Pot-grown plants can be delivered and planted in any month when you find them in stock.