Topic: My poor gooseberry bush!

[tricia]

In just a few days my loaded gooseberry bush has been denuded by what I imagine is the sawfly (a dark brown/black caterpillar type beastie). As can be seen in the photos the branches are loaded with fruit but they are still very hard. Will they still ripen? - or if I harvest them now what can they be used for?

Tricia

[strawberry1]

Is that invicta? I have three and have picked one bush so far, the others will be picked in a week or two. They will still ripen but must not be short of water. I have frozen mine and they make marvellous sauce for going with mackerel, or gooseberry crumbles, pie or fool

Re the sawfly, try a good prune, starting this summer by taking off side shoots 5 leaves away from the main shoots, later prune to get an 8 inch leg and an open goblet shape. The sawflies will have no where to hide and the bush will produce masses of fruit. I feed mine with comfrey now and then, or a potash feed

[telboy]

tricia,
You could be in for a rough ride - sorry. If it aint sawfly it will be milldew. Dig 'em up/ prepare a well prepared new bed/new stock where the roots won't be disturbed & try again.

[tricia]

strawberry - thanks for that. Yes, I think it is an Invicta, about 5 or 6 years old. I've Googled RHS and they suggest harvesting every other one now and using for jam etc., and let the rest ripen. I used the last of the 2012 gooseberries from the freezer today and my friend will pick some for me to freeze next week. The bush will get pruned after harvesting and again in winter and I'll see what happens next year. There is no chance it doesn't get enough water b.t.w! It's been raining on and off all day again!

telboy - I'm not quite such a pessimist. It will get a chance to fruit next year. If it doesn't then it will just have to die, but it won't be replaced. I'm no longer able to do the kind of  work you suggest so it's just as well my garden is small enough for me to cope with no-dig raised beds and fruit trees.

Tricia

[shirlton]

I saw your post and had to reply to it. The same thing happened to our Gooseberries years ago and someone on here told me to put my rhubarb leaves under the bushes. Since then I haven't had one attack. Everytime I pick rhubarb the leaves go under the bushes. If its Invictor then it is mildew resistant
Hope this helps.

[petefj]

The same thing happened to my gooseberry bushes last year.

The first thing I did was to spray with "Provado" a spray that kills sawfly beetle and give some lasting protection.  I then pruned the bush into a wine glass shape to open the bush up to the air.  I also put rhubarb leaves under the bush.  I don't know if the latter does work but I was prepared to try anything.  And last autumn  I dug the ground up around the bush, very lightly, so that the birds could to get to the overwintering bugs.
And this year I sprayed with "Provado" up to the maximum of three times.  The spray is OK up to 3 days prior to harvesting, and I'm not ready for that as yet.

So far so good.  I find that gooseberry takes a bit of managing, but so far I've not seen any sign of sawfly yet.  You do need to keep an eye on the bush and react the moment you see any sign of infestation.  Try knocking the branches of the bush lightly and watch if anything like a caterpillar drops off.  If it does, BINGO!

Best of luck,

Peter

[tricia]

Shirl - The ground under and around the gooseberry bush has been covered with rhubarb leaves since the first rhubarb pickings - didn't make any difference at all  . Pete - I will try to remember to spray with Provado in early Spring then twice more at intervals to see if that keeps the blighters off!

Tricia 

[antipodes]

This happened to mine last year and I still was able to pick the fruit, they were just smaller than usual. I left the bushes, trimmed them a little this winter and fertilized them; This year they seem OK and are full of fruit...