Gooseberries and american mildew

[davholla]

I am sorry I think I have asked this before but I can not find it :(

How do I use sodium bicarbonate to prevent american mildew.

[growmore]

Have never tried it outside . But I have used it in the greenhouse on powdery mildew  etc .
Method was dissolve an ounce in a gallon of water and drench spray ... cheers Jim

[davholla]

When did you do it ?  Is there a specific time of year to prevent it.
Did you try using soap as well ?

[growmore]

I have never used Bicarb as a preventative only when I saw very early signs, It seemed to arrest it OK . As a preventative to blight mould etc outside,I use Dithane 945. I dont know if this is suitable for gooseberries. I can't comment on the soap as  the only time I ever used it was on whitefly on sprouts they seemed to enjoy the bath as it didn't shift em  for long.  :) 
I presume you mean the soap  as in a wetting agent .No I didnt try it with bicarb ...
Cheers Jim

[BAK]

An alternative which we use successfully is washing soda and soft soap.

Scroll down this link to locate recipe

http://www.sunningdaleallotments.org.uk/GardenRecipesV2.html

[davholla]

Do you use it as a treatment or preventative ?
Also what is soft soap exactly ?

[BAK]

davholla,

literally soap in liquid form. Used to be able to get it in chemists.

Alternative - horticultural soap which you should be able to find in garden centres.

It will function better as a preventative (we spray at the beginning of May and again 3 weeks later - though it depends on the year).  It will also do a job a  treatment but preventative is much better.

[Dadnlad]

davholla  -  just remembered, old Bert on the plot next to us, uses bicarb as a (watered on) preventative for goosegog mildew
He also applies the same to his onions/shallots, to prevent downy mildew -  at a guess I would say May/June time
Not sure about his onions, but his goosegogs are second-to-none on our site  ;D