The third (and thankfully last for this year) generation....

[ceres]

.....of gooseberry sawfly grubs is currently ravaging my bushes.  Picked dozens of the horrid little blighters off.  Worth doing I hope to reduce the infestation next year.   

[ceres]

[PurpleHeather]

In the Victorian Farm a few weeks back the lady made a mix of elder leaves soaked overnight in boiling water with pure soap and sprayed that over the gooseberry bush.

Soap that is, as in Lux not detergent as in fairy liquid.

It seems pure enough to be organic to me and a darn sight easier than picking littke grubs off a prickly plant.

Can't say that the sawfly cause much of a nuisance because they seem to eat the leaves after the berries have been picked.

[ceres]

If the plant is defoliated by the caterpillars it's growth and vigour for next year will be affected.  Plus, picking them off now means less of them next year.

I find it quite weird that people are happy to spray with illegal home-made concoctions but are reluctant to use legitimate commercial sprays.  Just because a spray is made from something 'natural' (i.e. leaves) doesn't mean it's any less nasty.

[shirlton]

We have been putting our rhubarb leaves underneath the gooseberries all year whilst we were picking the rhubarb and we aint had no sawfly. Thankyou Ceres for the tip

[ceres]

Great shirl!  It seems to have worked on some of mine but not all.  I have 2 that are completely clean, go figure.

[valmarg]

When we had a gooseberry bush, we used to get gooseberry sawfly in the spring.  At the first sign, I used to chuck a handful of peanuts under the bush, and it wasn't long before the grubs had disappeared.  It coincided with the time adult birds were looking for food for their chicks. ;D

Might be worth getting the birds to help you, without the necessity of resorting to sprays.  Just a suggestion. ;D

We eventually had to let the gooseberry bush go when it was infested with mildew.

Whilst I could get rid of the sawfly without spraying, the mildew would have needed a fungicide, and I don't like spraying anything with anything we are going to eat.

valmarg

[ceres]

My gooseberries are in a fruit cage so no birds I'm afraid.  I'm just resigned to picking them off for as long as it takes three times a year.  If I ever replace the bushes, I'll look for thornless varieties though.  It was suggested on here to put a sheet under the bush and beat it with a stick but I didn't find it dislodged many of them and I lost a lot of leaves in the process!

[valmarg]

I never found it necessary to cage the gooseberries.  They were a bit too sour  for the turdus family.

When the sawfly grubs initially appear the bushes are only just coming into leaf, so there is no fruit available.  It might be worth leaving a section of the cage open so that the birds could do the work in one go. :)

valmarg

[saddad]

I wonder if there are any more on the Solomon's seal then?