After blackcurrant big bud...

[lornaluft]

My newish allotment has two blackcurrant bushes that seem to be suffering from very bad big bud mites :( Books say to dig up and burn them but if i were to do that what (if anything) could I put in their  place? Could I plant new fruit bushes or is the ground infected and unusable!
Is there anything I could do with them??
Please could someone help me as It would be tricky to redesign the whole plot lay out, cause I like it the way it is, but I suppose I would, if I had too ::)

[lornaluft]

[manicscousers]

we pick the big buds off and burn them but only had a few, depends how bad it is, could cut the branches down to renew it  :)

[tonybloke]

the best way to be totally rid of the mites is to............................





cut the bushes down to the ground, and burn all of the 'wood'

then apply a good dollop of Farm Yard Manure to the rootstock (they'll regenerate) you will be harvesting after 1 season.
rgds, Tony

[Digeroo]

I thought that the problem is not just the mites but the fact that they carry reversion virus, so after a while the plants get narrow strappy leaves and small tasteless fruit.   Does cutting them right back get rid of this problem.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Not if the plant has this problem, but you don't know yet. Cut them down and give them a chance. Aphids carry viruses as well, but if we assumed virus every time we saw an aphid, we'd never grow anything!