Hi my gooseberries have a greyish white velvety fungus, there's nothing on the leaves. Do I have to cut the bush back or do I pick off the fruit and spray it with something. Also whats the best thing to use for whitefly on my currant bushes. Thanks for your help.
Margaret
Hi there..that white stuff is gooseberry mildew...unfortunately some varieties of gooseberries are more prone to it than others...and this dry weather we've had encourage the condition..often the bushes that suffer with dry soil/roots gets hit first...there is not much you can do about it now...other than start giving good dollop of water.....the fruit will still be edible, if not gone too far..I have used mine and resulted wiping the surface of the berry with cloth before cooking... ::)..waste not want not...
I've never sprayed mine and by ensuring the bushes are well watered the new growth is healthy and following year berries been fine too...
I've heard that spraying with water diluted skimmed-milk would slow the spread down..but never tried myself..
As for currants...well..I would let the nature to sort itself out..currants are tuff bushes and can take a bit of insects without showing any drastic affects for the cropping.. ;)..are you sure about whitefly...?..never seen on currants..on brassicas yes..more likely froghoppers?
sounds like mildew on the gooseberries. We use a homemade spray - details on the following link. Scroll down to fungicide made using washing soda and soft soap. Also, see powdery mildew sprays further down the page.
http://www.bkthisandthat.org.uk/GardenRecipesV2.html (http://www.bkthisandthat.org.uk/GardenRecipesV2.html)
oh terrific... thanks so much. Oh and the fruit is perfect underneath its velvet coat.
thank you for the link to the site - its great!
Margaret