White coating on gooseberries: how to treat the berries? TOP products

White coating on gooseberries: why does it appear?

White plaque on gooseberries: photo

From about the middle of summer, a white coating may appear on the gooseberry, which will be noticeable on the leaf blades and branches of the plant. Perhaps this is a fungal type disease called powdery mildew. For active growth and development of this disease, humid and warm weather conditions are needed. If the crop grows in a place with an increased percentage of importance, then this will contribute to the active development of the disease. The white coating will very quickly spread throughout the entire plant, and then to neighboring crops. Fungal spores overwinter in fallen leaves, as well as shoots, dormant buds and in the core of the bush. With the arrival of spring, they begin to develop again. Often those gooseberry bushes that are not subject to sanitary and renewal pruning are affected by a white coating. Dense thickets of bushes also contribute to the development of the disease due to the high percentage of humidity and dampness inside the bush. It is very important to remember that the white coating on gooseberries spreads very quickly, and if timely measures are not taken, other plants can become infected with it.

Signs

In order to take protective measures in a timely manner, you need to correctly recognize the disease. The following signs indicate its development:

on graceful twigs, leaves and berries, a white, loose coating begins to appear, reminiscent of a thin flour layer:
after a short period of time, whiteness begins to give way to brown shades, less often to gray and black;
the berries stop growing and do not ripen, but simply change in shape, drying out over time;
leaf plates covered with plaque curl, wither, and then fall off.

First, the appearance of spots is detected on the berries. As they develop, they are noted throughout the vegetative mass. If the intensity of the lesion is high, the number of spots increases rapidly. And then the individual areas of infection merge. It is advisable not to wait for the coating to acquire dark tones. This could threaten the death of the gooseberry.

The first signs of powdery mildew are berries covered with a light coating.

There is a white coating on gooseberries: what to do?

White plaque on gooseberries: photo

You can start treating gooseberries to remove white plaque with the arrival of spring. You need to adhere to several rules, and also take into account the growth and development of the plant.

Gooseberries are a crop that breaks dormancy very early. Therefore, the first spraying procedure should be carried out almost immediately after the snow melts. It is very important to do it before the buds begin to swell. This treatment will help in getting rid of all pests that have left for the winter, as well as in destroying fungal spores. You also need to remember to trim the bush.
Subsequent treatment of the bush should be carried out when the buds are already swelling, but have not yet opened.
The next treatment is carried out when buds begin to form.
The next spraying is carried out when small ovaries begin to form on the plant.
Another spraying should occur when the gooseberries begin to bear fruit. This is a preventative measure that does not require chemicals. Fungicidal agents can only be used if the plant is severely affected.
Spraying should not be carried out in rainy weather, without wind. This should be done either in the morning or in the evening.
If you use chemicals, you need to remember to take safety precautions. You need to use: 1) clothing that completely covers the skin; 2) protective apron; 3) respirator; 4) safety glasses; 5) latex gloves. After the spraying procedure, you need to take a shower and wash your clothes separately from the rest of your clothes.
By the time you carry out the treatment, the bush should already be after sanitary pruning.
When you choose the products that are suitable for you, you need to take into account the number of repeated treatments, as well as the time when the berries can already be eaten without harm to health. Experienced gardeners also recommend changing medications from time to time so that harmful organisms do not develop immunity.
When preparing solutions, you need to use clean, soft, filtered water at room temperature. Also, the resulting solution must be filtered so as not to clog the spray bottle.
In addition to the crop itself, it is necessary to cultivate the soil around it. If it rains after you spray the plant, the procedure must be repeated. If you use system tools, reprocessing is not required.

White plaque on gooseberries: photo

If the plant is affected by powdery mildew, which has already spread to the berries, then most likely the disease is at a high level of development, and it is simply necessary to take emergency measures. If no measures are taken, you may lose your harvest. Those berries that are affected will gradually shrivel, dry out and fall off over time. If the berries form again, they will simply fall off. In the spring-autumn period, you can treat the bushes with chemicals, but in the summer, softer agents are needed.

Other gooseberry diseases expressed by spotting

There are several reasons for the appearance of spots. Not all spotting is a sign of powdery mildew. If at the end of spring or early summer, gray-brown or red spots with a yellow edging begin to cover the leaves and berries of the berry plant. Then they acquired a whitish color, and only the rim around them remained brown; the gardener was faced with white spotting of the berry plant. It is also known as septoria.

With intensive development, by the end of summer the foliage will simply fall off, the growth of shoots will noticeably decrease, and next year’s harvest will be in jeopardy. The risk group includes weakened bushes. If specimens have weak immunity, there is a high probability of developing septoria. Treating the soil around the tree trunk with fungicidal solutions will help protect bushes from white spotting. First, you need to remove all affected leaves from the bushes and trim shoots with signs of disease to healthy tissue.

If the berries and leaves are covered with white spots, do not wait until they change color. You need to start treatment immediately, but first make sure that the diagnosis is correct.

White plaque on gooseberries: treatment with folk remedies

White plaque on gooseberries: photo

All folk remedies and methods are distinguished by their safe and environmentally friendly composition. They will effectively fight fungi, but will not harm the soil structure, the plant itself, as well as pets and people. A large number of gardeners and gardeners prefer just such methods and methods.

Iodine-based solution for treating white plaque on gooseberries

To prepare an iodine solution, you need to dilute ten drops of iodine tincture in alcohol in ten liters of clean water. Then mix. Must be used immediately after mixing. The bushes need to be sprayed very generously. If you want to get rid of powdery mildew, then you need to carry out two treatments at intervals of three days.

Garlic-based solution for white plaque on gooseberries

The bucket should be filled halfway with garlic arrows, and the rest should be filled with warm water. In order for the solution to infuse, you need to set aside twenty-four hours. After this period of time has passed, the solution must be filtered, and then begin processing the plant. During the spraying process, you should try to get on the back side of the leaf plates.

Whey-based solution for white plaque on gooseberries

This solution works well against fungal spores. To do this, take a liter of whey and dilute it in nine liters of water. There is no need to infuse the solution; it can be used immediately for spraying purposes. Spraying will need to be done twice, seven days apart.

A solution based on baking soda and laundry soap for white plaque on gooseberries

To do this, you need to take ten to twelve liters of hot water, pour fifty grams of baking soda into it, and also grate forty grams of baby or laundry soap on a fine grater. Then mix it all thoroughly until smooth. Let cool. After the solution has cooled, you can start spraying. The second spraying should be done after seven days.

Infusion based on mustard powder for white plaque on gooseberries

You need to take ten to twelve liters of boiling water, then add two tablespoons of mustard powder there. All this must be mixed thoroughly and then allowed to cool. After the solution has cooled, you can spray the bush. If the disease has just begun to develop, then just one spray can help.

A solution based on wood ash for white plaque on gooseberries

To make it, you need to take ten liters of hot water and stir a liter jar of wood ash in it. The ash must come from clean wood, that is, not painted, not glued, not varnished. The solution must be infused for forty-eight hours. Before the spraying procedure, you need to grate thirty to forty grams of laundry or baby soap on a fine grater, this will ensure better adhesion. Spraying should be done twice with an interval of ten to eleven days.

A solution based on onion peels for white plaque on gooseberries

This solution will help not only in the fight against powdery mildew, but also against other fungal spores. Also, many insect pests cannot tolerate the smell of onion peels. To make it you need: five hundred grams of onion peels, pour ten liters of hot water. Let sit for approximately eight hours. After the solution has infused, it must be filtered and then used for its intended purpose.

Mullein-based solution for white plaque on gooseberries

This solution must be prepared with water in a ratio of one to two. You also need to set aside four to five days for it to brew. Before the spraying procedure, you need to dilute it with water in a ratio of one to ten.

Solution based on rapeseed oil for white plaque on gooseberries

Unfortunately, few people know that rapeseed oil can help fight diseases. It perfectly reduces the number of harmful microorganisms. In order to prepare you need: thoroughly mix one hundred milliliters of rapeseed oil in ten to twelve liters of water. After preparation, you can immediately start spraying.

A solution based on brilliant green for white plaque on gooseberries

Zelenka is an antiseptic. In order to prepare a solution in ten liters of water, you need to stir fifteen to twenty drops of the drug. The second spraying will need to be done after seven days.

Gooseberry pests and their control

Gooseberries also have more than enough pests, and you need to know each one by sight. We will tell you about those that are the most common cause of problems.

Aphids on gooseberries

The gooseberry shoot aphid infects leaves and young shoots of gooseberries, feeding on their juice. As a result of the vital activity of aphids, which produce several generations over the summer, the leaves curl, and the shoots slow down and eventually stop growing. It is not easy to detect aphids right away - they are very small and green in color, and you can notice them when there are already too many of them. Cut off and destroy damaged shoot tips and treat gooseberry bushes with Actellik or Karbofos.

If you managed to detect the appearance of aphids at the very beginning, it will be enough to spray the gooseberries with a solution of three hundred grams of soap in ten liters of water. And carefully examine the area: if you find an anthill on it, know that aphids will appear on the gooseberries all the time, and you need to fight first of all not with aphids, but with ants.

Caterpillars

In early spring, gooseberries that are just opening their leaves are attacked by caterpillars that emerge from eggs laid along the veins of the underside of the leaves by butterflies of the yellow or pale-legged gooseberry sawfly. One butterfly can lay up to 150 eggs, and two or three generations of sawflies develop in one season.

Treatment of gooseberries with insecticides (Actellik, Karbofos, etc.) against the first generation of caterpillars is carried out from the moment the buds open until the formation of buds, the next time you need to spray the gooseberries immediately after flowering, and if after picking the berries you again find caterpillars on the gooseberries, carry out a third treatment of the bushes insecticides. Try to change insect killers every year.

The caterpillars of the gooseberry moth, which reach a length of four centimeters, behave in approximately the same way. They are destroyed by the same means and in the same time frame as the caterpillars of the yellow or thin-legged sawfly.

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Light green caterpillars with a black head, emerging from gooseberry moth eggs laid in gooseberry flowers, eat away the fruit ovary, enveloping it in a web. One caterpillar can destroy 6 berries. Remove from the bush and destroy any spider nests you find, and after the gooseberries have flowered, spray the gooseberries with insecticides (actellik, karbofos, ethafos). Next year, carry out preventive spraying of gooseberries with these preparations before flowering.

Currant glass

This butterfly lays up to 60 eggs in cracks in the bark of gooseberry shoots, and the emerging caterpillars feed on the core of the shoots, gnawing them from top to bottom, making a tunnel from the top to the base of the shoot. As a result, damaged branches wither and dry out. In the fight against currant glass, the same drugs are used as in the fight against moth, sawfly and moth. In addition, it is necessary, upon discovering branches damaged by caterpillars, to immediately remove them, without leaving stumps, and treat the cuts with garden varnish.

Currant gall midges

Currant gall midges - shoot, flower and leaf - that infect plants in too dense plantings also cause harm to gooseberries. They lay larvae in the shoots, flowers and leaves of gooseberries, which feed on these parts of the plant and destroy them. It is necessary to destroy gall midges after harvesting with the same insecticides as the insects that we have already told you about. As a preventative measure, treat the gooseberries with insecticides again in the spring of next year.

Currant bud mite on gooseberries

This insect damages gooseberry buds by penetrating them and feeding on the juice of young leaves. This makes the kidneys look too large and ugly compared to healthy ones. In addition, this mite carries the terry virus, which is dangerous for currants. From bushes infected with mites in the fall or early spring, you need to remove all unnaturally large buds and treat the plant twice with a solution of colloidal sulfur at the rate of 100 g per 10 liters of water or ISO preparation in accordance with the instructions. The first treatment is carried out during the opening of the buds, and the second – immediately after the gooseberries bloom.

What to do with gooseberries affected by white bloom

Often, those who encounter a fungal disease of a crop for the first time do not know whether the affected fruits can be eaten. White plaque on gooseberries only affects plant crops; it cannot harm humans. But still, it is worth remembering that this is a fungal infection that produces spores. If a person is sensitive to allergic reactions, then this may cause some problems. But it is very important to remember that you cannot eat berries that have recently been processed with chemicals. Often, experienced gardeners use berries by simply peeling them. The fungus does not get inside the fruit. You can also make jam, jam, compote and other preserves from gooseberries affected by white bloom.

How to deal with powdery mildew

When the first signs of the disease appear, treatment of the affected specimens begins immediately. There are several effective ways to help get rid of the disease - folk and chemical. The first is suitable for supporters of natural farming and is safe. But its effectiveness is much lower. In advanced situations it may not help.

Attention! To avoid the accumulation of pesticide residue in fruits, pesticides should not be used to treat gooseberries during the periods of flowering and fruit formation.

Folk remedies

Such control measures are resorted to not only for reasons of complete safety. Sometimes fungicides are simply not at hand, and you need to act quickly. Since folk remedies have a less pronounced effect, white or brown coating on fruits and shoots must be combated at a shorter interval. During the growing season, bushes must be treated at least three times. If there has been intense precipitation, the procedure will also have to be repeated. But this is a minor drawback when it comes to the environmental purity of the resulting crop.

Procedures for the prevention of white plaque on gooseberries

White plaque on gooseberries: photo of the disease

It is impossible to provide 100% protection against fungal diseases to plantings. This is due to the fact that fungal spores can be said to float in the air. But you can significantly reduce the risk of disease by providing the bush with comfortable conditions and proper care.

It is very important to maintain the required distance between plantings. The interval between bushes should be at least one hundred and fifty centimeters. This is important for good air circulation and proper sunlight.

Twice every twelve months you need to carry out sanitary and anti-aging pruning. All branches that are damaged, painful, weak, undeveloped, deformed, as well as those growing inside the bush must be removed.

Every year it is necessary to disinfect the bush. To do this, with the arrival of spring, you need to prepare a special solution. It can be made from boiling water to which you need to add potassium permanganate or baking soda. This will help the plant fight fungal spores and insect pests.

With the arrival of autumn, you need to dig up the soil to a depth of fifteen centimeters. This will prevent the development of fungal spores, because they will freeze out in winter, as they will end up on the soil surface.

Throughout the growing season, the soil must be loosened in a timely manner, and branches must also be tied up so that they do not touch the ground.

Approximately three times during the growing season, you need to carry out preventive spraying to remove white plaque on the gooseberries. You can do this using:

solution based on copper sulfate;
solution based on wood ash;
solution based on antifungal agents.

Under no circumstances should you overuse those fertilizers that contain nitrogenous elements in the lead. Nitrogenous components need to be added no more than once every twelve months. It is recommended to apply them at the very beginning of the growing season.

Experienced gardeners do not recommend using fresh manure as a top dressing, because it often contains fungal spores of powdery mildew, which is the white coating on gooseberries.

Feeding gooseberries

What to feed

It is well known that all plants need nutrition, which is supplied by organic and mineral fertilizers. How to feed gooseberries in the spring to strengthen their resistance to diseases and pests and ensure abundant fruiting? At this time of year, gooseberries most need nitrogen fertilizers - before the buds open, add 25 g of ammonium nitrate or 30 g of urea to each square meter of plot.

Potassium-phosphorus fertilizers should be applied only a year after planting the gooseberries, or even after several years - it all depends on the composition of the soil on the site. They are applied in the fall: per square meter, half a bucket of rotted manure, 15 g of potassium chloride or 100 g of ash and 45 g of superphosphate. Fertilizers are scattered around the bush at a distance of up to two meters from the center in a circle - this is the distance the roots of the bush grow, and then buried with a hoe to a depth of about 10 cm.

Treating gooseberries with copper sulfate or milk solution

Every year in early spring, before or after the leaves bloom, treat the bushes with a solution of copper sulfate.

You can replace copper sulfate by annual preventive treatment of gooseberry bushes (and other crops) with a whey solution or a milk solution with added iodine. The dairy product has an antiseptic effect only when there is sufficient sunlight. Therefore, abundant double-sided spraying (before the liquid drains from the leaves) is carried out at 10-11 o’clock in the morning, always in sunny weather after 1.5-2 weeks.

The solution is prepared in the following proportions: add 2-3 liters of water (no more) and 5-7 drops of iodine to 1 liter of whey/milk. At lower concentrations the solution does not work.

Treatment measures for pests in autumn and spring

As you know, the best protection against any pests is prevention, and it is a mistake to think that these activities are tied to any one specific season. They can and should be carried out both in spring and autumn.

Growing a healthy gooseberry crop is not so difficult if you take care of the plant on time

Among the huge number of modern means of combating insect pests, it is not difficult to find what you need. But we must not forget the folk techniques that can increase the bush’s immunity, and therefore increase its chances for a healthy life.

For example, at the end of March - beginning of April, quickly water the bushes with a bucket of hot water (80 degrees) - the initial volume should be enough for 3-5 plants. After this, all fallen leaves are raked from under the bushes and burned along with the pests and bacteria that overwintered on them.

When the gooseberries begin to form buds, they are sprayed with Rovikurt solution - (75 g per 10 l). This measure of protection against gall midges, aphids and sawflies. A solution of colloidal sulfur is used against pests that attack buds - 40 g per 10 liters.

In the fall, gooseberries are sanitized, removing all leaves affected by diseases and damaged by pests, as well as dry shoots. Gooseberries and the soil around them are treated with nitrophen - 200 g per 10 liters of water. The row spacing is weeded, and the bush is watered abundantly - a circular groove is dug and 30 liters of water are poured into it, after which it is sealed. The tree trunk circle is mulched with peat about five centimeters thick.

Causes of the disease

Powdery mildew spores can be stored in the ground for many years, easily tolerating heat, cold, drought and any other unfavorable external conditions.

They are activated by high humidity. If it was a rainy summer or an inexperienced summer resident overdid it with watering, then the spores awaken from a long sleep and begin to actively multiply, affecting the gooseberry fruits, and then appearing on the leaves.

Bugs, diseases, pests and problem solving

Why gooseberries don’t grow or grow poorly

Usually, poor development of gooseberries is associated with errors in caring for them. The choice of location plays an important role here. For example, by planting gooseberries in an area with high groundwater (less than a meter to the surface), we risk being left without a good harvest, or even destroying the bush. After all, excess moisture in combination with cold fogs inherent in such areas is a factor inhibiting the development of the plant. The same can be said about a place in the shade: the leaves in such a sunless area grow small, as do the few berries.

Solution: gooseberries love a sunny area with groundwater below one meter. Provide him with these conditions, and the berry plant’s immunity will increase significantly.

Insufficient weeding or its absence can lead to overgrowing of the area around the gooseberries. A thick grassy wall will not only retain moisture, but will also deprive the bush of much-needed beneficial and nutritious elements. The result is stunted cultural growth. The same thing happens when planting vegetables between bushes - this should never be done.

Weeds take away useful substances from gooseberries, so they must be constantly weeded out

Solution: very simple - periodically pull out all the weeds around the gooseberry so that all the fertilizers applied go to the berry and no one else.

Errors during landing are quite common. For example, insufficient depth of the root collar (recommended depth is 6-7 cm). At the same time, very thin and weak shoots begin to grow, which cannot form the basis of the future bush. It is clear that this will not give him the opportunity to fully develop.

When planting, the root collar of gooseberries needs to be buried 6-7 cm to ensure strong root shoots.

Solution: proper deepening of the root collar promotes the development of full-fledged shoots, from which, during pruning, you can select the best ones to create the skeleton of the bush.

Gooseberries also need to be fertilized correctly. Sometimes gardeners add too much mineral fertilizer or fresh manure. As a result, the plant gets burned at the roots and develops poorly.

Solution: replace fresh manure with rotted manure, and thoroughly mix the applied fertilizers with the soil. It is recommended to apply the following complex of fertilizers: 1.5-2 buckets of organic matter (the same manure or humus), 1 bucket of peat, 300 grams of ash, 200 grams of superphosphate, 100 grams of lime and 20 grams of potassium salt.

The bush does not bear fruit

The main reason for the lack of fruiting or a small number of berries is the lack of proper pruning. An unkempt bush begins to thicken, its middle no longer receives enough sunlight.

Annual pruning of gooseberries stimulates the growth of new shoots and rejuvenates the bush, strengthening its immunity

Solution: when pruning, it is worth considering that an adult bush should consist of 14-20 shoots of different ages. From the young growth, 4-5 branches are left every year. They gradually replace old branches (over 4-5 years old). If you prune annually, the bush will constantly rejuvenate and produce a stable harvest and bear fruit well.

It is important to water the berry garden properly to maintain a humidity level of 80% near the roots. It turns out that the ground should be constantly moistened, but not flooded. Watering is carried out until the berries accumulate sugar and begin to soften. Then the plant does not need water for some time.

Video: Proper pruning of gooseberries

Incorrect and inadequate feeding not only slows down the growth of the plant, but also reduces the yield. There are fewer berries and they become smaller.

Fertilizers should be used wisely, otherwise, instead of benefit, you can cause harm to the plant

Solution: in the spring, before flowering begins, add 100-150 grams of urea into the ground or dilute this amount in 10 liters of water. You can also successfully use chicken manure several times during the summer, which is used as follows: one part of it is mixed with four parts of water and left for 3-4 days. Then the resulting mixture is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10 and a solution is obtained that can be used to water the gooseberries after flowering or harvesting. Watering occurs in the groove near the plant, but in no case under the bush itself.

The leaves are turning red

Redness of the leaves may be due to a lack of two microelements - iron and boron. In this case, the red color warns of a problem.

Solution: 15-20 grams of iron sulfate are diluted in 10 liters of water (instead of iron sulfate, iron chelate can be used in the amount of 10 grams per 10 l) and foliar feeding (spraying) of the plant is carried out. This method allows you to quickly deliver the missing microelements to their destination, and after 3-5 days the redness should disappear.

It is much more difficult if, after turning red, the leaves begin to turn brown, then dry out and fall off. This phenomenon is associated with the presence of spider mites, which suck the juices from the leaf plates. In dry and hot weather this pest is most dangerous.

The spider mite is a small insect, but capable of sucking all the juice from the leaves and entangling them in a web.

Solution: fill half a bucket of flowering wormwood with 10 liters of water and let it brew for a day. Then boil for half an hour and dilute the resulting solution with water in a 1:1 ratio, add 40 grams of soap.

Alternatively, you can use 400 grams of tobacco, filled with 10 liters of hot water. The mixture is left for two days and then 40 grams of soap are added to it.

Shoots or leaves dry out (leaves fall off)

Not only spider mites can cause leaves to dry out and fall off. No less dangerous is the gooseberry shoot aphid, which attacks young succulent shoots in entire colonies and begins to feed on the vital fluids of the plant. It is easy to detect accumulations of the pest - the leaves at the ends of the shoots begin to deform, curl, forming a dense lump, inside of which light green plaques are visible - these are aphids.

The ladybug is a natural enemy of shoot aphids, which can be successfully used when detecting a cluster of pests

Solution: since the removal of damaged leaves is possible only in the early stages of aphid infestation, it is almost never resorted to. It is much more effective to collect and plant ladybugs, a natural enemy of aphids, on the affected shoots. Considering the diligence of these beautiful insects, there is no doubt that after some time the aphid colony, if not completely disappearing, will be significantly reduced.

If you rely more on folk remedies and chemicals, then use a set of measures to combat aphids:

In early spring, the bushes are watered with hot water, and then during the period when the larvae appear, use the drug “Fufanon” (10 ml of the drug per 10 liters of water - 1-1.5 liters are required per bush) or “Iskra” (1 tablet per 10 liters of water - one bush requires 1.5-2 liters).
After the first procedures, we carry out the next ones in the summer. Use garlic tincture (200-300 g per 10 liters of water), which is thoroughly mixed and filtered. The finished solution is suitable for spraying.
Instead of this product or in addition to it, you can use 150-200 grams of onion peel, soaked in 10 liters of water and infused for 4-5 days. You can also use potato tops (1.2 kg) in the same amount of water, infused for 3-4 hours. Dry tops are used in an amount of 600-800 grams. Another option is 4 kg of crushed burdock leaves per 10 liters of water - leave for 2-3 days, strain and use for spraying.

Another pest that will cause shoots and leaves to dry out and become deformed is the currant gall midge. Despite the name, it pounces on both currants and gooseberries with equal desire.

Currant gall midge is a small mosquito that harms gooseberry shoots and leaves.

Solution: to begin with, it would be a good idea to prevent the pest from leaving for the winter - autumn pruning of damaged shoots, as well as burning leaves, will help with this. Digging up the ground under the bush and mulching the tree trunk circle with peat 6 cm thick will further reduce the number of the pest.

Before flowering, as well as after harvesting, in addition to the already known Fufanon, you can use karbofos (60 grams per 8 liters - 1-1.5 liters per bush). If you decide to spray during the ripening period of the berries, it is better to resort to folk remedies such as tincture of the same wormwood or tomato tops - 4 kg of fresh or 400 grams of dry per bucket of water, leave for 24 hours and add 40 grams of soap. It takes 1.5 - 2 liters of solution per bush.

And one more pest that can destroy (eat) up to half of all shoots - currant glass. It damages the gooseberry branches, which dry out and break over time.

Currant glass is one of the main pests of gooseberry shoots; it looks like a small wasp

Solution: the first measure to protect and treat the bush will be sanitary pruning in the fall and spring. The cut branches must be burned. In May - June, the ground under the bush is loosened and treated with the following mixture: 300 g of ash, 1 tbsp. mustard and ground pepper and 200 grams of tobacco dust. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed and scattered 3-4 tablespoons for each bush. During the flight of butterflies (beginning of June), gooseberries are treated with infusions of dry mustard (20-30 g per 1 liter of water - brew for two days, strain and dilute in 10 liters of water) or celandine (4 kg of plants without roots are infused for 1.5 days in 10 liters of water). After harvesting, you can use karbofos.

Various diseases also contribute to leaf fall. For example, anthracnose. It manifests itself first in the form of small brown spots, which then spread across the leaf blades, and ultimately the leaves turn yellow, dry out and fall off, with the exception of those at the tops of the shoots.

Brown spots with yellow leaves indicate developing anthracnose

Solution: since the causative agent of anthracnose is a fungus that overwinters on the leaves of the plant, the fallen part of them is collected and immediately burned to destroy the spores. This usually happens in the fall. But even in early spring, it is necessary to check for fallen leaves under the bush and, if found, burn them. We tear off the leaves affected by anthracnose, and spray the bush with a solution of copper sulfate (40 g per 10 l).

If the disease is in an advanced stage, use 1% Bordeaux mixture (100 grams of copper sulfate and 100-120 grams of quicklime per 10 liters of water). Spraying is carried out at least four times - before and after flowering, then 12-14 days later the third time and the fourth time after harvesting.

White spot or septoria appears as a large number of gray spots on the leaves. Later, fungal spores appear on the spots in the form of black dots. The leaves begin to curl, dry out and fall off. If measures are not taken in time, the bush will be left without leaves.

White spot (septoria) is easily distinguished by light spots on the leaves

Solution: you need to fight white spot in the same way as with anthracnose - collect and burn fallen leaves, pick off the affected leaves (at the beginning of the disease) and loosen the ground under the bush. You can also increase the plant's resistance to septoria if you add manganese sulfate (3-5 g per 1 sq.m.) to the tree trunk or carry out foliar feeding with boric acid (6-20 g per bucket of water) and borax (10-30 g per bucket of water). bucket). First, fertilizers are diluted in hot water for rapid dissolution, and then the solution is adjusted to the required volume. The first time spraying is carried out on the buds, the second - on the flowers. If this event is carried out after the harvest, its effect will extend to the next season.

Damaged leaves are a sign of parasites

Damaged leaves on gooseberries clearly indicate the presence of pests. It could be either a sawfly or a moth.

The gooseberry sawfly is a real disaster for the gardener. When attacking a plant, through the efforts of the entire colony, in a couple of days it can completely gnaw off all the leaves on the bushes so that only the veins remain. They hide in cocoons located in the ground in the berry patch area. In the spring, when young leaves bloom, butterflies fly out of the cocoons, lay eggs, and after 7-10 days the gooseberry is in great danger.

The gooseberry sawfly is capable of leaving only the main veins of the leaves in a couple of days

Solution: you should get rid of this harmful insect in the fall, digging up the ground under the bushes and destroying the larvae. In spring and summer, as soon as you see the larvae on the bush, shake them down, first spread a film on the ground, and destroy them immediately. Collect and destroy berries damaged by the sawfly immediately, otherwise the larvae will take advantage of the opportunity and go into the ground for the winter.

During the season, periodically spray with a solution of tomato tops, dry mustard or wood ash. If you already know the first two recipes, then it’s time to talk about the wood ash solution: 300 grams of sifted ash is poured with boiling water and boiled for half an hour, allowed to stand for a while, filtered and diluted with 10 liters of water, adding 40-50 grams of soap. This composition can be sprayed twice a month.

If the sawfly gnaws the leaves down to the veins, the moth leaves behind only petioles. It begins to pose a danger to the plant in April, when the larvae emerge from cocoons under fallen leaves. Their main food is buds and young leaves.

The moth can gnaw leaves down to the petioles

Solution: in the fall and early spring, fallen leaves are collected and burned, and the soil is dug up. Spraying with a solution of tobacco decoction or chamomile infusion. For the second remedy, during the flowering period of chamomile, its inflorescences and leaves are collected - 1 kg. This mass is poured with 10 liters of water at a temperature of 60-70 degrees. The container is covered with a lid and left for 12 hours, after which it is filtered and diluted three times, with 40 grams of soap added for every ten liters.

Chamomile can be planted along the edges of the plot, and then such useful raw materials will be at your fingertips. In addition to protecting against pests, it will attract beneficial pollinating insects.

If there is a lot of pest, in early spring and summer (no later than 20-30 days before harvesting) spraying with karbofos is carried out.

Berry fall

The sawfly can cause berries to fall off, since without leaves the gooseberry no longer develops normally. But besides him, there is another terrible enemy - the gooseberry moth. When the leaves bloom in the spring, butterflies fly out of their cocoons in the ground and lay eggs inside the blooming flowers. And within a week and a half, caterpillars are born, capable of gnawing at the existing ovaries in just a month. Berries damaged by larvae turn red long before ripening, then rot and crumble or remain hanging on the bush, entangled in cobwebs.

The gooseberry moth is a malicious pest that eats gooseberry ovaries

Solution: it is logical that in this case the ground needs to be dug up, destroying cocoons and larvae. In general, the set of measures to combat the moth is similar to that applied to the sawfly - the berries are collected and destroyed, and spraying is carried out with the same compounds. In addition to the techniques listed, there is another method that works well in practice.

In autumn or spring, when the snow has just melted, we tightly cover the tree trunk circle with roofing felt or other similar material. The butterflies will not be able to fly out and will die. We repeat the same technique next year.

The cause of berry drop can also be glass rust, whose causative agent is a parasitic fungus. It appears in the form of orange spots with yellow spore pads on the leaves, which then take the form of small glasses. Leaves affected by this disease take on an ugly shape, dry out and fall off. The berries become one-sided, stop developing and dry out, after which they fall off.

Goblet rust is easily recognizable by the orange pads on the back of the sheet.

Solution: to avoid goblet rust, you need to buy gooseberries of those varieties that are resistant to this disease. When planting a bush, you need to choose places without stagnant water and places where sedge does not grow, which is an intermediate point for the spread of the fungus.

Plants damaged by goblet rust are recommended to be sprayed with 1% Bordeaux mixture three times - when the leaves bloom, after flowering and 8-12 days after the second spraying.

White coating/powdery mildew on berries and other parts of the bush, brown spots

Powdery mildew (also known as spheroteca) becomes a real disaster in areas, which causes significant damage not only to gooseberries, but also to other plants. Why is this happening?

The first signs of this disease can be seen after flowering - young shoots and leaves are covered with a white, loose coating that is easily erased. Then the disease spreads to the ovaries and berries, spreads throughout the plant, and the coating turns from white to dark brown felt. Diseased shoots become bent, stop developing and dry out. The leaves curl and become brittle, and the berries also stop growing and crack, after which they fall off. Within just two or three seasons, an entire gooseberry bush may simply die if urgent measures are not taken.

In addition, the problem is that the fungal spores are easily carried by the wind and affect other plants. And there is no need to rely on high summer or low winter temperatures - the fungus overwinters well on fallen leaves and affected shoots and easily tolerates heat.

Powdery mildew manifests itself as a whitish felt on leaves and berries, and its spores are easily carried by the wind

Solution: a long-term fight against the disease is very important, lasting the entire season - from early spring to late autumn. Fortunately, the modern gardener has many good ways to deal with powdery mildew. Let's look at some of them:

Watering the bushes with hot water in early spring leads to the destruction of some of the spores.
It is necessary to treat the gooseberries before the buds open with a 3% solution of Bordeaux mixture (400-450 grams of quicklime, 300 grams of copper sulfate and 10 liters of water) or a solution of soda ash (50 grams per 10 liters with the addition of 40 grams of soap). They spray not only the bush, but also the ground around it.
At the same time, it is a good idea to add wood ash to the tree trunk circle, mixing it with soil, or mix it with water (300 g per 10 l).
The tomato is a very useful plant in the fight against powdery mildew; its stepsons can be used to make an infusion that is already known to us, and the stems can be used to cover the ground around the gooseberries for the winter.
The bacterial method of fight is an original and effective solution. A kilogram of hay dust or rotted hay is poured with three liters of water and left for three days. Then the resulting solution is brought to 10 liters with water. Spraying with this product is carried out in the evening in the absence of direct sunlight or in cloudy weather, since the bacteria in the solution die in the sun. But it is they who will provide us with an invaluable service by starting to eat the mycelium of powdery mildew. We carry out the treatment three times - before flowering, after it and before leaf fall.
In case of severe infection with powdery mildew, the garden is treated with Oxychom (20 grams per 10 liters of water), Fitosporin (15 ml per 10 liters of water) or Topaz (1 ampoule per 10 liters of water). The processing period is arranged in strict accordance with the instructions on the packaging.

Video: Gooseberry powdery mildew (spheroteka)

What means of prevention exist?

The main means of prevention is choosing the right variety. If the gooseberry is resistant to powdery mildew, then you won’t have to worry about fungus. But in cases where there is no choice, you can simply carry out preventive procedures on time. For this purpose, fertilizers made from phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are used; they make the plant more resilient, improve disease resistance and fruit quality.

From time to time it is necessary to loosen the ground under the bush. This is not easy to do, especially since some bushes are thorny, but it is worth it! Loosening provides the roots with oxygen and prevents the leaves and weeds under the bush from rotting.