There are two diseases in particular that make life difficult for gooseberries. One lurks when the weather is nice, the other strikes when the weather is wet. You can find out what they are and how to fight them here.
American gooseberry powdery mildew
Sunny, warm summer weather is always accompanied by a threat from gooseberry powdery mildew for gooseberry bushes. This is the widespread fungal infection Sphaerotheca mors-uvae. A mealy-white coating appears on the leaves, berries and the tips of the shoots. This gradually turns brown. The gooseberries rot and the foliage dries up. How to stop the disease:
- Cut off all affected shoots
- additionally shorten all shoot tips by 5 centimeters
- Never dispose of the clippings in the compost
- spray with a solution of 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 15 ml each of curd soap and vegetable oil in 2 liters of water
Planting resistant gooseberry varieties such as 'Rolanda', 'Pax', 'Reveda' or 'Rokula' has a preventive effect. In addition, consistent pruning after each harvest is strongly recommended. On this occasion, all shoot tips should be cut back by 5 centimeters, because the fungal spores overwinter here.
leaf fall disease
While rainy weather minimizes the threat of American gooseberry powdery mildew, it also opens the door to leaf fall disease. Brown spots flowing into each other can be seen on the foliage. The edges of the leaves turn yellow and the entire foliage falls off. Since no effective means of control are permitted for the hobby garden, only effective prevention can ward off the disease:
- Always plant gooseberries at a sufficient distance
- do not grow in dry, sandy, poor soil
- spray repeatedly in the spring with a mixture of horsetail broth and diluted nettle manure
- switch to onion peel tea when the fruit begins to hang
- do not leave any leaves under the berry bushes
- thin out regularly and cut back after harvest
- Water generously in the early morning when it is dry
The selection of resistant varieties has also proven itself here in order to give the fungal infection no chance. The main options are 'Rolanda', 'Risulfa' or 'Rixanta'. The dark red 'Rokula', however, has proven to be a little vulnerable.
tips and tricks
Various pests have specialized in gooseberries. They are called gooseberry fly, gooseberry moth or gooseberry sawfly. In a natural garden with many beneficial creatures, such as birds, hedgehogs, parasitic wasps (€22.99) and colleagues, pests have a bad hand. In addition, a close-meshed insect net protects every berry bush from unwanted visitors.
GTH