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Diseases of gooseberry berries can destroy even the strongest fruit bushes in the garden. To keep gooseberries healthy and strong, you need to know the symptoms of diseases and pests and effective control and prevention measures.
Gooseberry pests with descriptions and photos
Gooseberry bushes in the garden are quite often affected by pests; insects especially often appear on the plant in the absence of careful care. However, each of the pests can be successfully dealt with if you study photos of gooseberry pests and their control.
Shoot aphid
The shoot aphid pest feeds on young shoots and leaves of the plant. The size of the insect does not exceed 2 mm; adult aphids have a pale green color and a slightly elongated body shape. In autumn, shoot aphids lay black small eggs at the base of the buds, and in early spring larvae emerge from them.
The peak of gooseberry aphid damage occurs in May and June, but several generations of the pest may appear during the season. Plants affected by aphids can be recognized by deformed internodes and leaves curled into clumps. The plant on which the aphids have bred loses vitality, the leaves begin to dry out and fall off.
To eliminate aphids, proven insecticidal agents are used - Karbofos, Actellik, Vofatox. The plant is sprayed in the spring before the buds open to prevent aphid larvae from penetrating inside the shoots.
Kidney mite
The microscopic pest does not exceed 2 mm in size and resembles a very small white worm. The mite overwinters inside gooseberry buds, and infects the bush very en masse—several thousand larvae can settle in one bud. Symptoms are expressed in the fact that the buds become very rounded, swollen, and the next year after settlement they begin to resemble bursting small heads of cabbage. During the year, the bud mite produces 2 spring and 3 summer generations; if you do not fight it, the pest greatly interferes with the development of the plant and worsens the yield.
The fight against kidney mites is carried out with acaricidal solutions - Topaz, Skor, Vitofors. It is also necessary to completely remove the affected kidneys.
Currant gall midges
The pest resembles a mosquito about 3 mm long and lays translucent small eggs under the bark of the stems, from which colorless caterpillars about 4 mm long emerge. The pest feeds on the soft, succulent tissues of young stems, causing the shoots to darken, dry out and crack, and the leaves turn yellow and fall off. The gall midge begins to feed on the plant in the spring, and the mass emergence of adult insects from the larvae occurs at the beginning of flowering.
In the fight against gall midge, gardeners prefer to use insecticidal agents and folk methods, for example, a soap solution in combination with steamed tomato tops. You can also plant mint next to the gooseberry bushes - the gall midge does not like its smell.
Currant glass
This pest resembles a small dark butterfly, reaching about 3 cm in wingspan. Glasswort lays eggs in cracks in the bark of branches, and the pest's larvae, white caterpillars, feed on the wood of the shoots. The larvae spend the first 2 winters inside the branches and eat off; only in the third year do insects emerge and pupate, and adult butterflies appear in June.
The harm of glass to gooseberries is expressed in the withering of shoots and the appearance of black spots on cuts of dried branches. Insect control is carried out using radical pruning to completely eliminate the affected parts of the plant.
Caterpillars
Caterpillars of a wide variety of pests appear on gooseberry leaves in early spring immediately during the period of bud opening. During the season, 2-3 generations of caterpillars may appear. You can notice the pest by examining the leaves, but the harm lies in the fact that the caterpillars are able to eat the entire foliage of the bush.
Pest control is carried out mainly with the insecticides Karbofos and Actellik; spraying is recommended after bud break and again after flowering. If caterpillars are found after harvest, the treatment will need to be carried out a third time.
Ognevka
The pest of gooseberry berries, the moth, looks like a green caterpillar with a black head or a dark brown butterfly up to 3 cm in wingspan. The moth lays eggs in gooseberry flowers in the spring, after which caterpillars emerge from the clutch, which settle in the gooseberry ovaries and eat them away. A characteristic sign of moth damage is the finest cobwebs on gooseberry fruits.
The harm to the plant is that the berries ripen ahead of time and then quickly dry out. The fight against the moth is carried out with Karbofos, Aktellik and Ambush, and the gooseberries are sprayed after flowering and immediately before it next year.
Sawfly
The pest consists of bluish-green larvae up to 1 cm long, from which adult butterflies emerge in the spring at the beginning of flowering. In turn, they lay eggs on the underside of the leaves, and after about 1.5 weeks, caterpillars emerge from the eggs and begin to eat the leaves of the bush. As a result, the plant loses its foliage, the shoots begin to grow worse, the berries become smaller and fall off.
The fight against the sawfly is carried out with insecticidal solutions; if there are currant bushes next to the gooseberries, you need to treat them too, the pest usually settles on several plants at once.
Moth
The pest is a large spotted butterfly with a wingspan of up to 5 cm. The pest caterpillars appear in early spring, as soon as the gooseberries produce buds.In mid-summer, the caterpillars develop into adult butterflies, which again lay eggs on the underside of the gooseberry leaves. Just 2 weeks later, the second invasion of the pest occurs on the bush, this time the caterpillars eat the leaves.
The pest of gooseberry leaves, the moth, causes significant damage to the decorative appearance and health of the plant, leading to its withering and drying out. The fight against moths should be carried out with the help of Actellik and Karbofos.
Currant borer
A small beetle, reaching several centimeters in length, lays larvae inside gooseberry shoots, and at the beginning of summer, the emerging adults lay eggs again on the bark and young leaves. The borer larvae eat the buds and foliage of the gooseberry, and also gnaw through the passages inside the shoots, as a result of which the gooseberry stops growing and bearing fruit.
As part of pest control, you need to completely remove all affected branches, even if you have to cut the currants at the root.
Spider mite
Among gooseberry pests and their control, the spider mite, which has a brown, yellow or green color, is especially famous. The pest lays eggs on the leaves below and actively eats gooseberry foliage. Spider mites can be easily recognized by the presence of a characteristic thin web on the bottom of the leaves. If the plant is affected severely enough, its foliage becomes “marbled” over time, dries and falls off, the gooseberry loses its winter hardiness, and its yield decreases.
The fight against spider mites is carried out in the spring during the period of bud break, and the best effect is achieved by solutions of Karbofos, Phosfamide, Metaphos and Tsidial.
How to spray gooseberries against pests
Insect control is usually carried out in early spring, as soon as the temperature rises above 5 °C. The optimal period for spraying the plant is from mid-March to mid-April; also, for preventive purposes, gooseberries can be re-treated immediately after they bloom.
- The most commonly used chemicals for pest control are Actellik and Karbofos; solutions of Vitofors, Phosfamide and other insecticidal preparations are also popular.
- Home remedies that work well include soap and onion solutions, as well as colloidal sulfur.
- It is recommended to spray gooseberries in cloudy weather without rain. Precipitation can instantly wash away insecticidal agents from the leaves of a bush, and the sun dries out the solutions too quickly and does not allow them to exert their beneficial effects.
When fighting insects with insecticides, it is important to pay attention to personal protection - wear thick gloves and a respirator, protect your eyes and nose so as not to inhale toxic substances. The fight must be carried out in work clothes, which are thoroughly washed immediately after spraying.
Diseases of gooseberry bush, leaves and berries with photos and descriptions
Not only pests, but also diseases such as fungi and viruses can negatively affect the health of gooseberries. In order to cure the bush in time, you also need to know gooseberry diseases and their treatment, routes of spread and symptoms.
Spheroteka
A disease of gooseberries with a white coating on the berries is spheroteca, or powdery mildew; it most often affects the bush. The disease is caused by the fungus Sphaerotheca, which develops especially actively in warm and humid conditions. The main symptoms of the disease are a whitish coating on the leaves, which becomes denser over time, affects the ovaries and fruits, and leads to premature fruit drop.
The fight against the disease is carried out using Bordeaux mixture and copper sulfate; you can also use a solution based on tar soap.
Anthracnose
Another disease that leads to the appearance of mold on gooseberries and deformation of the leaves is anthracnose. The disease is caused by a fungus of the genus Colletotrichum, which spreads to the plant from the soil. Symptoms of the disease first appear as small brown spots on the leaves. Subsequently, anthracnose causes the gooseberry leaves to turn completely brown and the fruits to become covered with dark mold.
The fungus multiplies mainly in the rainy, warm months. To combat it, you need to remove all affected parts of the gooseberry and treat the bush with Bordeaux mixture, Cuprosan, colloidal sulfur and other fungicidal substances, and treatment of the disease is carried out in early spring.
Septoria
Septoria disease is caused by the fungus Septoriaribis Desm and appears primarily as gray spots with a dark border on gooseberry leaves. Then microscopic fungal fruiting bodies appear on the spots, which look like dark dots. Gooseberry leaves begin to dry out, become deformed and fall off, and in one summer the bush can completely lose its crown.The fungus spreads from spores that appear in the ground at the roots of the gooseberry and, if left untreated, can destroy the plant.
The disease is controlled using fungicides - Bordeaux mixture and copper sulfate. It is also necessary to remove all affected parts of the bush and clean the soil at its roots.
Rust
The fungal disease rust appears on gooseberries most often when the bush is close to cedars or sedges. The disease manifests itself by the appearance of yellowish pads on the underside of leaves, on flowers and fruit ovaries, and the fungus forms in these pads. Over time, rust forms a dense dark coating on the leaves and fruits, as a result of which the gooseberries begin to fall off and bear fruit worse.
To combat the disease, spraying with Bordeaux mixture and other fungicides is used. In this case, the treatment must be carried out three times - after the leaves appear, during the budding period and immediately after flowering.
Gray rot
The disease gray rot, or scab, appears due to the fungus Botrytiscinerea and affects the lower shoots and roots of gooseberries. The berries of the bush are first covered with a gray coating, and then begin to rot and crumble, the health of the plant deteriorates greatly.
Gray rot occurs most often in conditions of neglect of gooseberries and poor ventilation of its shoots. The disease can manifest itself at any time during the spring and summer. The disease can be treated quite well, but to improve the health of the bush, you will have to cut off all the diseased parts and pour charcoal under the roots.
Ascochyta blight
Ascochyta blight is caused by the fungus Ascochytaribesia Sacc, which multiplies in plant debris under the roots of gooseberries. The disease mainly affects the leaves of the plant - in the spring, whitish or light brown spots with a dark border appear on them, and by autumn, dark growths form - fruiting bodies in which the fungus overwinters. Gooseberries affected by ascochyta blight begin to dry out and fall off, and their frost resistance and productivity decrease.
To combat ascochyta blight, you need to prune all parts of the bush that have already suffered from the disease. Healthy leaves and shoots are sprayed with Bordeaux mixture and other fungicides.
Verticillium wilt
Verticillium disease is caused by fungal spores from the genus Verticillium, and the symptoms of the disease manifest themselves in damage to the roots of gooseberries. Against this background, the plant’s leaves turn yellow and wither, but do not fall off, but remain on the bush. Verticillosis occurs almost unnoticed in the initial stages, and then develops very quickly. If emergency treatment is not carried out, the bush will die completely, the fungus will gradually climb up its shoots, clogging the vascular system, and will not allow the plant to receive nutrients.
Treatment of shrubs against verticillium involves spraying the plant with Fundazol or Topaz. It is important to take preventive measures - regularly trim and fertilize the bush, and keep the soil around it clean.
Mosaic
Mosaic is a viral disease of gooseberries - it can spread to the plant from other fruit bushes, and aphids are also often the cause of mosaic infection.In the photo of treatment of gooseberry diseases, you can see the symptoms - bright pale yellow patterns appear on the leaves of the bush, which run along the main veins. If the mosaic is not treated, then over time the leaves begin to dry out and become wrinkled, the gooseberry will stop producing fruit and will stop developing.
It is very difficult to cure mosaic; chemicals and home remedies hardly help against the disease. The only treatment option is to remove all affected parts of the bush and then carry out regular treatment against pests that can carry the disease.
Alternaria blight
The disease is caused by the fungus Alternaria grossularia Jacz and affects not only the leaves, but also the shoots and fruits of gooseberries. The first symptoms of Alternaria blight are gray-black spots that appear in the spring on the edges of the leaf blades, and by autumn a black-green velvety coating appears on the leaves and shoots. Gooseberry leaves begin to dry out and fall off, the bush weakens and becomes less resistant to cold. Alternaria most often enters the plant from plant debris on the soil surface, in which fungal spores develop.
Alternaria blight is treated with Bordeaux mixture before flowering and after fruiting. It is also important to promptly remove fallen leaves and other plant debris from the area where gooseberries grow.
Drying of shoots
The disease is of fungal origin, and fungal spores usually fall on gooseberries from unharvested soil on which remains of leaves and small twigs lie. The disease affects the bark of the plant, it becomes less elastic and becomes covered with cracks, in which small rounded black growths appear over time, representing the actual body of the fungus.
Treatment of the disease is carried out by radical pruning of all diseased parts; the gooseberries also need to be treated with copper sulfate and Bordeaux mixture.
How to treat gooseberry diseases
Any gooseberry disease must be treated urgently to prevent the death of the plant. Typically processing is carried out by the following means:
- copper sulfate and garden pitch;
- Bordeaux mixture and Fundazol;
- manganese sulfate;
- iron and copper oxychloride;
- zinc and boron solutions.
Home remedies are also popular, for example, tar soap, soda ash, lye and ash, which allow you to remove a variety of fungi.
Treatment of plants against fungus can be carried out throughout the warm season - from spring to autumn. Particular attention to prevention and treatment should be paid during the period of bud setting and flowering. But during fruiting, gooseberries should not be sprayed - chemicals and toxic substances can make the fruits of the bush unsuitable for consumption.
Treatment is usually carried out on cloudy days so that the medicinal solutions from the leaves and shoots are not washed off by rain or dried out by the sun. It is necessary not only to spray the leaves and shoots of the gooseberry, but also to spill the soil around it with medicinal solutions in order to protect the roots from diseases.
Preventive treatment of gooseberries against pests and diseases
The fight against gooseberry pests and diseases largely consists of prevention - protecting the plant from diseases and insects is much easier than curing it. In the process of growing a plant, the following preventive measures must be observed:
- regularly dig and loosen the soil at the roots;
- promptly remove all plant residues from the soil;
- annually prune weak and broken branches; it is customary to burn all removed parts of the plant;
- Inspect your gooseberries regularly for any pests or symptoms of fungus.
Every spring and autumn, the plant must be sprayed prophylactically with Bordeaux mixture or mullein infusion; it is useful to add a solution of wood ash to the soil; all these substances eliminate fungi and insect larvae in the early stages.
How to treat gooseberries against diseases and pests in spring
Spring treatment of gooseberries and currants from pests and ailments involves the use of the following chemical and natural agents:
- Preventative;
- copper sulfate mixed with urea;
- ammonium nitrate;
- infusion of wormwood or tobacco;
- Aktofit and Aktellik;
- Skor and Topaz.
In addition to spraying gooseberries in the spring against pests and diseases, before buds appear on the gooseberry branches, you can treat them with boiling water. To do this, pour boiling water into ordinary watering cans and irrigate each bush abundantly, making sure that the hot water gets to all the shoots of the plant. Boiling water will not harm the gooseberry roots, since the earth remains cold and hot water penetrates only into its top layer. But pest larvae and fungal spores will not survive heat treatment of gooseberries in the spring from diseases and pests.
How to treat gooseberries against pests and diseases in the fall
Since many pests and fungal diseases affect gooseberries in the summer and appear only the next year, it is recommended to treat the plant in the fall. It is carried out after the leaves have fallen, and usually a 5% solution of baking soda, a 3% solution of iron sulfate and a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture are used.
Also in the fall, gooseberries can be treated with Karbofos, an infusion of wood ash, or homemade infusions of garlic and onion peels. Before the onset of winter, it is especially important to clean the soil around the gooseberries, burn all plant debris and mulch the soil with a dense layer of peat.
Conclusion
Diseases of gooseberry berries are mostly treatable, but it is very important to notice illnesses or pests in time. It is recommended to regularly inspect gooseberry bushes for damage, and if pests or fungus are found on the leaves, immediately spray with proven products.
