Content
Mold on gooseberries is a common occurrence. If you know how to prevent its occurrence and start treatment on time, you can save the harvest.
What diseases cause mold?
Mold is most often caused by fungal diseases. It is difficult to combat them, so they usually try to take preventive measures. Failure to comply with planting and care conditions leads to the occurrence of such diseases.
Gray rot
Gray rot rarely appears on gooseberries, but leads to the formation of mold. This usually happens if the plant is not cared for properly. The shoots are affected from below, the berries begin to rot and ultimately fall off. All diseased parts of the plant must be removed immediately, otherwise the mold will spread throughout the plant. Reducing humidity and maintaining sufficient distance between gooseberry bushes will help to avoid rot.
Glass rust
Appears as bright orange spots. The disease develops in early summer, affecting fruits and leaves. Mold is similar to rust.In mid-summer, such fruits fall off along with the affected leaves. Dampness promotes the rapid spread of mold on gooseberries.
American and European powdery mildew
American powdery mildew (spheroteca) usually occurs after gooseberries bloom. All parts of the plant become covered with a white coating of mold, which later turns brown. The disease can destroy a bush within 2 years.
European powdery mildew at the initial stage is similar to American powdery mildew with a white coating, but it appears in mid-July and does not affect gooseberry fruits. Mold does not change color throughout the entire period of illness.
Causes of mold on gooseberries
Mold appears on gooseberries for a number of reasons:
- warm weather with high humidity;
- planting in lowlands or in the shade;
- soil is too wet;
- infection from nearby plants or harmful insects;
- a large number of shoots around the gooseberry;
- excessive amounts of nitrogen fertilizers;
- weeds that were not removed in a timely manner.
These factors lead to fungal diseases that cause mold.
What to do if the gooseberry is covered with mold
You can fight mold on gooseberries using both traditional methods and chemicals. If treatment is required during the ripening period of the berries, then natural remedies are preferable.
Experienced gardeners use 5 main folk methods to combat mold:
- Potassium permanganate solution - perfectly removes fungus from gooseberry leaves and fruits. In addition, the product can stop the further development of the disease and its spread to healthy parts of the plant. The solution is prepared as follows: add 10 g of potassium permanganate to 15 liters of water. The gooseberries are sprayed with the resulting mixture.The processing frequency is once every 10 days. Spray gooseberries with potassium permanganate until harvest.
- Ash decoction - half a bucket of ash is mixed with 10 liters of water. This solution must be boiled for half an hour. To carry out the treatment, the product is mixed with water in equal parts. To keep the solution on the gooseberry bush, laundry soap is added to it and then the plant is sprayed.
- Manure solution - the fertilizer is poured with water at the rate of half a 10 liter bucket and left to infuse for 3 days. The infusion must be stirred every day. After the manure has stood for the required time, it is filtered. Dilute with water at a rate of 1:10 immediately before spraying. Treatment to combat mold is carried out every 7-10 days.
- Infusion of organic ingredients — it is prepared from rotted hay and forest litter in equal quantities. Greenhouse soil is also added to the mixture. The resulting composition is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:3, left for 3 days, then sprayed on the gooseberries.
In order to fight mold on gooseberries, fungicides are used:
- Topaz - a substance with a systemic effect, destroys the fungus in the phase of active growth of spores and their manifestations from the fruit link. Any weather conditions are suitable for using the drug. A visible effect is observed already on the 3rd day; treatment is carried out for 14 days in the spring before and after flowering. The main advantage of this product for combating mold is that it is non-toxic.
- Fundazol - a broad-spectrum agent. Has low toxicity. The treatment is carried out in hot weather; the higher the air temperature, the greater the effect. To combat mold, gooseberries are sprayed with foundationazole before flowering and after harvesting the fruits. The plant is protected by the drug for 10 to 20 days.
- Topsin - is a systemic drug that is used both for the treatment and prevention of mold on gooseberries. The substance accumulates in the roots of the plant and fights fungus. The effect is achieved in 3 days and lasts for 25-30 days.
- But - a therapeutic and prophylactic drug to combat fungal infections of gooseberries. Bushes can be sprayed in any weather. The plant will be protected for about 15 days.
Prevention measures
Preventing mold on gooseberries is much easier than fighting it later. A number of preventive measures will help with this:
- Compliance with the rules of agricultural technology, maintaining the required distance when planting, avoiding thickening, removing damaged and weakened parts of the plant.
- Removing leaves and other vegetation from the soil under the bushes where the fungus can live, as well as loosening the top layer.
- Experienced gardeners advise treating the bush with boiling water twice a season; this will destroy fungal spores.
- The use of special products that increase the plant’s resistance to diseases. You can use Zircona in spring and autumn.
- Avoid excess nitrogen fertilizers; feed gooseberries with phosphorus-potassium compounds.
Gooseberry varieties resistant to diseases
Gardeners prefer to plant gooseberry varieties that are resistant to fungal diseases, so as not to have to deal with them later.These crops have indicators no worse than the others - growth rate, taste and size of fruits. The most popular varieties:
- African - fruits are almost black, oval in shape. The taste is reminiscent of black currant. The variety is winter-hardy, the bush is medium spreading, there are practically no thorns.
- Negus - has a powerful bush up to 2 m high, the shoots are covered with thorns. The berries are smooth without pubescence, black-blue on the outside, reddish on the inside, and have a sweet and sour taste. The fruits do not fall off when ripe.
- Isabel - the bush is tall but compact, there are few thorns, the berries are cherry-colored, with a little fluff. Winters well, but is prone to fruit shedding.
- Neslukhovsky - an early variety with a slightly spreading bush about 1.5 m high. There are thorns on the shoots, the leaves are slightly pubescent. The berries are colored from dark red to purple. The pulp inside is tender, sweet and sour taste. Strong branches securely hold the fruits.
- Russian yellow - medium-sized bushes with an average height of 1 m, spreading crown. There are few thorns, they are mainly located at the roots. The berries are large, honey-yellow in color with a waxy coating. The skin is medium in thickness.
- Russian red — ripening period is late, the berries are oval, dark red, without pubescence, but with a bloom. The variety is high-yielding and winter-hardy with high self-fertility.
- Seedling Lefora - a variety with a mid-early fruiting period. The bush is spreading, the shoots are thin with a small number of thorns. The berries are medium in size, rich red in color with a pleasant dessert taste. It has high winter hardiness and productivity.
These varieties and hybrids should be purchased only in specialized nurseries, then their health and required characteristics will be guaranteed.
Conclusion
Mold on gooseberries is, although an unpleasant phenomenon, but it can be eliminated. Modern drugs can effectively fight the fungus. And if you follow the rules of gooseberry agricultural technology, then it can be completely avoided.
