Gooseberry. Diseases and pests of northern grapes

An unpretentious perennial shrub has been grown in Russia since time immemorial. Gooseberry berries are tasty and very healthy, and thorny branches allow you to use the culture as a hedge. With good agricultural technology, gardeners can receive up to 15 kg. berries from one bush, gooseberries can be so prolific. Diseases and insects significantly reduce the yield, so it is important to provide the plant with good care during the vegetative period. It consists in loosening the soil, timely watering and fertilizing, as well as in pruning and removing the affected branches and berries.

Gooseberry Diseases and Pests

Mostly plants suffer from pathogenic fungi, but they are also susceptible to viruses. Gooseberries must be carefully examined - diseases usually begin with leaf damage.

Sphere library

Better known as American powdery mildew, it can kill a plant in a few years. In the spring, white plaque begins to cover the tops of the shoots and leaves, which later darkens and becomes like felt. It is difficult to defeat the disease: the fungus hibernates directly on the shoots, and spores remain active in spring and summer.

Control measures:

• acquire gooseberries that are resistant to the sphere in nurseries;
• Diseases can be prevented by using bacterial methods: pour rotted manure with water in a ratio of 1: 3, insist 3 days, dilute with two parts of water, strain, process the bushes;
• removal of affected branches in spring and autumn, burning of diseased berries and plant debris;
• spring treatment of the tops of shoots with hot water or spraying with 1% solution of copper sulfate ;
• processing of bushes with colloidal sulfur before and after flowering, application of potash and phosphorus fertilizers in the second half of summer.

Anthracnose

A disease that develops rapidly in high humidity conditions. Brown stains begin to appear on the stalks and shoots. Gradually spreading, they cause the death of leaves. The plant weakens, yield decreases.

Control measures:

• to keep the soil clean from weeds, in the beginning of spring and in the autumn to dig the earth under the bushes;
• in the spring, before the kidneys dissolve, spray branches and soil with copper sulfate or nitrafen. At the first sign of anthracnose, treat it with Bordeaux liquid, but you can do this no later than 1 month before picking berries or 10 days after it.

Rust columnar and glass

It manifests itself in June. These are outwardly similar gooseberry diseases (the photo can be seen on the right), their appearance is caused by the proximity to sedge herbs and conifers. The outer part of the leaf plate is covered with yellow spots, and orange felt pads form on the underside.

Control measures:

• plant bushes away from pine and cedar plantings and mow sedge near the place where gooseberries grow - diseases can be avoided;
• treatment of bushes with biofungicides or Bordeaux liquid during the blooming period, when the buds are separated and immediately after flowering.

Pests

There are many harmful insects that are not averse to sharing their crops with gardeners.

Gooseberry shoot aphid

Prefers to settle on young plants. It attacks fresh leaves, which its “attacks” begin to curl and dry out. Females lay larvae directly on the bark for the winter, and in spring, a larger colony can spread throughout the garden.

Control measures:

• spraying with "Karbofos", "Actellik", "Khostavik";
• method without the use of chemistry - treatment with white mustard infusion .

Gooseberry sawfly  

Females of this pest lay their eggs on the underside of the leaf, and after a week caterpillars emerge from them. They quickly devour foliage, and after 3 weeks go to the ground for pupation. During the season, 2-3 generations of sawfly can harm the plant.

Control measures:

• breaking off affected ovaries, removing fallen leaves, loosening the soil;
• insecticide treatment at the time of kidney dissolution and after flowering.

Gooseberry moth

The most common pest annoying the plant. One butterfly can lay up to 200 eggs in flowers. The born caterpillars bite into the ovary, trying to get to the seeds. Sites of sawfly larvae are covered with cobwebs. Affected berries, not having time to develop, acquire a ripe appearance, then rot and dry.

Control measures: destruction of spider webs, treatment of bushes with insecticides.