What Pests Or Diseases Can Harm A Gooseberry Bush In My Garden?

Do the leaves and fruits have powdery white patches on them?

Do the nearly ripe fruits have holes in them and are the fruits and leaves covered with webbing?

Does the fruit changes color and drops early?

Do the leaves have spots on them, some leaves may have gotten yellow and dropped?

Is the foliage stripped from bushes just as leaves expand?

Powdery white patches on gooseberry leaves and fruits are caused by fungal disease - American gooseberry mildew. To prevent this disease, avoid overfertilizing plants. Lush, sappy growth is more susceptible to infection. Plants well-supplied with potassium are best able to resist mildew. For serious infection, spray plants with lime-sulfur. Don’t spray sulfur on the cultivars 'Bedford Yellow’, ‘Langley Gage", and ‘Leveller’ as these are easily damaged by sulfur.

These symptoms usually indicate insects - Gooseberry fruitworms. These are the yellow-green larvae of a moth that infests both gooseberries and currants. Damaged fruit may be hollowed out and may change color prematurely. Clean up and destroy damaged fruit to reduce future populations.

These symptoms usually indicate Currant fruit fly larvae. The currant fruit fly lays eggs on gooseberries and currants in the spring. The larvae that hatch from these eggs feed on berries and cause them to drop. Infested berries have a dark spot surrounded by a red halo. Control this pest by destroying all infested berries as soon as you find them.

These symptoms indicate either Septoria leaf spot disease or Anthracnose disease. Both diseases are caused by fungi and both can be controlled by copper sprays. Since both fungi overwinter on leaf litter, you should gather all surrounding leaves and destroy them before new foliage starts growing.

Imported currantworms cause foliage to drop off just as leaves expand. These are the larvae of a sawfly that lays eggs on gooseberry bushes. The larvae devour the leaves, then drop to the ground to pupate. Control their numbers with a commercial pyrethrin spray. Make sure to spray into the center of the bush.

If the gooseberries leaves have blistered and reddened, most likely cause are aphids. These tiny insects can vary in color, green, pink, black, gray to completely white. They cluster under leaves and on growing tips where they feed on plant sap. Leaves become distorted and later drop from the plant. You can control them by washing them off the plant with water spray. Insecticidal soap or neem oil should be used with severe infestations.