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There is hardly at least one plant in the garden that is not susceptible to diseases of various kinds. Breeders annually produce new varieties that are more resistant to known viruses, pathogens, but complete invulnerability is still far away. Therefore, in order to save the cultivated crops, you need to know the enemy in person. The topic of this article is gooseberry diseases and how to treat them.
Disease Prevention
As you know, the best treatment is the prevention of disease. This statement works with both the human body and the plants in your garden.
So that gooseberry diseases and colonies of insect pests do not spoil your sunny summer and do not destroy your crop, you need to regularly carry out a set of wellness procedures for the bush.
First of all, it is necessary to treat the bushes with fungicides and insecticides several times a year, since the choice of drugs is now plentiful, you can choose not only an effective, but also an inexpensive remedy, for example, “Ridomil Gold” or “Fitosporin”.
Among folk remedies, the treatment of bushes with boiling water is effective. Spend it in the spring, in the middle or end of March. You will need a bucket of water heated to 80 ºC, which you need to pour over the bush. For ease of use, pour it into a spray bottle. One bucket of hot water is usually enough for 4-5 bushes.
Be sure to collect fallen leaves (including those that do not belong to gooseberries), as well as weed out. It is advisable not to send them to the compost pit, but to burn them in order to surely destroy the fungus, viruses and pest clutches. To avoid the breeding of butterflies, cover the near-stem circle of the bush with roofing material.
In the spring, before the first buds appear, you need to cut off broken branches, darkened and frostbitten shoots. Throughout the year, remove branches affected by fungal diseases so as not to put the entire bush and neighboring plants at risk of infection. Also in the spring, but already when the buds bloom, the gooseberry bushes need to be treated with 3% Bordeaux liquid, and during the season every two weeks – 1% Bordeaux liquid.
Remember that gooseberry diseases often actively develop in the spring, and in the fall they “hibernate” in plant debris, on the ground, on the bushes.
American powdery mildew
One of the most common gooseberry diseases is spheroteca, or American powdery mildew. It is not much different from ordinary powdery mildew, but this is only in the hands of gardeners, because the treatment is also very similar. The first symptoms appear after the end of flowering – gooseberry leaves are covered with white bloom. Its structure is very loose, it is well erased from the leaves, so it is rather difficult to confuse spores of the sphere library with bird droppings. Over time, the fungus spreads to the ovaries and formed berries, gradually darkens and becomes denser, acquiring the appearance of a brown crust. At this point, it can already be noticed and treatment of the plant can begin. If you do nothing, then the affected parts of the bush begin to bend, the leaves curl into a tube, and the berries crack and crumble.
The main danger of the sphere library is that its spores are easily carried by the wind to other plants. In a week, you can have a completely infested garden.
As a preventive measure in spring and autumn, pour hot water over the bushes and the trunk circle, then you need to treat the plant with 3% Bordeaux liquid or a soda solution with soap.
Ash infusion can be used as a treatment by diluting 10 g of ash in 300 liters of water. A 3-day mullein infusion has proven itself well, which is diluted 1:10, filtered, and then sprayed with infected bushes. Among folk remedies, an infusion of tomato shoots is distinguished. To do this, you will need 45-55 g of tomato stems (for example, after pinching), 50 g of grated laundry soap and 10 liters of water. The mixture should be infused for 2 days. Then it is filtered and sprayed with bushes.
Among the chemicals for the destruction of fungal pests, Topaz, Fitosporin, and Oxyhom have proven themselves well. Read the description and instructions carefully before use.
In autumn, it is imperative to cut off the damaged parts of the bush so as not to contribute to the further development of the disease.
Antraknoz
Anthracnose is another fungal disease that threatens the life of your garden. The disease manifests itself as small shiny brown tubercles on the leaves. Over time, they seem to merge into one large convex spot. With the development of the disease, the affected leaves wither, darken, and then die off completely. Infection starts from the bottom of the bush.
Intensive growth of anthracnose spores begins in rainy periods or with excessive stagnation of moisture and dampness in the near-stem circle of the gooseberry. The main negative effect on the plant is not only the withering of the leaves, but also the slowdown in the growth of new shoots, the decrease in the taste of the fruit, and also the low yield.
As a preventive measure, fallen leaves should be carefully removed in the fall, and the bushes should be treated with hot water and fungicides in the spring. As soon as you notice the characteristic symptoms of anthracnose, cut off and burn the leaves without pity.
Anthracnose treatment is carried out by spraying gooseberry bushes with a solution of copper sulfate, which is done by mixing 40 g of vitriol with 10 liters of water. Every two weeks from the onset of the disease, it is necessary to spray the leaves with 1% Bordeaux liquid, including in the fall after harvest.
White spot or septoria
Septoria, or gooseberry white spot, is manifested by many round gray spots on the leaves. Over time, black dots appear on the spots, and the leaves themselves begin to curl into a tube and dry out. Black dots are myceliums in which new spores ripen.
Methods of dealing with septoria are similar to the fight against anthracnose. In spring and autumn, it is imperative to remove all leaves and weeds from the ground, cut off damaged shoots. You also need to loosen and process the near-trunk circle of the bush with a solution of copper sulfate.
As a prevention of septoria, it is recommended to fertilize gooseberries with manganese sulfate, copper, boron and zinc.
goblet rust
The list of pests is also replenished with goblet rust. It appears on all parts of the bush with yellow spots and growths or orange pads. These neoplasms contain spores of fungal pests. With the course of the disease, they take the form of a glass, which is why the disease got its name.
Goblet rust is active at the beginning of summer, when warm weather sets in. Before that, in autumn, winter and spring, she calmly hibernates on weeds and gooseberry bushes. If you do not fight goblet rust, the plant becomes deformed, becomes one-sided, and the vegetative processes in it slow down. Ultimately, this leads to the fact that the leaves and fruits fall off.
As a fight against goblet rust, it is recommended to plant varieties resistant to it, and also not to plant gooseberries next to sedge. Spores love high humidity, so do not allow water to stagnate in the near-stem circle of the bush.
Infected plants should be sprayed with 1% Bordeaux liquid every 10-12 days. You can also use the drug “Fitosporin”.
gooseberry mosaic
One of the most insidious gooseberry diseases is mosaic. Unlike previous pests, this is a viral disease that develops in living cells of plants and insects. The main carriers are aphids and mites.
Yellow spots appear on gooseberry leaves next to the veins. Gradually, the spots increase in size, slowing down the vegetative processes of the bush. There is a deformation of leaves and shoots, a decrease in yield.
As a fight against gooseberry mosaic, one has to take extreme measures – remove infected plants and burn them.
But as a preventive measure, only healthy seedlings should be planted, carefully sprayed with insecticides, and garden tools should be disinfected. In the spring, it is imperative to carry out complex spraying with insecticides and disinfect the soil.
Video “The biggest danger for gooseberries”
This video is about a disease that is considered the “Achilles heel” of gooseberry plantings. We are talking about American powdery mildew, as well as ways to defeat it at their summer cottage.
