Mildew on gooseberry?

[Gman]

Hey folks,

Is this mildew on my gooseberry?

if so, I have read that I just need to prune out every affected area and burn. But that would mean all it’s new growth after being planted in the winter. Is there any other alternative?

cheers

[burnie]

I too had that and it does look like mildew, I ended up cutting mine down to the ground and starting again, apparently the key is to open up the middle to get a better airflow through it, I'm aiming for a wine glass shape...…...………………...we like a wine glass shape lol.

[Gman]

Cheers Burnie,

Did you let the plant grow from the ground again, or did you just replace it?

i was trying to train it as a cordon up against a short south-facing wall because I read that that also made mildew less likely, but it seems not to have been successful so far..

g

[nickdub]

Some varieties of gooseberry, particularly the old-fashioned ones are much more susceptible to mildew and more or less whatever you do will get the same problem each year - they will still grow and even produce fruit but I don't think its really worth it to persist with a susceptible variety for most gardeners. The new types which are more or less the only ones you see in supermarkets as

[burnie]

Cheers Burnie,

Did you let the plant grow from the ground again, or did you just replace it?

i was trying to train it as a cordon up against a short south-facing wall because I read that that also made mildew less likely, but it seems not to have been successful so far..

g

I let the old one grow again, like nickdub said, some do seem to be prone, mine is a lovely red dessert one, so I am giving it one last chance, my other green, newer variety doesn't seem to get the problem. If it gets the problem again I will bin it and try to get a new one that is more resistant, I do like a guzzgog and strawberry crumble.

[ameno]

I let the old one grow again, like nickdub said, some do seem to be prone, mine is a lovely red dessert one, so I am giving it one last chance, my other green, newer variety doesn't seem to get the problem. If it gets the problem again I will bin it and try to get a new one that is more resistant, I do like a guzzgog and strawberry crumble.

If you end up needing to replace it, I recommend Hinnonmaki red. It's also a lovely red dessert variety, but it has good mildew resistance.

[Plot70]

I have never seen mildew on a red gooseberry.
I had a geern one from a cutting that got mildew whatever I did. I pulled it up and used the remains for mulch without the mildew spreading onto the new plant.
I bought a red one from Wilco and it has proved itself to be mildew proof whatever I do.
It produces enough fruit to pull the branches down where they take root. I am using the rooted branches for an allotment boundary hedge with the fruit being shared.

[nickdub]

It's the new varieties which are mostly mildew proof, irrespective of colour. For example, I've tried growing Whinham's industry for years, as the flavour of this red variety is really excellent and I occasionally manage to get a few berries off it which aren't affected by mildew, but as I said before it's not really worth the effort for the ordinary gardener. As against that Early Sulphur, which I also grew for many years and which is obviously a yellow, grew away pretty well provided it wasn't in a damp, airless place and produced good crops of fruit and was only very slightly affected by mildew. I suppose there's room for a gooseberry enthusiast to go through all the old sorts and note how prone each of them is to getting mildew, but here would not be much commercial value to it, when the new varieties are much easier to grow disease free.

[burnie]

I inherited mine and don't know what it is, but thanks ameno I will look out for that one.

[ameno]

I inherited mine and don't know what it is, but thanks ameno I will look out for that one.

Red varieties aren't all that common, so if it's old it's probably Whinham's Industry.

[southlondongardener2]

I had this in the past, IIRC cut the affected bits off and spray with bicarbonate of soda solution and water it - google for the exact details and to check this. Good luck and in future only use resistant varieties