aargh - small green gooseberry sawfly!

[salilah]

Last year my gooseberry plants were completely munched - at the time, I didn't suspect sawfly as the plants were new, and most recommendations say that sawfly attack in year 3 :-(
Sadly they are back this year (yes, already!) - very small, pale green (same colour as the leaves) with black heads...
I'm picking off by hand at the moment but can't keep doing that (not usually here during the week) and don't want to use chemicals
Any ideas??
thanks
Salilah

[Two_Sheds]

Put something white under the bush (pillowcase?) and shake the bush. Then drown the beggars

[salilah]

Thanks! I tried shaking the bush when I first spotted them - but these ones have stronger legs I think!
will try again...
cheers
S

[chris]

I thought my chickens were eating my gooseberry - guess not... I locked them away last night, and this morning my bush was munched even more. grr!

[purplekat]

The way I do it is to take off any leaves completely that have been munched, taking the sawfly caterpillars with them.
That way, when you look the next day you can easily spot where the sawfly are as they'll be newly munched leaves. In my experience they tend to stay on the same leaf for a day or two then work around. Obviously you've got to catch them early for this to work or there'll be no leaves left.
Really that needs to be done every day or two though and if you're away during the week that will be difficult.

Only other way to do without chemicals I can think of is to move the plant to the windiest place in the garden - my plants were barely touched when I moved then into the front garden where it's a bit of a wind tunnel.

[chris]

good idea, I could move it to a more windy spot ! I deliberately chose a sheltered one, grr!

[Two_Sheds]

The way I do it is to take off any leaves completely that have been munched, taking the sawfly caterpillars with them.

That's how I do it with my twisted willow, because I can't bear to touch the horrible little maggots. The whole leaf comes off, is then dropped in the water butt and the goldfish eat the caterpillars

[purplekat]

Just watched Beechgrove Garden on iplayer and they were spraying their fruit bushes with a garlic spray to deter them, never tried it myself though.

[binley100]

Pick them off, or shake the bushes (gently you don't want the fruit to fall off) then suffocate the little b's with wood ash . Hoe regularly (but not deeply you'll damage the roots) .

[Flummery]

Now I haven't tried this but I did read somewhere that if you scatter a little wild bird food under your bush, the birds attracted to it will find there's another treat in store and will eat the caterpillars. Heresay but it might be worth a go?

[salilah]

Thanks everyone!
I'll give it a go - luckily althought I can't stand the idea of touching slugs, the little blighters are small enough I don't mind squidging them too much :-(
Someone mentioned putting peanuts underneath to attract birds, but i thought this might also attract other unpleasant pests? I'll try the seeds... (though we do have cats visiting the garden, so may not be too effective)
Shaking I tried again and no luck, none of them fell off!
I'll try removing leaves this weekend (if there are any left, that is!)
what a pain
thanks
cheers
Salilah

[mrbadexample]

This is the one time I don't hesitate to reach for the chemicals: Provado Ultimate Bug Killer. Sawfly are just too numerous and destructive to try and combat them manually, IMO.

But I dilute the spray to at least 50:50 with water (it's an aqueous solution anyway). It's still effective and you're putting less chemicals on the bush. Keep vigilant and hit them early whilst they're still small; again you need less chemical, and the fruit usually haven't formed.

It's the best compromise I can come to. Of course, you have to go through it again when they go through their second cycle, and the fruit have formed. I'm going to try weed membrane around the plants this year, to see if that helps prevent them overwintering in the soil.

[purplekat]

This is the one time I don't hesitate to reach for the chemicals: Provado Ultimate Bug Killer. Sawfly are just too numerous and destructive to try and combat them manually, IMO.

But I dilute the spray to at least 50:50 with water (it's an aqueous solution anyway). It's still effective and you're putting less chemicals on the bush. Keep vigilant and hit them early whilst they're still small; again you need less chemical, and the fruit usually haven't formed.

It's the best compromise I can come to. Of course, you have to go through it again when they go through their second cycle, and the fruit have formed. I'm going to try weed membrane around the plants this year, to see if that helps prevent them overwintering in the soil.

Just to add, be aware that Provado Ultimate bug killer contains Thiacloprid - one of the neonicotinoids that is systemic (goes into all parts of the plant) and makes the pollen toxic to bees - so to avoid if you have a wildlife garden or are interested in helping out the bees