Leaf curl on new blackcurrant bushes (and leaves looking a bit peaky!!)

[katykitten]

my new blackcurrant bushes, planted last year, are fruiting nicely however the leaves are looking considerably unwell - they are curling and some are going quite pale, they are planted in a sunny spot with gooseberries and raspberries and i fed them last week with a multipurpose soft fruit food. The problem started prior to feeding, any suggestions welcome
thanks

[Tam]

Have you taken off one of the leaves to see if there are any bugs on it ? It sounds as if it could be the leaf curling midge, which is much more common now than it was in the past. A spray with a dilute
dose of washing up liquid will help to get rid of them.

[solway cropper]

I've got quite a severe aphid infestation on my blackcurrants which causes the leaves to curl and turn yellow. I tried the old soapy water routine but it didn't work so yesterday I resorted to an insecticide which seems to have done the job. You need to get inside the curled leaves otherwise it won't work.

[purplekat]

Yep, sounds like some type of aphid damage.
If you leave it then the ladybirds/hoverfly/bluetits will find them and eat them, can take a little while but once they've been eaten then the plant will start to grow some new normal leaves. (I think it took about 2 weeks for the good bugs to appear on mine - but once they did, the aphids were all gone in a couple of days - should be a bit quicker at this time of year)

On a young plant, aphids may weaken it slightly so you may wish to rub them off with your fingers or spray them (high pressure water should do the job)

A fruit and veg safe spray insecticide can be used if you wish but will make the problem worse in the long run.

[Hillwalker]

A fruit and veg safe spray insecticide can be used if you wish but will make the problem worse in the long run.

Hi purplekat,

How come?

[Snadger]

Soapy water worked on mine last year.

No problems this year up to now though, touch wood!

[purplekat]

Hi,
Just that when sprays are used to kill aphids it will mean there's no food for the things that eat the aphids so they'll go elsewhere (or they get killed by the insecticide too).
You just get locked into a cycle of having to spray every time the aphids come back (which they will if there's nothing to eat them).
Systemic insecticides (one that go into the tissues of the plant such as Provado Ultimate Bug Killer) should protect the plants for longer but can make the pollen toxic to bees and other pollinators.

If you let the good bugs/birds eat them - a few tend to hang around in your garden to breed and then they're there to eat them as soon as the next lot arrive and the population of aphids shouldn't rise to the point that they cause too many problems. There'd always be a low level of them in the garden but they shouldn't cause much damage (and you get more of the nice wildlife such as bluetits and ladybirds). Seems to work in my garden anyway.

I don't want to come across as really anti-chemical, they have a place but a lot of the time they are unnecessary and just end up costing money that could be spent on other things

edit to say:
Just noticed Provado's active ingredient is now Thiacloprid which is less toxic to bees than the previous formulation and in this case the blackcurrants have already flowered so should be no problem for bees. It shouldn't be used on plants in (or about to) flower though