Xenia gooseberry

[gullivar33]

Just a little help please, I have 4 Xenia gooseberry bushes full of fruit as they were last year a wonderful variety my question is why is one bush'es leaves turning red the fruit is looking grand as you know the fruit is a red one , any ideas please

[roitelet]

It could be lack of moisture or a potash deficiency. Are they in the ground or pots?

BTW welcome to the vine. Could you put your location on your profile, it helps when giving advice.

[gullivar33]

I have them in tubs and the ground , i live right on the coast in suffolk, we have had plenty of rain

[roitelet]

If it is one in a tub I would suggest moisture is the problem but if in the ground potash. Tubs need watering even if you have a lot of rain.

[gullivar33]

Gooseberries

+Just a little help please I have 3 wonderful Xenia gooseberry bushes the fruit this year is bending my branches , my question is a small green catapillar is munching all my leaves bear it is a good job that the fruit has gone any idea what sought it is please ?

[roitelet]

SAWFLY!!!!! You need to get rid of them ASAP. The only thing that I have found works is an systemic insecticide. Not that I like using it. Pick all the gooseberries first. If you don't get rid of them they will affect next years crop.

[mothhawk]

Roitelet's right, they are sawfly caterpillars. If you have only 3 bushes you could probably pick all the caterpillars off by hand. You do need to get rid of them because when the caterpillars are ready to pupate (make cocoons), they will drop to the ground and burrow into the soil under your bushes. The pupae spend the winter there, and next year when your bushes are in full leaf, the adult flies will emerge and lay their eggs on them again.

And of course it won't just be one or two flies that lay eggs as it maybe was this year (after all those flies had to find your bushes), because the dozens that emerge won't have to go looking for gooseberry bushes, yours will be right there.

I grow my few gooseberry bushes among lavender and so far the flies haven't found them. Putting weed suppressing membrane or thick layers of newspaper under the bushes so the caterpillars can't get down into the soil might help (or if they're already in the soil, next year they can't get out), but I've not tried it. I have a jostaberry in a different part of the garden which had caterpillars on this year and I hand picked them off, but that was easier 'cos no prickles

[arpoet]

Don't talk to me about goosegogs... a blackbird has been pinching mine as they ripen, Total harvest from 3 bushes.... 14 gooseberries.

[BUFFS]

put a birdfeeder by the bushes and keep it going thru the summer, we had the start of sawfly damage but the birds stripped them off and damage was minimal(just one branch) and that s been over 6/7 weeks ago. the birds have lots of young to feed just as the sawfly appear....

[Scarlet]

Don't talk to me about goosegogs... a blackbird has been pinching mine as they ripen, Total harvest from 3 bushes.... 14 gooseberries.

Blackbirds are producing well in my garden! I have loads of them, they've gone through my raspberries, red&white currants, taking every black currant that's ripe, the gooseberries and now they've settled for my plums. I'm trying to share but they are taking my half as well!!

[Small pumpkin]

I have a jostaberry in a different part of the garden which had caterpillars on this year and I hand picked them off, but that was easier 'cos no prickles

I also did this. I picked off half a bowl full of the little darlings. Then took them next door into the orchard for my chickens to eat. They wouldn't eat them. They studied them for a long time wriggling around in the bowl, but just walked away

[Small pumpkin]

Blackbirds are producing well in my garden! I have loads of them, they've gone through my raspberries, red&white currants, taking every black currant that's ripe, the gooseberries and now they've settled for my plums. I'm trying to share but they are taking my half as well!!

This all sounds very like my garden! But if the blackbirds start on my plums there is going to be war, it's the only fruit I eat!

[gullivar33]

Xenia Gooseberry

I have 3 wonderful Xenia gooseberry bushes wonderful fruit , now my question is can i cut back pretty hard after fruiting has done, this is the best gooseberry i found , when i was a teenager my dad had some called "golden ball " they were lovely

[cheops]

I believe the best time to prune a gooseberry bush is always mid winter and on a dry day to lessen any risk of fugal infection. Gooseberry bushes do need to kept pruned as they can be quite vigorous but also branches more than three years old become unproductive.
Interesting to hear you say 'golden ball' was a lovely gooseberry. Only about ten years ago I bought a gooseberry bush from one of the main online sellers [can't remember but it might have been Parkers.] it was simply described as a giant yellow gooseberry. I wonder if that was the same one you mention. The gooseberries were very large , yellow and wonderful to eat. Alas it died - I think because I never fed it due to my lack of experience. It was in a large container. I have never seen this gooseberry bush offered for sale since.
I remember several of the ripe gooseberries were attacked by wasps and I left these gooseberries for the wasps so other goosberries would be left alone. They made a small entrance into the gooseberry and when they had finished feasting several days later the tissue thin skin of the gooseberry was all that was left in the shape of a globe. That fascinated my kids as well as myself.

[Bal]

I've just looked up golden ball gooseberry and it referred me on to early sulphur gooseberry
I've no idea how to add a link hope the thing below works

Site Search