Gooseberry - Pests

Pests

Gooseberry bushes are vulnerable to magpie moth (Abraxas grossulariata) caterpillars. In cultivation, the best method for removing them is to remove the larvae by hand soon after they hatch; its eggs are laid on fallen gooseberry leaves.

Other potential threats are V-moth (Macaria wauaria) and Gooseberry sawfly (Nematus ribesii). Nematus reibesii grubs will bury themselves in the ground to pupate; on hatching into adult form, they lay their eggs, which soon hatch into larvae, on the underside of gooseberry leaves. 19th-century insecticides against these included tar water, weak solutions of carbolic acid, and powdered hellebore, which worked against magpie moths and V-moths as well as gooseberry sawflies. (Foxglove and tobacco infusions were also sometimes used.) Careful removal of fallen leaves and tilling of the ground around the plant will also destroy most eggs and chrysalises of these insects.

Potassium sulphide was known to be an effective treatment for blights and other parasitic growths, such as American gooseberry mildew.

Note that like most Ribes, the gooseberry is a potential host for white pine blister rust, which can cause serious damage to white pines; thus, gooseberry cultivation is illegal in some areas of the U.S. Quarantines are in place to help control this disease. Maine law prohibits the planting and cultivation of currants and gooseberries in most of southern Maine, and prohibits the planting and cultivation of European black currants and their hybrids anywhere within the state.