[Rowan]

Hi

Just spotted these little critters on my gooseberry, they have stripped some branches bare, they are eating from the top down.



Is this sawfly?

how do i get rid? can i spray with soapy water?

will they affect my raspberries and black currents that are nearby/touching this plant?

Please help, i wanna do something before it goes dark.

[Yorkie]

Sorry to hear that

Have a look at the RHS page on g. sawfly

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profiles0601/gooseberry_sawfly.asp

[mumofstig]

You need Bug clear spray or a Pyrethrum spray for these pests

[Ice]

Yup.  Bug Clear will kill 'em dead.

[oldbean]

Bug Clear is frequently described as non-toxic. Here is more information. Do not confuse with Bug Clear Ultra, this is toxic and not approved for food crops in the UK.

[Aunt Sally]

Read the package and you'll be fine 

[SnooziSuzi]

squish 'em!  that means it's organic!

[Rowan]

Hi

As it was too late to go shopping, i have picked some off and sprayed the whole plant liberally with some water with a few drops of washing up liquid in it, will that help at all?

I'm not too fussed about gooseberries as i don't like them, the OH does. But i have about 20 raspberry plants in the same fruit cage and i'd be pretty gutted if i lost them!!

is there anything that will help for next year?

Thanks

[Ice]

Yup, as I said Bug Clear will kill them dead.    You can google all the reasons not to use it and come up with a load of spurious links to unproven theories. 

If you want to use it then don't be bullied into anything else. 

[Rowan]

i can't squish em too easily as the cage is very crowded, we inhereted the cames and bushes so this year they are unorganised, hopefully next year they will be easier to deal with....

If i let the fruit set next year then covered with a very fine mesh would that keep the sawfly out?

 

[Rowan]

i'm organic for the rest of the garden, but if something can't be solved organically, i'm ok with using a synthesised product with care and with minimal damage.

Ta for the advice.

[Ice]

i'm organic for the rest of the garden, but if something can't be solved organically, i'm ok with using a synthesised product with care and with minimal damage.

Ta for the advice.

Same here.  Use it with care and don't use it on the crop if you can avoid it.  If you do make sure harvest is at least two weeks away.

[DD.]

Well, that link was as clear as mud to me, way above my head as usual.

Guess it's another week away from the plot & some study down the library.

Sometimes don't you just hate trying to be a simple gardener?

[SnooziSuzi]

don't want to labour the point but 'squish 'em ' is simple enough for anyone to do!  Been squishing small white butterfly catterpillars at the allotment with a gusto today!

[Paul Plots]

don't want to labour the point but 'squish 'em ' is simple enough for anyone to do!  Been squishing small white butterfly catterpillars at the allotment with a gusto today!

I''ve been squishing greenfly for a couple of weeks as it appeared on three rose bushes (on the plot for flowers for home). They are gritty little devils to squish... not as smooth as blackfly which slides off the broadbeans between your fingers.

Bigger beasts are not so comfortable to squish. I sometimes use a small paint brush and an old tin mug to catch them in - after that it is simple = small hole, in they go then top it up if the blackbird hasn't been round for them.