Gooseberry sawfly

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julieanne1811

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Gooseberry sawfly
« on: August 14, 2010, 15:52 »
I'm very new to all this so have to spend time working out what's eating my plants - when it's nt deer, which is the easy one.
Anyway. My new gooseberry bush produced quite a few berries this year, and very nice they were too. Then I noticed that the leaves had been eatn - it looked like deer because they were definately 'chomped'. I covered the bush. But the leaves kept getting eaten and - well those of you who are expert will know already thata it's down to those Gooseberry Sawflies.
I have tried to find what to do and have this list: remove leaves and larvae at first sign of attack (it's too late for that now though), mulch well in winter, keep base free of weeds, and disturb soil so that birds can eat the hibernating larvea (OK - will do), spray with Derris.
Now, you will all know that Derris is no longer available. There are no biological controls. Are there any Derris-like alterntives? Or am I now for ever condemned to hunting down the larvae?
Any ideas? Anyone?

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AndyRVTR

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Re: Gooseberry sawfly
« Reply #1 on: August 14, 2010, 16:05 »
Derris powder is still available if youre lucky enough to find a garden centre with some in stock, I managed to get a bottle of it just last week...  :)

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shokkyy

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Re: Gooseberry sawfly
« Reply #2 on: August 14, 2010, 16:08 »
I have a couple of gooseberry bushes that were absolutely ravaged by sawfly for 2 or 3 years running. They were completely stripped of leaves every year so I'm surprised they survived. But this year they were completely free of sawfly, healthy and produced a good crop. I have no idea why, it certainly isn't because of anything I did differently. Either the birds caught them this year or they just got bored and went elsewhere.

But one thing I did read somewhere is that it helps if you've got the bush pruned with a leg, so you've got a few inches of clear stem at the base. Apparently, if you do that and keep that base stem clear of weeds, they can't get onto the leaves.

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julieanne1811

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Re: Gooseberry sawfly
« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2010, 16:16 »
Derris powder is still available if youre lucky enough to find a garden centre with some in stock, I managed to get a bottle of it just last week...  :)

Thankyou - I will try this ... although I have read that because it's banned, even if shops have it they're not suppposed to sell it. Apparently a chemical found in Derris (so not the actual whole product) showed possible neurological damage when used, in one paper ... seems rather OTT to ban a product that contains this chemical just because one paper suggested this. Not exactly scientifically rigorous.

And shokkyy - thank you. My bush is a baby, put in this year (poor thing!) so I'll make sure I keep the stem free. I have thought about putting some kind of barrier over the mulch so that emerging larvae get stopped physically.

Any more help/advice very very gratefully received!

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shokkyy

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Re: Gooseberry sawfly
« Reply #4 on: August 14, 2010, 16:36 »
I have thought about putting some kind of barrier over the mulch so that emerging larvae get stopped physically.


Actually, that's a good idea. I hadn't thought of that. Something like a strawberry collar should do the job quite nicely, I'd have thought. My older bushes are the old-fashioned bushy shape so there's really nothing I can do to keep the stem free because it's more of a thicket than a stem. But I'm planning to plant some new bushes this autumn, to try some different varieties, and I'm hopefully going to get them pruned with a leg. So when I stick those in I'll try a strawberry collar and see if that works.

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mumofstig

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Re: Gooseberry sawfly
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2010, 17:23 »
advice from RHS:
Quote
Spray when young larvae are seen, with an insecticide approved for use on gooseberryand red currants.
Suitable insecticides are thiacloprid (Provado Ultimate Bug Killer Ready To Use or Concentrate), lambda cyhalothrin (Westland Plant Rescue Fruit & Vegetable Bug Killer), or an organic pesticide such as pyrethrum (Py Garden Insect Killer, Scotts Bug Clear Gun for Fruit & Veg, or Doff All in One Bug Spray).

Have some at the ready for next year ;)

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julieanne1811

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Re: Gooseberry sawfly
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2010, 18:48 »
advice from RHS:
Quote
Spray when young larvae are seen, with an insecticide approved for use on gooseberryand red currants.
Suitable insecticides are thiacloprid (Provado Ultimate Bug Killer Ready To Use or Concentrate), lambda cyhalothrin (Westland Plant Rescue Fruit & Vegetable Bug Killer), or an organic pesticide such as pyrethrum (Py Garden Insect Killer, Scotts Bug Clear Gun for Fruit & Veg, or Doff All in One Bug Spray).
Have some at the ready for next year ;)

Thank you - that's very helpful - I'll get some ready. I'll look on google images to see what the things look like so I'm prepared.

So ... where do these things come in the first place? Are there any environments that predispose the infestation? When I was growing up we had lots of gooseberry bushes and never had a problem with this. Mine was new this year - is it possible it was already infested when it arrived?

And if I use a physical barrier and manage to keep them out next year, will that be it or is there still the possibility of more attacks? Is there anything I can do to prevent or reduce the likelihood of an attack?



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