[Davenports]

I have a gooseberry bush which we planted out only two years ago and as yet we have had no goosegogs on it as something keeps eating the buds and foliage.

Do I need to spray it with something  - if so what and when?

Would love to make my boys homemade gooseberry crumble and custard.... I can smell it already but of course some little critter is depriving us of a chance to get one goosegog!!!! :evil:

Appreciate any help!!

[richyrich7]

Could be goosberry sawfly, make sure the plants are kept clear of leaf litter etc spray with derris dust. Can you describe whats eating them and at what time of year ?

[Davenports]

The critter eats the bush not long after the foliage is looking nice and healthy and the berries are just forming.  As yet we haven't seen anything on the bush - would be in the form of a caterpillar?

[bigsprouts]

could be birds i would make a temp net cover to protect from birds

[richyrich7]

The critter eats the bush not long after the foliage is looking nice and healthy and the berries are just forming.  As yet we haven't seen anything on the bush - would be in the form of a caterpillar?

Yep here's a LINK
to the RHS site nice pic's of caterpillars for you. Goosgogs are supposed to be fairly pest/disease free apart from mildew in this country I believe so you could just be unlucky to get them  :o

[richyrich7]

could be birds i would make a temp net cover to protect from birds

Could be, worth a try bigsprouts.

[Trillium]

I had the same problem with all my currants at my last house. No idea what ate them...no tell tale signs of the culprit. Since we moved to this house, don't have that problem other than the birds close to ripening time.

[theothermarg]

my lotty neighbours were convinced it was humans thieving their goosgogs said they had been growing them for 20 years and insisted that birds never touched them but we say the thieves Magpies
marg

[gobs]

Birds do not really eat the foliage. :?

[Trillium]

Nothing touched the foliage of my former red currants, but all the buds quickly disappeared so I suspect something like sawfly but never did see any traces of it.

[Tinbasher]

The critter eats the bush not long after the foliage is looking nice and healthy and the berries are just forming.  As yet we haven't seen anything on the bush - would be in the form of a caterpillar?

Yep here's a LINK
to the RHS site nice pic's of caterpillars for you. Goosgogs are supposed to be fairly pest/disease free apart from mildew in this country I believe so you could just be unlucky to get them  :o

Them's the ones in the link.  Horrible little caterpillars.  They can strip a bush of all foliage in 2 days max.  If the foliage is disappearing fast, it isn't birds but these pests.  When they first appear they are tiny but grow at an alarming rate, as caterpillars do, as they munch on leaves 24 hours a day.  They are sometimes hard to see, especially when the attack first occurs.  The first sign of defoliation and you should be out there getting close to the bush for a thorough inspection.  They tend to hug the outer perimeter of a leaf, eating inwards to the stalk and are quite well camouflaged, being of a very similar colour to the leaf itself.

They never fail to appear here in Lancs, usually twice a year (early spring and late summer), so if you've had them before its almost guaranteed they'll be back again.  I've only ever seen them once on a currant bush but I presume that is because they much prefer gooseberries and will attack those first.  It's impossible to pick them all off by hand so I have found chemical control the only option.  You've got to get in there quick at the first sign.  Start inspecting the bushes regularly from now onwards.