[green fingers]

Found mould on my gooseberry bushes.
A. What is is and
B. Do I have to cut the bushes down to the roots?

[barney rubble]

Is it on the fruit, leaves or trunk of the bush - I posted Is the Botryitis yesterday with  a pici, but no replies as yet - if its your fruit probably american mildew. Can you post a pici?

[green fingers]

Its on the fruit, the leaves look very healthy.

Didnt have my camera with me and to be quite honest dont know where the camera lead is (having moved twice in 4 months!)

[barney rubble]

Moves are a real pain - I'm not surprised you can't find your lead. It'll probably turn up on a couple of months time after you've given up looking and bought a new one!

It could be grey mould too, but generally remove bad fruit and cut back the shoots of the fruits that were infected early autumn. Both can be sprayed, but I don't want to give the wrong advice to you, so suggest you google gooseberry diseases and see what the pages it brings up recommend.

i've not had the problem with mine, but the diseases often set in because of too damp conditions and not enough air circulated around and through the bush, so the cutting back in autumn is supposed to help.

Not much consolation, I know, but on a visit to my garden centre this week, all the bushes there were infected too

[Jay The Digger]

Have had a lok in my Gardening bible (The RHS Encyclopdeia of Gardening) and it sounds as if Gooseberries cope OK with a bit of mildew.  It suggests merely rubbing it off.

Does the bush allow a decent circulation of air? 

[barney rubble]

Have had a lok in my Gardening bible (The RHS Encyclopdeia of Gardening) and it sounds as if Gooseberries cope OK with a bit of mildew.  It suggests merely rubbing it off.

Does the bush allow a decent circulation of air? 

Suppose it depends how far rhe fruit has gone too. American starts off powdery then turns brown - grey starts off and stays grey until it rots. The cooking process kills most mould, but spores can still remain through high temperatures. Putting your gooses through a high boil or sustained high simmer, will turn them into a runny mess. See what you think and let us know what happens?

[8doubles]

I had some 2 year old bushes killed by mildew but the parent bush that the cuttings were taken from only 10 ft away was untouched.
Mildew can be seriously bad on gooseberries.

[barney rubble]

Are they in the ground or in pots?

either case, they might be too close together for air to circulate?

[green fingers]

Are they in the ground or in pots?

either case, they might be too close together for air to circulate?

Thanks for this, yes I think its American mildew too. I did a google and there was a picture of American mildew - exactly as on my gooseberries  They are rather  too close to the
compost panelling - so think this is  the problem.  Gooseberries not my favourite fruit, and only two small bushes, just dont like to lose anything though.
Thanks for all prompt replies and help