[bigben]

Last year I lost a good proportion of my newly planted goosberries to white mould. I had been given them by another plot holder and replanted onto my site with a good handful of chicken pellets in the bottom of each planting hole. Mine got mould but his did not. He thought the leafy new growth produced by the extra nitrogen might have been more prone to mildew.

I read up that they need pruning to get air through them so I have tried to do this and been pretty drastic. Can anyone recommend a spray or treatment to avoid the mould. I did spray for saw fly and was not effected by it.

[Nobbie]

This is the stuff I use

http://www.bayergarden.co.uk/products/product.aspx?productid=28&categoryid=17

you can get it in B&Q and Wilkos for about £6

I think the lush young growth is very suceptable, so keep an eye on it in spring and spray at the earliest sign and remove affected growing tips. I've just pruned my Gooseberries and cleared out the centre of the bushes and removed crossing branches. The more air circulation, the more resistant they will be. Prevention really is better and more effective than cure in this case

[BabbyAnn]

Mine got mould but his did not. He thought the leafy new growth produced by the extra nitrogen might have been more prone to mildew.

I read up that they need pruning to get air through them so I have tried to do this and been pretty drastic.

When planting gooseberry bushes, they don't need high nitrogen feed as your plot holder friend commented on.  Pruning should be such that you get a goblet shape so air can circulate better.

With regards to fungicides, see how this year goes before trying otherwise you'll never know if the changes made any difference.  I'm wary of applying fungicides to fruit & veg plants more so than pesticides if truth be known, so sorry can't recommend any.

[mumofstig]

They tend to suffer if they are dry at the roots as well, so watch out if we have a dry spring.

Several orgainic sprays listed here
http://organicgarden.org.uk/gardening/pests-diseases/sprays-organic-for-pest-control

but please note the comments at the top of the linked page.

[Aunt Sally]

I read up that they need pruning to get air through them so I have tried to do this and been pretty drastic.

They do need pruning every year.  Open the centre out to make it like a cup and shorten long growths down to make a nice ball shaped shrub.  Remove any branches that will be too close to the ground when full of fruit and prune all prune all new side growth back to 1 inch long. 

BUT if you have to prune drastically as the bush has been neglected previously please make sure that you feed and mulch well with well rotted compost or manure (keeping it away from the stems).  As Mum says: they will suffer badly if short of water.