Gooseberry bushes looking yellow

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Annen

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Gooseberry bushes looking yellow
« on: June 19, 2014, 19:50 »

All except one bush has gone like this.  It is only their second year in this bed, which had rasps in previously. 
The one bush that hasn't gone yellow in the middle is the only red berried variety.
Is it normal for them to start dying back after they have fruited? They have fruit on but not much as it is only their first year of fruiting.


Anne

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New shoot

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Re: Gooseberry bushes looking yellow
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2014, 06:21 »
They do look a bit miserable and they should keep their leaves until the autumn.

Have you fed them Annen?  You have a bark chip mulch round them and the natural rotting down process of this can sometimes lead to nitrogen deficiency in the soil. Pelleted chicken manure would help if you have it.

My other thought would be waterlogging.  Is that a possibility?  Plants can go very yellow if they are struggling in wet soil.  Given the recent dry weather this seems unlikely, but I thought I would mention it in case you know there is a problem in that particular spot.

Hopefully its something easily sorted  :)





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Annen

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Re: Gooseberry bushes looking yellow
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2014, 10:20 »
You might have something there. 
I haven't fed them except for the odd foliar feed, because they only went in last year and I put stuff in then.  But it could be that the previous rasps might have depleted the soil more that I thought.

I wouldn't have thought it would be waterlogging now, but there was an apple tree close by (where the pots are in the photo)which rotted away at the roots after that horrible year of 2012. (Also close by, the only young apple tree that was planted direct into the ground isn't doing as well as the potted ones.)

I will give them a good feed now, and when they die back for the winter see if I can check for drainage. I wonder if there is something going wrong on that whole corner of the plot.

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surbie100

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Re: Gooseberry bushes looking yellow
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2014, 10:50 »
One of my invictas is like that, but looks worse. Are yours in full sun? The other one I have is in partial shade and is a deep lush green.

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Annen

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Re: Gooseberry bushes looking yellow
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2014, 17:31 »
The worst affected ones are near the shaded end so I don't think it is that.  It looks to me like a deficiency of some kind. The soil is quite damp, but not squelchy.
I've picked the fruit now all except the unaffected one, and I think I might pull them out later,(I don't need 6 gooseberry bushes, 3 will do nicely)and re-vamp that bed.

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Annen

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Re: Gooseberry bushes looking yellow
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2014, 17:47 »
Some more leaf pictures




« Last Edit: June 20, 2014, 17:49 by Annen »

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Yorkie

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Re: Gooseberry bushes looking yellow
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2014, 18:51 »
I wondered whether it might be gooseberry / currant leaf spot, but the pictures of that on the RHS don't show the leaf yellowing, so it might not be that after all.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/Profile?PID=741
I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days all attack me at once...

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New shoot

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Re: Gooseberry bushes looking yellow
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2014, 06:52 »
I haven't fed them except for the odd foliar feed, because they only went in last year and I put stuff in then.

I will give them a good feed now, and when they die back for the winter see if I can check for drainage. I wonder if there is something going wrong on that whole corner of the plot.

Organic matter when planting should have improved drainage, but the nitrogen content of it would have leached away pretty quickly.  If they don't perk up after feeding,  I would say the soil in that bed probably does need investigating.  Struggling plants are less likely to ward off leaf spot fungus, so it could be you have that as a secondary issue on the plants.   

It could be compaction deeper down if rasps were there and the ground was trodden on a lot while picking these, or could be depletion of the soil as you say.  Did you dig organc matter into the whole area or just where the bushes were planted?  If the soil tends to lie damp, areas of enriched soil can become sink holes that the surrounding soil drains into.

Sorry to fire stuff at you, but just trying to figure it out  :)  If you have lost a tree there and have another not doing so well, its worth checking things are OK with the soil before planting more stuff  :)

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Annen

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Re: Gooseberry bushes looking yellow
« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2014, 10:20 »
No worries New shoot, thanks for the input, its a puzzle that needs working out. 
As I remember I hoiked out the rasps because they were poor flavoured and hadn't done well the year before.  Maybe that is symptomatic of that whole corner. I think I only dug in organic matter where the gooseberry bushes were going not over the whole bed.

There are 2 mature apple trees (dwarfing stock)which were there when I took over, 1 apple which went in in winter 2012 and has struggled, and 2 apples which I planted in pots because even then I was having doubts about that area of the plot.
I hadn't realised how poorly the mature trees were performing until I had the trees in pots to compare with.  They look lovely and healthy with blossom, clean green leaves and even would've had quite a few apples on in their first year, if I had let them.

The more I think about the more I think I should clear that whole corner, dig it over, get some soil conditioner and manure and give it a good going over. I might even take out the mature trees if necessary.


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