[Marston]

Went to the plot today first visit in a week and found all of my green gooseberries appeared to have dropped off. There was no sign of an damage to them. Do you think that this is due to the dry conditions we are experiencing?. My red one is fine but is a liitle behind the green in development.

[victoria park]

A few of mine were on the ground. I assumed it was the gales.

[mumofstig]

Either dry soil or frosted fruit 

[Middlesexbloke]

Loads of mine have dropped off too. Mainly those exposed to the frost last week, the berries that are further into the bush seem ok.

[Salmo]

There was a frost here about 10 days ago that caught nearly all my gooseberry fruits. Now all shrivelled on the ground. At least with the nice cool cloud coming in from the north sea we have not had the frost that they have in the West this week.

I hear that a lot of the French grapes have been caught by frost.

[arh]

Do you think that the gooseberry bush will re-flower?, or is that it for this year? In which case I will be covering my gooseberry bushes next year. Not worried this year, as they only went in last year. And are the black currants affected the same way please?

[Salmo]

No more flowers this year. Your plants will now put all their strength in to growing, which will not actually be a bad thing in their first year. No idea about black currants.

There are gooseberry sawfly stripping the leaves on one of my bushes. These need either picking off or a spray with a pyrethroid such as Py.

[arh]

 I apologise  for not making myself clearer, I had already picked off those flowers/ berries which had appeared, to help the bushes grow more roots, but did not know that gooseberries were frost damageable, so next year, (when I hope to get a few berries), I shall protect the bushes from frost, both Goose and Black. Fruit cages made from a polytunnel frame, which i got for nothing, (freecycle) first covered in debris netting then fleece. As soon as the flowers start to appear, I'll cover them up over night. We live and learn.

[victoria park]

Good luck with that Arh 
So, my well advanced redcurrants didn't give up the ghost with the first sign of frost. I grow most of the normal bush fruits, raspberries, blackberries, red and black currants, and two gooseberries. They all perform brilliantly with a bit of tickling, until the gooseberry is in the frame. If it's not squirrels, the deadly sawfly, birds, yo name it. None of the other fruits have this amount of grief.

And not only that, the thorns should be made illegal. So, I'm finished with gooseberries. They're coming up in 2 weeks after I see just how many fruits I get for the record. Probably about seven. Pointless exercise.  I'm not playing gooseberry anymore.

[arh]

Thank you for that Victoria  , I guess that's why the Gooseberries don't seem to do very well some years, I remember back in the late 40s and early 50s when my grans gooseberries didn't perform too well, (in spite of the net curtains, didn't have debris netting in those days,  ), every so often. That might have been the frost!. I'll try a blanket or 2 next year.

[Middlesexbloke]

To be fair it is quite rare for gooseberries to be so affected by late frosts, normally they are a very hardy crop. This year, the early warmth brought them on very quickly and they were caught out. Having said that, they are quite hard work as fruit goes, with early netting essential as the vile pigeons will rip off even immature fruit and a beady eye kept out for sawfly infestations. Worth it though in my humble opinion, the dessert varieties are delicious.