If you find a gray-white coating on the gooseberry fruits, this indicates that your plant has been infected with a dangerous disease - powdery mildew. This disease came from America. It spreads throughout the plant quite quickly. Over time, the whitish coating turns into a gray or even brown tint. It is necessary to combat this disease and treat the plant immediately after the first signs of powdery mildew are detected.

Description of the disease and how to deal with it

You can understand the presence of powdery mildew on gooseberries if a loose cobweb has formed there. Over time it will turn into brown spots. If treatment is not started, then in addition to the fruits, the disease will begin to affect shoots and leaves, which over time turn yellow and curl.

Cracks form on the fruits and they begin to crumble, even though they are not yet ripe. In this case, it is necessary to carry out treatment measures as quickly as possible. Otherwise, powdery mildew will spoil the bush, and it will no longer bear fruit, and then it will disappear altogether. And here's how it happens, read the link.

Video shows powdery mildew on gooseberries:

Prevention - how to prevent powdery mildew from appearing on gooseberries

Old branches and those that produce little fruit need to be cut off. Place tops of tomatoes and potatoes under the bush, and also water them with a solution of EM preparations. The tops will slowly decompose under the influence of bacteria, which will ingest fungal spores. But when the leaves all fall off, remove the rotted tops from the area and burn them. In autumn and spring, be sure to dig up the area.

Another excellent prevention would be to plant gooseberry varieties that can resist powdery mildew. This should include:

• Chernomor;
• Captain;
• Northern;
• English yellow;
• Consul;Eaglet.

To plant gooseberries, you need to choose only healthy and strong plants that are already adapted to the growing conditions in a certain region.

Fitosporin-M is considered an excellent prophylactic agent. It is based on a concentrate of Bacillus subtilis bacteria. But how to treat powdery mildew on currants is indicated.

Although the product is considered very effective. It can only be used for prevention, since it cannot treat powdery mildew.

How to treat with drugs - how to treat and spray the plant

Today in specialized stores you can see various types of drugs. But they are all divided into two large groups - chemical and biological. Modern fungicidal preparations allow you to quickly cope with powdery mildew. Their active components penetrate the plant cells, treat it and create reliable protection against the development of fungus.

Taking into account what product will be used to combat the disease, the bushes should be treated 1-4 times with an interval of 7-10 days.

Today the following drugs remain the most popular:

• Amistar Extra;
• Vitaros;
• Speed;
• Previkur;
• Acrobat MC;
• Topaz;Fundazol.

In addition, gardeners can use the following chemicals:

Treatment and control with home remedies

To combat the disease, you can use proven folk remedies. The following recipes can be considered the most effective:

Powdery mildew is a common disease that affects various crops, including gooseberries. You can fight it with both ready-made drugs and folk remedies. Of course, it is better to carry out prevention in a timely manner so as not to give fungi a chance to develop. And if you don’t fight the disease, then be prepared for the fact that you will have to say goodbye not only to the harvest, but to the crop itself. But which variety of cauliflower is best to plant will help you understand.

Powdery mildew on gooseberries is very common, especially on those bushes that descend from old plants planted by the grandparents of current summer residents. Several generations of gooseberry bushes retain not only the high taste and vitamin composition of their fruits, but also the ability to be exposed to the same diseases as their ancestor. From this point of view, it is much more profitable to plant new modern varieties on the site, because breeders have already taken care of immunity against this dangerous disease.

Spherotheca or powdery mildew is a fungal disease that can destroy an adult healthy bush. The smallest spores of the fungus spread widely with the help of the wind or insects that carry them on their legs. The disease recurs for several years in a row. At first, its appearance contributes to a decrease in yield, then the growth of the plant is inhibited, it withers, and in the end, it inevitably dies if the fight is not started in a timely manner.

Powdery mildew mushrooms settle on young leaves, shoots, flowers, even ovaries and fruits and develop their mycelium. At first it looks like a thin cobweb, then it thickens to a white powdery coating, and when it grows, it turns into a brown felt cocoon that covers all the affected parts of the plant.

Mushrooms overwinter on fallen berries, on affected twigs, and in the spring, when the buds open, new spores that have ripened after winter are released. Berries are most vulnerable at the beginning of their development. After the fruit has grown to half its adult size, it becomes more resistant to the disease, and so does the whole plant. Therefore, it is important to delay the maturation and release of spores, and this is achieved by using fungicides. It is very dangerous to get spores at the beginning of the growing season, when the buds are just opening and shoots are growing. After a month or two they won't cause as much damage.

Treating a bush in early spring means taking the necessary measures to combat infection. The treated plant will not only tolerate the disease more easily, but will also be less affected by spores next year.

How to recognize

At the end of May, you can often see a delicate white coating on young gooseberry leaves - as if flour was sprinkled on the lower branches of the bush. You need to take this very seriously, look carefully at the entire plant. If spores in the form of a white coating are found on the leaves and shoots, it means that the plant is already affected by the spherote, you need to start fighting immediately. Even if the plaque is easily wiped off by hand, its quantity indicates that the spores have settled on the bush and have already begun to develop mycelium.

Many people have seen a berry covered with a light cobweb or white coating, or, even worse, a brown crust. This berry can no longer be eaten. If a person examined this plaque under a microscope, it would not occur to him to put these colonies of hairy mushrooms into his mouth.

The disease in its advanced stage looks like a hard brown crust on the berry, like a dark felt cocoon entangling the entire bush, stunted and dried out, with twisted branches that have stopped growing.

How to fight

The methods of struggle are different, but the fact that urgent measures need to be taken is undeniable. The very first thing you need to do if you suspect a powdery mildew infection is to carefully examine the entire plant, tear off all the leaves and shoots on which the slightest traces of spherofeca are found. Infected parts of the plant need to be burned, preferably away from gooseberry, currant, raspberry, and yoshta bushes.

Since the fungus overwinters on fallen leaves and berries under the bush, it is imperative to remove plant debris and dig up the soil around the bush.

Some gardeners advise, on the contrary, to place nightshade tops under the bush, and then water them with EM preparations so that beneficial microorganisms process all the fallen leaves into compost and destroy pathogenic bacteria and organisms.

Every year you need to prune, remove not only old, but all weakened and damaged branches. Feeding the plants is important - fertilizers make the gooseberries stronger so that they can resist infection. But it is important not to overdo it with nitrogen fertilizers, because they promote the growth of new shoots. The growth of extra branches weakens the plant and expands the area of ​​possible infection, thickening the bush. The fungus loves shade and moisture; a bush that is too thick creates all the conditions for its own destruction.

A good preventive measure is a hot shower for the bush and the ground around it. In early spring, be sure to pour very hot water, about +90 degrees, onto the bush before the buds begin to swell. You can water it not with clean water, but with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. As a result, most pathogens of fungal (and other) diseases die; by the time new spores grow, the bush will already have time to grow stronger, bloom, or even bear fruit, and will no longer be so susceptible to it.

The best products for processing gooseberries

If you notice signs of infection, if there is even the slightest suspicion of spheroteca infection, then you need to fight it using all available methods and means. Of course, most gardeners prefer to try folk remedies that will not harm the plant and its fruits. Lactic acid is considered very effective in the fight against fungal diseases. You need to take 1 liter of whey (kefir or yogurt), dilute it with 9 liters of water and spray the bush three times in three days.

A decoction of horsetail is sprayed on gooseberries throughout the season at intervals of one week. And a decoction of tansy is poured into the soil around the bushes in spring and autumn. Before and after flowering, the bush is treated with a soda-soap solution or a solution of soda ash and soap. Spray the bush with an infusion of onion peels three times (before flowering, after flowering and before losing foliage). Three times with an interval of one day at the very beginning of June, the gooseberries are sprayed with an infusion of wood ash, and the sediment is poured under the root.

Every two weeks throughout the season, plants can be treated with such well-known biological products as gaupsin and trichodermin. Using the same scheme, a mash of soda, aspirin, liquid soap and vegetable oil is used. After flowering, you can treat the gooseberries with a solution of ammonium nitrate.

All these are very effective methods, tested more than once by a large number of people, but if they do not give results, you should resort to special means. “Topaz”, “HOM”, Bordeaux mixture, copper sulfate solution, as well as the combined use of “HOM” with “Fufanon” or “Decis” - these are already stronger drugs, they must be used strictly within the specified time frame, before use, carefully read the instructions .

When choosing gooseberries for your garden, you should pay attention to varieties that are resistant to powdery mildew. By creating thornless varieties, breeders tried to protect them from infection. You should pay attention to the following: “Ural Grapes”, “Kuibyshevsky”, “African”, “Grushenka”, “Finnish”, “Yubileiny” and others.

Video “Getting rid of powdery mildew”

Delicious gooseberry varieties are often affected by powdery mildew. This video will tell you about getting rid of the disease.

If gooseberries are a long-time inhabitant of the dacha, growing there since the time of your grandmother, who acquired cuttings from her great-grandmother, then most likely you have encountered the problem of powdery mildew more than once. It manifests itself as a whitish coating covering the leaves and stems, and unpleasant brown spots on the berries. The advantages of old varieties include a wonderful taste and the absence of various modifications, but there is also a huge disadvantage - low disease resistance.

I don’t want to cut out a tasty variety, but I really want to part with a pest. And, preferably, without the use of toxic pesticides. Use proven folk remedies. They are highly effective both in the fight against powdery mildew and in measures to prevent it.

What is powdery mildew?

In scientific circles, this disease of gooseberries is called spheroteka. It affects almost the entire plant, from shoots to fruits. Initially, a whitish coating forms, which later becomes brown, similar to felt. Diseased stems become bent, leaves curl, and the berries become smaller and weaker.

The disease is provoked by fungal microorganisms with the same name, and they release spores in both spring and summer. Therefore, it is optimal to carry out the treatment three times: before the flowers form, after that and before dropping the leaves. It is better not to spray the shoots, but to wet each branch entirely. And do not forget that spores like to overwinter in the litter, which means it is necessary to spill the same medicinal composition on the soil near the bush. It is better to carry out wellness procedures in the evening hours.

• Ammonium nitrate. 50 g of the substance must be dissolved in 10 liters of water. The gooseberry bush is processed after it has flowered.
• Aspirin + soda. To prepare the composition, use a tablespoon of sodium carbonate and sunflower oil, a tablet of acetylsalicylic acid and a teaspoon of any dish soap. All ingredients are mixed in 4.5 liters of water. The plant is systematically treated once every two weeks throughout the season.
• Water. Take boiling water and pour it over the bush from a watering can. The procedure is carried out in early spring before the snow melts.
• Haupsin or trichodermin. For 10 liters of water, use 150 ml of one of the biological products and spray the shoots every two weeks throughout the entire growing season.
• Ash. There are several options here.
• First. The infusion of ash and water (1:10) is kept for a week, stirring occasionally. After this, the composition is poured into a clean container, being careful not to trap sediment at the bottom.
• Second. Ash and water (0.3:10) are boiled for half an hour, cooled and, after waiting for the ash particles to settle, pour into another container.
• Third. Take ash and boiling water (3:10), mix and leave for about a day. Afterwards they filter. Treatment with the ash composition is carried out in the last ten days of May or the first ten days of June 3 times, taking a daily break. The sediment is diluted a little with water and the soil is spilled under the gooseberries.
• Soda Ash. You need to dissolve 50 g of the substance in half a glass of hot water, pour the solution into 10 liters of water, adding about 10 g of liquid soap. The berry garden is treated before and after the formation of flowers.
• Kefir or yogurt. Mix 1 liter of fermented milk product in 9 liters of water. Spray the plants three times with a three-day interval.
• Mullein. It needs to be diluted with water (1:3) and left for three days. Next, water is added again in the same proportion and filtered. Therapeutic procedures are done before the bush blooms, after that and before the leaves fall.
• Onion peel. Golden scales (200 g) are placed in 10 liters of boiling water and left for two days. Spraying is done before and after forcing flowers and just before leaf fall.
• Whey from milk. A liter of product is diluted with nine liters of water. Treat gooseberry branches three times at three-day intervals.
• Tansy. Take 10 liters of water, tansy - 30 g of dry inflorescences and leave for a day. Then cook for 1.5-2 hours, filter. Tansy decoction is poured onto the soil around the bushes at the beginning and end of the growing season.
• Rotten hay or forest litter. One-third of the hay is placed in a bucket, filled to the top with water and kept for 3 days. Then the composition must be diluted with water 1:3 and filtered. Treat bushes before and after flowering and before leaves fall.
• Soda. Two tablespoons of the substance and 50 g of dark laundry soap, grated in advance, are mixed with ten liters of water. Spray the bush before and after forcing flowers.
• Fertilizers. To ten liters of water add superphosphate - 20 g, urea - 30 g, calcium chloride - 50 g, potassium permanganate - 5 g. Treatment is carried out once after flowering.
• Fitosporin. Combine water and biological product in a ratio of 10:0.1-0.15. The branches and soil are treated before the flowers form and after the berries are collected.
• Horsetail A kilogram of fresh herbs and 10 liters of water are boiled for 2 hours, cooled, filtered and diluted with water 1:5. The bushes are treated once a week throughout the growing season.

Remember that powdery mildew thrives in moist, dense plantings and on soils poor in organic matter.

That is why old shoots should be systematically removed so that the bush is well ventilated with air, and the soil should also be enriched with organic compounds. Instead of traditionally digging up the ground under the berry garden, pulling out weeds and removing litter (fungus may be hiding there!), it would be better to place tops under the gooseberries - potato and tomato tops are very good for this - and water them with solutions of EM preparations. Then the beneficial microflora will take matters into their own hands and “gobble up” the organic remains, feeding on the fungal breeding ground.

Treatment of gooseberries against powdery mildew (video)

Powdery mildew is one of the most dangerous diseases of gooseberries. This disease can not only destroy the entire harvest, but also completely destroy the plant itself in a few years. The disease occurs quite often, and the breadth of its spread knows no bounds. Powdery mildew develops especially actively in warm and fairly humid weather.

At the end of May and beginning of June, you need to pay special attention to the plant; it is during this period that you can notice a somewhat loose white coating on it. If no measures are taken, over time the plaque will begin to acquire a darker brownish tint. It becomes much denser, crust-like.

Prevention

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that begins its active development in the spring with the arrival of warmth due to numerous spores. Despite the fact that the disease is serious, it is not difficult to fight.

In this case, there are two main directions of action: agrotechnical and chemical, which together provide an excellent result.

If the gardener does not accept chemical methods, then agrotechnical methods in combination with folk remedies will be sufficient.

Powdery mildew on gooseberries is very dangerous, and therefore, in order to prevent its occurrence, every gardener needs to take preventive measures:

1. 1. Gooseberry bushes should be pruned in autumn or early spring, this has a beneficial effect on its development. Thanks to this, the plant is able to resist various kinds of diseases. At the time of pruning, it is imperative to remove branches damaged by the disease.
2. 2. If berries have already appeared, the growing season is in full swing, and powdery mildew has appeared on the plant, then such berries should be removed as far as possible. The spores of the disease survive the winter on affected shoots, and sometimes on fallen leaves. Thus, with the arrival of spring, last year's fallen leaves need to be burned.
3. 3. As soon as the severe frosts have passed, and the buds on the bush have not yet appeared, the gooseberries should be doused with hot water, the temperature of which should not be less than 90 degrees. Based on it, you can prepare a special solution from potassium permanganate (dilute until pink) or soda (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of hot water). This pre-treatment can combat almost any fungal infection.
4. 4. To fertilize shrubs, it is better to use only potash or phosphorus fertilizers. They have a beneficial effect on the plant’s resistance to powdery mildew. As for nitrogen fertilizers, they should be abandoned, since nitrogen itself can lead to the fact that the shoots, without having time to get stronger, are most affected by the disease.

Such preventive methods should be used comprehensively.

Additional measures to avoid powdery mildew on gooseberries:

1. 1. The area where the plant grows must be as clean as possible at any time of the year. The weeds present on it should be destroyed, and the shoots should be removed in a timely manner. Under no circumstances should the soil be contaminated.
2. 2. Planting material must be selected extremely carefully. The future plant must be strong and healthy. Gooseberry varieties are very diverse and therefore it is important to choose those that are better adapted to the region.
3. 3. Regularly carry out pruning and bush formation. Remove all unnecessary branches and plants from the site and burn them outside the site.
4. 4. Try to clean the area as much as possible after leaf fall and thoroughly clean the soil.

Folk methods of struggle

Many gardeners avoid the use of chemicals and prefer unconventional methods of getting rid of a particular disease. Folk remedies and methods for combating powdery mildew are very diverse, and everyone can choose the most effective, efficient and economical.

More popular recipes for traditional plant treatment are:

1. 1. Soap with soda. Affected plants can be cured by spraying with a special solution prepared on the basis of soda and soap. Spraying is carried out even after the flowering period of the plant. To do this, you need to take 50-60 g of soda ash and a little laundry soap, pre-grated, for one bucket of water. This is necessary so that the resulting solution is thicker and sticks better to the plant.
2. 2. Potassium permanganate. Powdery mildew can be treated with a special solution of potassium permanganate. With the help of this tool, preventive measures are also carried out. To prepare the drug, you need to take one bucket of water and add 1.5 g of potassium permanganate to it.
3. 3. Mullein solution. Measures to combat powdery mildew are very multifaceted. For example, a solution of mullein, infused for 3-4 days, can perfectly cope with this problem. To prepare the composition, you need to take fresh mullein and mix it with clean water in a ratio of 1:3. After this, the solution is infused and mixed again in a ratio of 1:3. The damaged plant should not be sprayed very generously, but thoroughly. You can use a simple broom for this. The event is held every week.
4. 4. Whey. If the leaves of the plant are already damaged by the disease, then any fermented milk product mixed with water in a ratio of 1:10 will be an excellent help. Whey is better. It is necessary to stir the composition until it has a homogeneous consistency, and then use it to spray a diseased plant.
5. 5. Horsetail-based decoction. This composition can be prepared from dried (100 g) or fresh grass (1 kg). The available raw materials should be soaked in one bucket of water for 24 hours, after which the solution is boiled for an hour, filtered and cooled. Then you need to dilute the resulting composition with water in a ratio of 1:5. The finished product can be stored for no more than one week. Spraying should be carried out regularly, from the very first day of the growing season.
6. 6. Tansy. A decoction based on this plant will also help cope with the disease. To do this, you need to take 300 g of fresh or 30 g of dry plant and dilute it in one bucket of water. It must be used without diluting. This composition is sprayed not on the plant itself, but on the soil in which it grows. Tansy is classified as a poisonous plant, so when working with it you must be extremely careful and follow all safety measures.
7. 7. Urine. Urine is also perfect for fighting powdery mildew. 200 g of the substance dissolves in 5 liters of water. The ingredients are mixed well with each other, and the process of spraying the diseased plant is immediately carried out. This method should be used immediately after the gooseberry bush blooms. The procedure should be carried out 3-4 times a season with an interval of 7-10 days.

Ash in the fight against disease

This remedy has been known since ancient times. Its effectiveness has been confirmed by more than one generation of gardeners.

Ash is used in many ways, the most common of which are:

1. 1. Dry ash - used in early spring. To process the ash, you need to carefully sift it through a sieve, and then pour 10-20 g under each bush of the plant.
2. 2. Ash infusion - the drug must be used twice a month throughout the entire season. Recipe for preparing the concentrate: you need to take the raw material and fill it with hot water in the proportion of 300 g of ash per 1 liter of water. The composition must be infused for five days, after which it is carefully filtered. All branches and shoots of the plant are sprayed with this medicine.
3. 3. Dry ash - can be safely used when digging the soil. More often this happens in spring or autumn. It is necessary to scatter the drug at the very root. 200-300 g of raw materials per 1 sq. m. After sprinkling, you need to water it a little or sprinkle it with a thin layer of earth so that the ash penetrates the soil as best as possible.

To prepare the ash solution you will need:

• sift dry raw materials;
• dissolve it in hot water in the proportion of 1 kg of ash per 10 liters of water;
• leave the composition for 4-7 days, while the contents are stirred every day;
• on the last day, do not touch the composition, but let it settle, after which the liquid is poured into another container;
• if you really wish, you can dissolve laundry soap in the ready-made composition;
• after this, the damaged bushes are treated with a special sprayer;
• the sediment that remains is diluted with plain water and the roots of the bushes are watered with it.

Gooseberries can be treated with freshly prepared mixture in dry and windless weather. It is advisable to carry out the procedure in the evening. It is very necessary to treat the leaves and shoots of the plant from all sides. To do this, use a sprayer or a soft paint brush.

How to prevent the development of the disease?

And of course, we must not forget about prevention.

1. It is imperative to prune bushes in autumn or spring, and remove infected shoots and burn them outside the site.
2. Inspect the bushes in spring and summer for the presence of infected shoots and leaves and, if found, remove them immediately.
3. Before winter and early spring, carefully collect leaf litter under bushes, since powdery mildew spores can safely survive the winter in fallen leaves.
4. In the spring, before the buds begin to swell, pour boiling water over the bushes - this is an excellent prevention of not only powdery mildew, but also other fungal diseases.
5. It is advisable to fertilize the crop with potassium and phosphorus fertilizers and try to refrain from using nitrogen fertilizers, since the former increase resistance to powdery mildew, and the latter often do not allow the shoots to fully ripen, which leads to severe damage by this disease.

It is advisable to combine preventive measures and apply them comprehensively. Have a good harvest!