Gooseberries

[Gyn_Paul]

Last year I looked at my embryonic gooseberry bushes and they were in fine fettle. Then I wandered down the same bit of the garden about 4 days later and there was hardly a leaf left on any of the six of them.

What is devouring the leaves?

What do I zap it with?

When do I apply it?

Then perhaps this year we'll manage to get at least one gooseberry crumble out of eight plants (bought another two!).

p

[Loiseau]

It's probably the same horrible little caterpillars that used to consume ours on our London allotment many years ago, till we hit them with something so deadly that it is now a banned substance. If there are an leaves left at all,you might notice a tiny thin caterpillar clinging to the edges, looking much like the edge of a leaf itself.

Not sure what you can hit it with now. I think we used to spray in the winter before the leaves appeared.

Angela

EDIT

Here's a link to the RHS

https://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=517