Vinegar, mustard and ammonia will help save gooseberries from the invasion of caterpillars. What to do if all the leaves of the gooseberry are eaten? Simple means come to the rescue How to process gooseberries with berries from caterpillars

Having discovered that the gooseberry bush has completely lost its leaves, but retained the berries on the branches, an experienced gardener will immediately identify the pest. Such damage to plants is typical for the sawfly caterpillar. Gooseberries can be attacked by two varieties of insect - yellow and pale-footed.

Adults of the sawfly are small midges with two pairs of transparent wings. The yellow sawfly has a red-yellow color and a body length of up to 8 mm, the pale-legged sawfly is black with light legs, 5-6 mm in length.

The departure of sawflies coincides in time with the growth of leaves and the budding of gooseberries. Insects lay their eggs on the underside of the leaf along the veins. Caterpillars of the yellow sawfly, emerging from eggs after 7-14 days, are gray-green or green-blue in color. Yellow-green larvae of the pale-footed sawfly appear 6-10 days after laying.

Caterpillars feed on leaves, gaining weight. After about a month, the pest is ready for pupation, for which it moves into the soil to a depth of 5-10 cm, where it wraps itself in a cocoon. If the temperature is high enough, the pupation process begins, but if the caterpillar goes into the ground before winter, pupation occurs only in the spring. In summer, the conditions are more favorable, so 2-3 weeks after the departure of the caterpillars, the second flight of midges begins, ready for mating and laying eggs. In the spring, the chrysalis will need about a month to do this. The second generation of larvae is more numerous and appears by the time the fruits begin to ripen.

Symptoms and prognosis for gooseberries

The symptoms and consequences of a gooseberry lesion are the same in both sawfly species. In the initial stage, holes can be seen on the leaves eaten by caterpillars. Gradually, the pest eats away the entire leaf plate between the veins. The sawfly caterpillar is not interested in berries. Bare branches without growth of shoots and fruits - this is what remains on the bush after the invasion of the insect.

The sawfly is a pest dangerous for gooseberries. A bush that has been attacked by second-generation caterpillars can lose its crown almost completely in a week. Without leaves, the normal course of photosynthesis processes and, as a result, the nutrition of the bush, including fruits, is impossible. The berries grow small and fall off the branches before reaching ripeness.

Important!

Bushes damaged by the sawfly caterpillar, in addition to getting rid of the pest, require enhanced care: additional fertilizing with organic fertilizers, treatments with immunostimulants and thorough preparation for the winter period.

The loss of leaves not only negatively affects the yield, but also weakens the bush, depriving it of immunity to diseases, winter hardiness, and does not provide an opportunity for laying growth and fruit buds. As a result, growth and yield on the gooseberry bush are absent in the next year. Often the affected plant does not survive the winter.

Sawfighting

Eliminating the pest and the consequences of its attack will require a series of actions over several months. Treatment should begin with an examination of the gooseberry bushes to determine whether it makes sense to preserve the current year's crop.

If more than half of the leaf cover is left on the bush, you can try to reduce the number of caterpillars with the help of biological products, herbal remedies and mechanical methods of control. If the gooseberry has lost most of the leaves, it is worth abandoning the struggle for the crop and, regardless of the vegetative phase of the plant, undertake chemical treatment in order to suppress the spread of the pest as quickly as possible.

In the future, use the general treatment regimen.

Autumn events

Before winter, it is necessary to carry out a thorough cleaning in the garden - collect fallen leaves and crop residues, cut branches, dig up the soil under the bushes. Digging is best done on the eve of frost, its task is to raise the caterpillars settled for wintering into the upper layers of the soil, reducing the number of adults in the spring. The yellow sawfly hides at a depth of 5-7 cm, the lowest level is 10 cm. The pale-legged sawfly can hide 2-5 cm from the ground level. It is necessary to turn the layers of the earth so that the pests are on the surface and freeze.

Fight in the spring

In early spring, you can “finish off” the surviving pupae if you pour boiling water over the near-stem circle of the bush. The procedure should be carried out when the soil has already warmed up a little, but the movement of plant juices has not yet begun.

The soil should be loosened and covered with a film to create a barrier for adult insects when they try to fly out. Left on the surface of the soil, the midges will die. You can also reduce the number of adults with the help of baits. To do this, you need to lubricate with a viscous liquid (vaseline, vegetable oil, non-drying glue) pieces of cardboard painted in shades attractive to the insect - yellow or orange. You can take advantage of the fact that midges are repelled by strong odors: it is enough to place cans of tar, turpentine or diesel fuel between the bushes to scare away pests.

Healthy!

An effective remedy against pupating caterpillars is to put powder from ash, ground hot pepper and dry mustard into the soil when loosening the soil. The mixture is prepared at the rate of a tablespoon of mustard and pepper for every 500 g of ash.

During bud break, the bushes must be treated with chemical insecticides.

summer care

Chemical treatment is carried out again after flowering. Spraying can be repeated after harvesting the berries. In the period from the formation of the ovaries to the time of harvest, it is recommended to make several more treatments with safe folk remedies and bioinsecticides.

Bushes should be periodically inspected, removing the affected leaves and small, unusable berries. Caterpillars must be shaken off the branches onto a film spread under a bush and destroyed. The procedures are carried out throughout the season until the leaves fall.

Effective means against the sawfly

Organophosphorus compounds and peritroids of the intestinal and contact mode of action, as well as biological pesticides, are effective for treating bushes against the sawfly caterpillar. Less effective, more suitable for preventive measures, folk remedies. These are decoctions of "bitter" herbs and plants (substances) with a strong aroma.

Chemicals

During the growing season, when insecticide treatments are acceptable, gooseberries should be sprayed with preparations:

  • "Fufanon";
  • "Kinmiks";
  • "Inta-Vir";
  • "Arrivo";
  • "Spark";
  • "Karate";
  • Decis Pro.

To destroy adult insects, it is effective to treat the bushes with Trichlormetafos-3 during the summer of midges (dilute a 0.2% solution). The tool is also suitable for dealing with caterpillars of the first generation (you can use it during budding or immediately after flowering). For treatment against caterpillars, the drug is diluted in water to obtain a 1% solution.

Biologicals

If urgent treatment is necessary, when chemicals are prohibited, bioinsecticides are used. These drugs can be used at any stage of the gooseberry vegetation, including flowering. Harvest after spraying can be harvested after 5 days.

  • "Bitoxibacillin" - 80-100 g / 10 l;
  • "Dendrobacillin" - 30-50 g / 10 l;
  • "Lepidocid" - 30 g / 10 l.

2 sprayings are allowed with a break of 7-8 days.

Folk recipes

It is advisable to use folk remedies at the beginning of the lesion, when there are not many midges and caterpillars. The effect will give 3 treatments with weekly pauses.

The most effective:

  • Tomato tops. A bucket of water will require 1/2 kg of fresh tops or 40 g of dry. Chopped raw materials should be infused in water for a day. The finished solution must be filtered and diluted with 3 parts of water immediately before use.
  • Tansy. Fresh parts of the plant, with the exception of the roots, are cut, poured into 1 kg of a bucket of water and boiled for about 2 hours. After cooling, filter.
  • Pine extract. The tool can be purchased at a pharmacy. Add 4 tablespoons of the drug to a bucket of water. Prepare before use.

On a note!

The treatment of bushes with tar is effective: 30 g of resin must be dissolved in a bucket of water. But it is necessary to carry out spraying strictly before bud break.

  • Tobacco. Leaves or powder are used against the sawfly. A bucket of water in both cases will require 1 kg of raw materials. The leaves are cut and poured with warm water, tobacco dust - warm or cold. You have to insist for a day.
  • Mustard. 100 g of powder must be infused for 2 days in 10 liters of water. Ready infusion must be diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 2.
  • Red capsicum. A bucket of water requires 1 kg of fresh fruit. Pre-cut peppers are poured with boiling water, boiled for 5 minutes. The tool is allowed to brew during cooling, filtered and used.
  • Chamomile. The flowers and leaves of chamomile are crushed, poured with hot water (60-65 ° C). On a bucket take 1 kg of raw materials. After half a day of infusion, the solution is filtered and another 10 liters of water are added to it.
  • Yarrow. For 10 liters, you need 700 g of dry or 400 g of fresh leaves and stems of the plant. Chopped greens are poured with boiling water, let it brew for 3 days.
  • Wood ash. A bucket of hot water should be filled with 3 kg of ash. After 48 hours, the infusion should be filtered and sprayed. Wood ash can be used in dry form for dusting bushes during the summer of midges (consumption - 1 kg per 2 bushes). It is recommended to carry out this procedure in the early morning, when the gooseberry leaves are damp from dew.

In all infusions and decoctions, it is useful to dissolve 40 g of soap chips (per bucket). This will prolong the period during which the product will last on the leaves, in addition, caterpillars do not like soap.

Prevention

To prevent the serious consequences of pest damage, regular inspection of the bushes is necessary. We should not forget about the reverse side of the leaves, where eggs and young sawfly larvae can be located, as well as other pests hiding.

  1. An elder bush, as well as planting tomatoes, mint or tansy next to the gooseberry, can scare away an adult sawfly from the site. A row of herbs is recommended to be placed between every 6 bushes.
  2. Sawfly species that affect gooseberries are also dangerous for currants (red and black). It is not recommended to plant these crops nearby.
  3. Autumn cleaning is important, especially digging the soil to kill the larvae.
  4. It is useful to spray the planting with herbal infusions and decoctions two or three times per season. The best remedies are tomato tops and tansy. But since it is advisable to provide protection from several types of pests at once, it is worth dwelling on more universal means - wood ash, mustard and tobacco infusions.

Also, you should pay attention to gooseberry varieties that are highly resistant to sawfly damage:

  • "Commander";
  • "Northern Captain";
  • "Harlequin";
  • "Favorite";
  • "Ural emerald";
  • "Chelyabinsk green";
  • "Cooperator";
  • "Malachite";
  • "Consul".

Advice!

The pest has natural enemies that you can try to attract to the site. These are tits and blue tit.

An adult individual up to 8 mm long has a different color. Yellow gooseberry sawfly - red and yellow colors predominate in the gamut of colors. The pale-legged type of flying insect is recognized by its basic black color and pale spots. Females are slightly larger and brighter than males. Malicious caterpillars are dirty blue or green. Each has 10 pairs of legs.

The sawfly hibernates in the caterpillar stage, hidden in a cocoon, in the upper soil layer in the root zone of the shrub at a depth of 10-15 cm. With the onset of spring, larvae hatch. When the gooseberry blooms, adults fly out. They perch on young green leaves. The eggs are attached from their lower side along the veins. The plant is affected focally. With the advent of caterpillars and the beginning of their active feeding, holes form on the leaves. The leaves are then eaten whole. If the larvae of the first generation remind little of themselves, they can go unnoticed, then the second generation of the pest is more numerous. In a week it can eat the entire green crown on the bushes.

Attention! Destroyed leaves are not only ruined harvest hopes, but also a threat to fruiting next year. The plant does not give growth, fruit and growth buds are not laid for the future.

In this case, the bush weakens. It stops the processes of photosynthesis. As a result, the fruits are underdeveloped, small. They do not stick to the bush, turning into a carrion. Gooseberries do not give young shoots. His protective functions are weakening. Freezes out in frost.

False caterpillars are preparing to winter. Young shoots eat the soft skin of the leaf blade from below. As you grow older, your appetite increases. Whole leaves are fed. Having gained the desired weight, after a month, they crawl into the soil. There they pupate. Already during the ripening of the fruit, a numerous second generation of the pest flies out. The sawfly on the gooseberry is bare branches with small fruits, where instead of leaves stick out the veins of the leaves, similar to coniferous needles.

Helping the harvest

If you do not intervene in the vegetative process, do not take action in time, you can ruin the plant. The fight against the sawfly on the gooseberry should be carried out in a comprehensive manner.

  • Before the onset of frost, collect fallen leaves and burn them.
  • Dig up the soil litter in the root zone to a depth of at least 15 cm. It would be nice to use for these purposes not a shovel, but a pitchfork.
  • Make sure that old branches are completely cut off.
  • Mulch the soil regularly.
  • If for some reason this was not done, the situation can be corrected in early spring, until the buds have blossomed on the branches. The earth under the bush is loosened, a mixture of 2 cups of ash, ground pepper and dry mustard is added (1 tablespoon each). The earth is covered with a film. Under it, the pest dies.
  • Use the thermal method: with the onset of spring, treat the slightly warmed earth at the roots with boiling water.
  • The resulting deformed, sawfly-affected berries are picked off by hand. Usually, this is done 15 days after flowering. The collected "harvest" is destroyed. Periodically, the procedure is repeated until the larvae pupate in the soil.
  • The same is done with caterpillars. Conducting regular inspections of the bushes after flowering, you should pay special attention to the inside of the leaves. To do this, the branches are raised. The larvae are collected by hand or shaken off on a piece of tarpaulin or film spread under a bush.
  • As a deterrent method, it would be good to plant an elder bush in the garden or plant tansy between gooseberry bushes: 1-2 plants for every 6 bushes of culture.
  • The smell of tops of tomatoes, mint is also not tolerated by the pest, as is the "aroma" of diesel fuel, turpentine, and other odorous substances.
  • During the summer, adults catch them with light traps. Special tiles, cardboards are painted in bright colors (orange, yellow), smeared with non-drying glue (from caterpillars).

Effective chemicals

Attention! The most effective control is carried out with the help of insecticides. Basically, the treatment is carried out twice: at the time of bud opening and after flowering is completed. If the crop has already been harvested, but the larvae have reappeared, spraying must be repeated.

  • As soon as the currants, gooseberries fade, sprinkle the bushes with 50% trichlormetaphos-3 (20 g per 10 liters of water). This will destroy adult adults. When new insects appear, the treatment is repeated.
  • Bud formation: treat the bushes with a solution (10%) of Karbofos. 75 g of the composition per 10 liters of water.
  • The larvae of the first generation are destroyed by Trieslormetafos-3. To do this, 100 g of a concentrated emulsified preparation (10%) is diluted in 10 liters of water.
  • Intestinal poisons (Parisian greens, calcium arsenate) are mixed with slaked lime and sprayed onto the "bare" bush.
  • Insecticides: Inta-Vir, Decis, Karate, Iskra, Gardona, Fufanon (1%), Ambush - are applied in early spring, even before the plant blooms.
  • In addition to insecticides, biocompositions are used: Lepidocid (10 l of water and 25 g of the substance), (10 l of water, 90 g of the drug), Dendrobacillin (water - 10 l, drug - 40 g).

Decoctions and infusions

Weakened bushes can be treated with nutritious top dressing from organic fertilizers. When the gooseberries, currants fade, treatment with infusions of mustard, yarrow, wood ash, tobacco leaves or shag will benefit. For 10 liters of infused concentrate, add 40 g of liquid soap for better fixation of the composition on the crown. If the treatment is repeated every 6 days 3 times, then the pest can be defeated.

  • Dry mustard (100 g of dry powder) insist in water (10 l) for two days. Dilute with cold water. It is added twice the volume of the infusion. The solution also includes liquid soap (40 g).
  • You can use tobacco dust. 1 kg is filled with a bucket of water. The infusion is ready for use in 24 hours.
  • Dry wood ash is sprayed in the morning on dew-wet leaves (0.5 kg per bush) in late spring or early June.
  • If the ovary is small, treatment with entobacterin is recommended (50 g of the composition per bucket of water). Or, in a bucket of water, dilute 4 tbsp. spoons of pine needles extract.
  • The fight against larvae can be carried out with an infusion of fresh tomato leaves. Method of preparation: 0.5 fresh shoots (40 g dry), 40 g of laundry soap are infused in 10 liters of water for 24 hours. Before spraying, the solution is filtered, diluted with water 1:4.
  • Ash liquor, a decoction of capsicum (red) are also used as measures to combat the sawfly.
  • If elderberry does not grow in the garden, prepare a decoction from it and sprinkle gooseberries.
  • Before bud break, bushes are treated with tar: 30 g per 10 liters of water and a little soap.

If you carry out prevention in time, do not lose vigilance, devote time to preparing infusions and solutions, then you can do without drastic measures.

From the first days of spring, not only nature comes to life. Various types of pests are active, which waited out the winter, burrowing deep into the soil or hiding under fallen leaves. hungry, thereby causing great damage to garden trees and shrubs. The shrub - gooseberry - suffers greatly from them. As a result of damage to the stems and leaves of the plant, the yield is reduced. For this reason, many gardeners and summer residents are concerned about how to deal with caterpillars on gooseberries. To get an answer to this question, you need to figure out which insect poses a threat to the gooseberry bush.

Types of pests and measures to combat them

Consider the most common gooseberry pests that can cause serious damage to the bush. Butterfly insects themselves do not pose a significant danger, the caterpillar on the gooseberry poses a threat.

Sawfly

One of the most voracious and dangerous gooseberry pests. It also infects black and red currant bushes. This is a flying insect, it can even be called beautiful due to the combination of a black head with bright yellow paws. It endures winter in the pupal stage, and in early spring adult insects fly out of them, whose task is to lay eggs on the underside of the leaves. After 1-2 weeks, caterpillars appear from them. They damage the buds and leaves, leaving holes on them.

Leaves eaten by caterpillars are not only a ruined crop. The next year, the bushes may not bear fruit, because they do not grow and growth buds are not laid.

If the green caterpillars on the gooseberry are in large numbers, within two days the gooseberry or currant bush may become completely naked. After a hearty dinner, when the pests have already eaten the leaves, they calmly crawl into the soil and pupate there. After 2 weeks, the insect reappears, it again lays eggs and the process repeats. In areas where the summer period is quite long, gooseberry pest caterpillars can give at least 3 generations. Gooseberry bushes, left without a single leaf, dry out and may die.

She was visiting her friend. She has gorgeous gooseberry bushes: large berries, beautiful green leaves are pleasing to the eye. How surprised I was when I visited her again 5 days later. There are no leaves left on the branches at all, only berries hang. According to a friend, such a metamorphosis occurred literally in one or two nights. She went to pick the berries and saw that the caterpillars had eaten the gooseberry leaves. Having experienced a small shock, she realized that it was necessary to take preventive measures in the future.

Angelina, Kuban

How to deal with a sawfly

Combat caterpillars on gooseberries should be comprehensive:

  • In autumn, all foliage must be collected and burned.
  • The soil under the gooseberry bushes must be dug up well. The larvae of insects that have gone for the winter will be destroyed as a result of such actions.
  • Old branches should be pruned.
  • It is recommended to mulch the soil.
  • In early spring, when buds have not yet appeared on the bushes, pour a mixture prepared from two glasses of ash onto the ground, 1 tbsp each. tablespoons of dry mustard and black ground pepper, and cover with a film. In this way, you can get rid of pests.
  • The thermal method will also help to get rid of. As soon as the earth warms up at the roots of the gooseberry bushes, you need to treat it with boiling water.
  • It is necessary to regularly inspect the bushes for the presence of caterpillars on them. If they have already settled there, the larvae are collected by hand and destroyed.

On a note!

It is recommended to plant tansy between gooseberry bushes or elderberry next to them. These plants repel insects with their smell. They also do not tolerate the aroma of tomatoes, turpentine, diesel fuel and other substances with a pungent odor.

Ognevka

Gooseberry moth is a dangerous insect that can destroy almost half of the crop. The small butterfly is distinguished by gray front wings, on which there are brown stripes. The female lays her eggs in unopened buds and ovaries. Caterpillars emerging from them begin to eat flowers.

On a note!

In gooseberry berries, small caterpillars are also frequent guests. Their favorite food is the core of the fruit, they literally gnaw everything inside them. As a result, the fruits change in color and dry out.

With their cobwebs, caterpillars braid not only foliage, but also berries and flower stalks. If caterpillars eat gooseberries, what to do in this case: use the available methods to destroy them.


How to deal with fire

Agrotechnical methods can be used to destroy moth caterpillars. Since the insect spends winter time in the soil right under the gooseberry bush, be sure to regularly dig up the ground. As soon as autumn comes, it is recommended that hilling be carried out at a depth of up to 10-12 cm. You also need to take the following measures:

  • Plant mint, tomatoes around or next to the plants.
  • A reasonable solution is to attract natural pests - ground beetles to the site. These beetles are happy to eat the larvae of sawflies and moths. To attract them, it is enough to put roofing felt or roofing material under the bushes, which serve as shelter for them.
  • When planting gooseberry bushes, it is necessary to leave enough space between them for good air exchange. We should not forget that gooseberries love the sun.

It is good to process gooseberries from caterpillars with old proven methods. They are as follows:

  • Spraying with wood ash. You need to take it in the amount of 3 kg, sift and pour 10 liters of water. Leave the resulting solution for 48 hours, after which it is filtered and sprayed with gooseberry bushes.
  • 12% dust solution. They cultivate the soil near shrubs. After a week, dust (50 g) is scattered in the form of a powder, it will help to fix the effect.
  • Infusion from tops of tomatoes. Every 7 days they should spray gooseberries from caterpillars.
  • Coniferous branches. You should collect them in an amount of 200 grams, pour two liters of hot water and insist for a week. Before spraying, the mixture is diluted with water, observing a ratio of 1:10.
  • Mustard tincture. 100 grams of powder is diluted in a standard bucket of water and infused for two days. After that, the resulting solution is filtered, diluted in a ratio of 1 to 2 and the spraying process is started.

On a note!

shoot aphid


Refers to a common type of pest. Her eggs in the winter remain on the shoots. With the onset of spring, larvae appear that feed on the juice of young leaves. As soon as insects fly out of them, they settle on the top of young shoots, slowing down their growth. There is a deformation of the leaves, as a result, a lump of them is formed on the tops. Thus, the aphid creates a "house for life" for itself. Gooseberries affected by aphids do not grow well, their buds appear late.

How to deal with aphids

If this type of insect is found on a gooseberry bush, it is recommended to use boiling water and water the plant with it. Good ways to help in the fight are:

  • Garlic. It must be crushed in the amount of 300 grams, poured with 10 liters of water, let it brew a little, strain and process the shrubs.
  • Onion peel. Insist for 5 days onion peel (200g), filled with 10 liters of water, then spray the plants.
  • Burdock. The leaves are crushed, infused for 2-3 days and the bushes are processed.

My gooseberry bushes were infested with aphids. I used garlic. I made a solution, as written above, and sprayed the bushes with it. Helps well. In autumn, under the gooseberry, I pour ash.

Olga, Vitebsk


The caterpillars of this insect completely infect the foliage of the gooseberry. They spend the winter under fallen leaves, and in the spring they emerge from cocoons and eat them. Only cuttings remain on the bush. After flowering ends, they pupate, fasten with cobwebs to the leaves. After 3-4 weeks, butterflies appear and lay their eggs on the inside of the leaves. New larvae soon appear from them, and the process is repeated, after which they go to winter.

How to deal with moth:

  1. Just as with other representatives of insects, leaves should be removed and burned, and the soil should be dug up.
  2. For processing, use decoctions of shag, tinctures of chamomile.
  3. It is recommended to spray karbofos 2 times for their destruction. The first time, as soon as they appear on the bushes, the second - 20-30 days before harvest.

Chemicals

Insecticides are considered the most effective drugs. Processing of gooseberry bushes should be carried out 2 times per season. The first time - as soon as the buds open, the second - after the end of flowering. If the larvae appeared after harvesting, the spraying procedure must be repeated. To do this, use the following recipes:

  • Dissolve 20 g of 50% trichlormetaphos-3 in 10 liters of water. Processing is carried out at the time of bud opening and after flowering. If new pests appear, the procedure is repeated.
  • A solution of 10% karbofos. 75 grams of the composition are dissolved in 10 liters. Processing is carried out during the formation of buds.
  • Ready means: Karate, Iskra, Fufanon, Decis, Gardona and others. They should be used in early spring before the plant has flowered.

On a note!

A remedy called Bitoxibacillin has proven itself well. The drug is excellent for all types of pests. It is somewhat aggressive, but when used correctly, it is excellent at destroying caterpillars. It does not harm plants and does not affect yield.

I have 5 gooseberry bushes in my dacha. Tasty, juicy fruits and no pests. But how surprised I was when I noticed the caterpillars after I had already picked the berries. They destroyed the leaves with such fury that I was afraid. I bought funds: Commander and Iskra. At first I processed one, in 2 weeks the second. She poured ashes under the bushes.

Valentina, Izhevsk

Now you know how to get rid of caterpillars on gooseberries using affordable methods, without much financial cost and effort.

Having noticed the first pests on the gooseberry leaves that unceremoniously absorb them, immediately try to process the plant. The thing is, you can't slow down. By allowing the caterpillars to have plenty of "fun", you risk not only losing the crop, but also infecting the black currant with this disease, because the type of pests in these plants is similar and if one thing suffers, then the second wave of attacks will fall on its neighbor!

Methods of dealing with caterpillars on gooseberries

Meanwhile, while scientists are developing harmless drugs to fight caterpillars, amateur gardeners are also on the alert and are actively using “grandmother's methods” for these purposes! They are the following:

  1. Manual collection. When there are not too many caterpillars on one bush, it is quite possible to collect them by hand if you do this for several days, with a break of several hours!
  2. Spraying with "home" solutions. Among the solutions that can be prepared at home, substances obtained after infusion or boiling of wormwood are used. Grass, plucked, crushed, gaining half a bucket, and poured twice as much water. A day later, use for watering. You can pre-boil and cool. This decoction is used with water in a ratio of 1:1. Similarly, 500 g of tobacco is steamed in a bucket of water and, diluted in the same ratio, two days later gooseberries are sprayed from caterpillars. Potato or tomato tops, which are fermented according to the principle of bitter wormwood, help well, and are used in a similar way. Also prepare decoctions based on the roots of burdock, tansy or, for example, celandine. Garlic infusions, decoctions obtained from boiling onion and garlic husks have become effective in this regard.
  3. The use of chemicals. Along with folk remedies for combating gooseberry-eating caterpillars, preparations based on various chemical components are quite used, because they are made as safe as possible for health, if, of course, they are used correctly. In addition, it is chemicals that are sometimes the only salvation, at a time when folk methods no longer work, since the invasion of caterpillars was noticed too late and most of the gooseberry leaves have already been eaten! Therefore, “nicotine sulfate”, “anabasin sulfate”, “fufanon”, “spark” are used for spraying treatment. Suitable vitriol, karbofos and even spraying with acetic acid. By contacting the nearest gardening store, you can find a lot of similar drugs in it, which will be very effective and safe, first of all, for people's health!

Whichever way you prefer to process gooseberry leaves, add a small amount of soap to the diluted substance. Such additives help to keep the substance on the bush as long as possible, however, after rains, the treatments are repeated. When using chemicals, never break the dosage, because the gooseberries will then be eaten and they should not be "poisoned"! Therefore, when processing, try to take everything into account!

Gooseberry shoot aphid Aphis grossu-lariae Kalt . - a small sucking insect of pale green color, 1.1-1.9 mm long. Before treating gooseberries from these pests, you need to know that eggs overwinter on shoots near the buds, in early spring, in April, larvae hatch and feed on the juice of the buds, and later on the juice of leaf petioles and young shoots. Damaged petioles are bent, shoot growth stops, lumps of twisted leaves form on the tops, inside of which there are aphid colonies. In summer, settler females hatch, which fly to neighboring plants and give rise to new colonies. The shoots damaged by aphids continue to grow, and a ball of twisted leaves remains in the middle of the shoot. Gooseberry shoot aphid is often found on black and golden currants, less often on gooseberries.

Control measures. Spraying bushes during bud break with one of the preparations: Fufanon, Kemifos, Kinmiks, Aktellik, Spark, Inta-Vir, Fitoverm.

Look at these gooseberry pests and the fight against them in the photo, which shows all the typical signs and methods for eliminating insects:


Elm leaf beetle, or garden looper, or apple leaf beetle Liperus xanthopoda Schr. , - beetle black, shiny, 4-6 mm long. It has yellow legs and yellow antennae with a dark top; in the female, the length of the antennae is equal to the length of the body. Beetles gnaw large holes on the leaves without touching the veins. Before treating gooseberries in the spring from such pests, you need to understand that they develop in one generation, are found in spring and summer on all fruit trees, many hardwoods and many berry bushes. With a large number, it severely damages the leaves and causes them to dry out prematurely.

Control measures. Preventive spraying of all trees and shrubs in the garden at bud break and immediately after flowering of fruit preparation Fufanon or its analogues (Kemifos, Karbofos).

See how these gooseberry pests look in the photo, which shows their appearance and distinguishing features:


Treatment of gooseberry bushes venous from sawy pests

Processing gooseberry bushes in the spring from pests contributes to the complete destruction of different types of sawflies. You can find out how to treat gooseberries in the spring from pests on this page - further on the sawfly varieties and measures to combat them.


Gooseberry sawfly Pristiphorapallipes Lep. - an insect 5-6 mm long, black, with whitish legs. Larvae are naked, green. Older larvae hibernate in a dense shiny cocoon of dark brown color in the soil. In early spring, they pupate there, and in April, insects of the first generation emerge. The females lay their eggs in the leaf tissue along the edges and near the veins on the underside. The fertility of one female is 40-50 eggs.

The egg stage lasts 6-8 days, after which the larvae hatch and gnaw small holes in the leaves. Growing up, the larvae eat leaves from the edges and often completely bare the bushes, leaving only leaf petioles. The larvae often feed on the underside of the leaf, and the disturbed ones quickly roll to the ground. The development of larvae lasts 20-25 days, after which they pupate in light-colored summer cocoons 5-7 mm long on leaves, stems, and in the soil.

After a while, adult insects emerge and give rise to new generations. For a year, depending on weather conditions, 2-3 generations of the pest develop. The larvae of the last generation go into the soil and pupate. With a large number of pests, currant and gooseberry bushes lose most of their leaves, and the shoots do not have time to become woody, which reduces the frost resistance of plants.

Control measures. Processing gooseberries from pests begins with the collection and destruction of single larvae. Preventive spraying of berry bushes before flowering with one of the preparations: fufanon, kemifos. kinmiks, actellik, spark, Inta-Vir. With a large number, spraying with the same preparations is carried out in the summer, taking into account the waiting time.


Yellow gooseberry sawfly Nematus ribesii Scop . - an insect 6-8 mm long, yellow, with a black head and transparent wings. Larvae (false caterpillars) up to 17 mm long, with 20 legs, grayish-green. Caterpillars of the last older age overwinter in cocoons in the soil at a depth of up to 5 cm, pupate there in the spring; two weeks later, during the budding period, adult insects fly out.

The females lay their eggs along the veins on the underside of the leaves. Larvae emerge from them, which first skeletonize the leaves, then eat holes, and at an older age they eat the whole leaves, leaving only veins and petioles. The development of larvae lasts 15-28 days, after which they pupate in the soil, and two weeks later the second generation of the pest emerges. The new generation is the most numerous and voracious, the larvae develop and feed in the second half of June and can destroy all the leaves and even berries on the bushes. Larvae of the second generation after the end of feeding go into the soil for wintering.

Control measures. Spraying the bushes before flowering and immediately after flowering with one of the preparations: Fufanon, Kemifos, Kinmiks, Aktellik, Spark, Inta-Vir. With a large number of caterpillars, spraying is repeated in the summer, taking into account the waiting time for preparations.

Caterpillars on gooseberries: how to fight and how to treat them

How to deal with caterpillars on gooseberries depends primarily on the type of pest. Most often, leafworms, gooseberry moths, moths and other no less beautiful and voracious butterflies are determined on the bush. Measures to combat them without fail include agrotechnical measures on the plot and the use of special chemicals. Before you process gooseberries from caterpillars, make sure that this procedure will not harm the environment. Start the fight in early spring and react in a timely manner when butterflies and caterpillars appear.

Leaf roller: how to spray gooseberries in the spring from pests


Kidney leaflet, or kidney twirl Spilonota ocellana F. (syn. Tmetocera ocellana F.) , - a butterfly with a wingspan of 14-18 mm. The forewings are gray with a wide white stripe in the middle and a few dark strokes, the hindwings are brownish-gray. The eggs are transparent, shiny, the caterpillar is 9-12 mm long, brown, with a black head and a black pectoral shield. The pupa is brown, 6-8 mm long.

Before spraying gooseberries in the spring from pests, you need to know that caterpillars of the third age hibernate in white cocoons near the buds and in bark cracks. In early spring, they emerge from the cocoon, bite into the buds and feed on the rudiments of the leaves. After bud break, caterpillars feed on buds and leaves, pulling them together with a cobweb into a tight lump. Therefore, before spraying gooseberries from pests, you need to collect and burn all plant residues that have been preserved since autumn.

Having finished feeding, the caterpillars pupate, and about 9-15 days after the end of flowering of apple trees, butterflies fly out. The flight of butterflies is extended, and mass years are observed from the second decade of June. Each female lays up to 180 eggs, placing them one at a time on the upper side of the leaves. Hatching caterpillars live between two leaf blades fastened with a cobweb, or between a leaf and a fruit, to which they are attached with a cobweb. Caterpillars are yellow-green, with a black head and pectoral shield. Already from a young age, they gnaw out the parenchyma of the leaf and the skin of the fetus, which leads to deformation and drying of damaged leaves and fruits. The leaf roller damages all fruit and many berry crops, as well as forest species.

Control measures. With a large number of pests in the garden, an annual spraying is carried out in early spring, during the swelling of the kidneys, with one of the preparations: fufanon, kemifos, actellik. The treatment is repeated 2-3 weeks after the end of flowering.

Moth: spring treatment of gooseberries from pests


Kidney Leaf Roller Abraxas grossulariata L. . - a large butterfly with a wingspan of 38-48 mm. The wings are yellow-white with numerous black spots and stripes. Caterpillars up to 40 mm long, grayish-white, with yellow stripes and a yellow abdomen, have two pairs of ventral legs, which is why they bend twice when moving. Older caterpillars hibernate in special cocoons under fallen leaves. During the budding of currants and gooseberries, the caterpillars emerge from their cocoons, climb the branches and gnaw on the buds and young leaves. In June, the caterpillars pupate in cobweb cocoons attached to the branches of bushes; Butterflies fly out from the second half of June until July. The females lay their eggs in small clusters between the veins on the underside of the leaves. After 12-20 days, caterpillars hatch, which feed on the leaves, gnawing large holes in them, weave cocoons in the fall, attach them to the leaves and fall to the ground together with the leaves. The pest is widespread in gardens and, in addition to berries, damages apple, pear, plum, apricot, bird cherry trees.

Control measures. Spring treatment of gooseberries from moth pests begins with the collection and burning of fallen leaves with pest cocoons. Preventive spraying of berry bushes before flowering with one of the preparations: Fufanon, Kemifos, Kinmiks, Aktellik, Spark, Inta-Vir. With a large number of caterpillars in the summer, repeated sprayings are carried out after picking berries with the same preparations.

Ognevka: fighting green pest caterpillars on gooseberries in spring


gooseberry fire Zophodia convolutella Zell . - a night butterfly with a wingspan of 26-32 mm, flies at dusk and at night, hides in the shade of bushes during the day. The fore wings are gray with dark brown stripes, the hind wings are light brown, one-color with a silver-white fringe, the wing pattern is variable. Caterpillars on gooseberries 10-11 mm long, yellow-white with a black head at a younger age, green at an older age.

The fight against gooseberry pests begins in the spring, as the pupae hibernate in the soil under the bushes at a depth of 1-3 cm. In the spring, before the gooseberry blooms, butterflies come out that feed on nectar, the flight lasts 30-40 days. After fertilization, females lay eggs inside currant and gooseberry inflorescences, as well as on ovaries and leaves. Green caterpillars on gooseberries damage the berries by eating the pulp and seeds. During mass reproduction, caterpillars entangle the fruits with cobwebs, fastening them into large lumps. Damaged berries rot and dry out, so the moth is often called the gooseberry codling moth. Older caterpillars go under the bushes into the soil, weave cocoons and pupate, turning into brown pupae.

Control measures with caterpillars on gooseberries consist in spraying the bushes before flowering and immediately after it with one of the preparations: Fufanon, Kemifos, Aktellik, Kinmiks, Spark, Inta-Vir. Collection and destruction of damaged berries, autumn digging of the soil under the bushes.