If the gooseberry is a longtime inhabitant of the dacha, growing there since the time of your grandmother, who got hold of 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 bloom covering the leaves and stems, and unpleasant brown spots on the berries. The advantages of the 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 there is a great desire to part with the pest. And, preferably, without the use of toxic pesticides. Use proven folk remedies. They are highly effective in the fight against powdery mildew and in measures to prevent it..
What is powdery mildew
In scientific circles, this ailment of the gooseberry is called spheroteka. It affects almost the entire plant, from shoots to fruits. Initially, a whitish coating forms, which later turns brown, similar to felt. Sick stems are bent, the leaves are curled, and the berries become smaller and weakly poured.
The disease is provoked by fungal microorganisms of the same name, and they throw out spores both in the spring and in the summer. Therefore, it is optimal to carry out the processing three times: before the formation of flowers, 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 hibernate in the litter, which means that it is necessary to spill the soil near the bush with the same medicinal composition. Wellness procedures are best done in the evening..
We fight powdery mildew with folk methods
- Ammonium nitrate. It is necessary to dissolve 50 g of the substance in 10 liters of water. The gooseberry bush is processed after it has faded.
- 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 dishware. All ingredients are mixed in 4.5 liters of water. The plant is systematically treated every two weeks throughout the season..
- Water. They take boiling water and pour it over a bush from a watering can. The procedure is carried out in early spring before the snow melts..
- Gaupsin or Trichodermin. For 10 liters of water, use 150 ml of one of the biological products and spray the shoots every two weeks during the entire growing season.
- Ash. Several options are possible here..
- First. The infusion of ash and water (1:10) is kept for a week, stirring occasionally. After that, the composition is poured into a clean dish, trying not to capture the sediment at the bottom..
- Second. Ash and water (0.3: 10) are boiled for half an hour, cooled and, after the ash particles have settled, they are poured into another container.
- Third. Take ash and boiling water (3:10), mix and leave for about a day. After filtering. Ash treatment is carried out in the last decade of May or the first – June 3 times, making a daily break. The sediment is slightly diluted with water and the soil is spilled under the gooseberry.
- Soda ash. In half a glass of hot water, it is necessary to dissolve 50 g of the substance, pour the solution into 10 liters of water, adding about 10 g of liquid soap. The berry is processed before and after the formation of flowers.
- Kefir or yogurt. 1 liter of fermented milk product is stirred in 9 liters of water. Spray the plants three times with a three-day interval.
- Mullein. It must be diluted with water (1: 3) and insisted for three days. Then water is added again in the same proportion and filtered. Medical procedures are done before the bush blooms, after that and before the foliage falls.
- 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 immediately before leaf fall.
- Milk whey. A liter of product is diluted with nine liters of water. Gooseberry branches are processed three times with a three-day interval.
- Tansy. They take 10 liters of water, tansy – 30 g of dry inflorescences and insist for a day. After it is boiled for 1.5-2 hours, filtered. Tansy broth spill soil around the bushes at the beginning and end of the growing season.
- Overripe hay or forest litter. One-third of the hay is placed in a bucket, poured 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 falling foliage.
- Soda. Two tablespoons of the substance and 50 g of dark laundry soap, previously grated, are mixed with ten liters of water. Spray the bush before and after forcing flowers.
- Fertilizers. Superphosphate – 20 g, urea – 30 g, calcium chloride – 50 g, potassium permanganate – 5 g are added to ten liters of water, the treatment is carried out once after flowering.
- Fitosporin. Combine water and biological product in a ratio of 10: 0.1-0.15. Branches and soil are processed before the formation of flowers and after picking berries.
- Horsetail. A kilogram of fresh grass and 10 liters of water are boiled for 2 hours, chilled, filtered and diluted with water 1: 5. The entire growing season, the bushes are treated once a week..
Remember that powdery mildew thrives in moist, thickened plantings and on poor organic soils..
That is why old shoots should be systematically removed so that the bush is well blown with air, as well as enrich the soil with organic compounds. Instead of the traditional digging of the land under the berry, weeding out the weeds and removing the litter (fungus may be hiding there!), It will be better to put the tops under the gooseberry – potato and tomato are very good for this – and water it with solutions of EM preparations. Then the beneficial microflora will take matters into their own hands and “gobble up” organic residues, eating a fungal breeding ground.
Powdery mildew treatment of gooseberries (video)
# Treatment of gooseberries from powdery mildew