Just a word of caution…if you have lots of wild Ribes around. We are in zone 4b, SW Wisconsin. We used to grow gooseberries and loved them, but the cane borers did them in. Our yard is surrounded by woods with wild gooseberries being a common understory. They bother the currants too, red & white more than black, but not as bad as the gooseberries.
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I have grown Pixwell gooseberries for the past 40 years. They normally produce fairly well and we get more than we can use.
I did have a Hennomaki red, but it died last year, being 3 years old. The Pixwell gooseberries are larger and tase better. Mid-Missouri z6b
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I’ve tried! they end up on this gooseberry. the spray this spring really helped though, there were almost no aphids for the first time. I’ll spray it when I do my plum tree every year from now on.
apples here HAVE to be sprayed so I’m already doing it, it’s easy to use up the last bit on that one patch of canes
What product you spraying?
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I don’t doubt your method, but I have to ask, are you building an environment conducive to ladybugs? I bought a bunch of sprays for aphids etc and haven’t used them yet because we have so many wasps and ladybugs that eat the aphids.
So many people hate yellow jackets but they destroy the things that eat my plants, so I’ve been trying to learn to live with them as long as they don’t build their nest where the kids play.
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Oddly enough, the wooly aphids and spotted lantern flies are bothering my glenndale gooseberry, but are leaving poorman and another unknown variety alone mostly. Glendale is the only 1 in partial shade, others are full sun.
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I used my last bits of dormant oil right when the leaves were showing up. @disc4tw there were ladybugs later on but at the time they got mobbed none were around yet.
this year, by the time the aphids arrived, there were plenty ladybugs and lacewings and mantis around. I don’t think it got rid of the aphids completely but it did delay them long enough for those helpers to arrive
last year I was out there daily with the hose spraying masses of aphids off the plum and these gooseberries
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I haven’t had aphid issues on my gooseberries but I have with some currants. I found 1 gallon of water with 1 tablespoon of Castile soap applied once every 3 days for a total of 3 applications knocked out a very heavy infestation.
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This won’t really survive in the South. I can barely keep a few alive in pots with a lot of afternoon shade in Richmond, VA in a 7a/b zone. They still defoliate in late summer/early fall.
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Yes gooseberries, currants, and haskaps are better left to cold growers. Instead you have sparkleberries to graft blueberries onto, more in ground figs, kaki persimmons, and few others I’m sure I’m forgetting.
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I am by no means a baker but I just made a gooseberry pie with slightly underripe gooseberries, absolutely delicious.
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My pies are usually ugly but delicious. Haven’t tried gooseberry yet but maybe next year! I imagine it’s similar to rhubarb for the final product for acid balance /general taste?
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Believe it or not I’ve never tried rhubarb pie. But it has a very nice sweet/sourness going on that I really enjoy.
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Highly recommend strawberry (or in this case gooseberry rhubarb) rhubarb pie. I use a crisco based crust and put a bit of buttermilk made with apple cider vinegar. I think the crust makes the pie.
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I will definitely give it a try, time to start hunting for a good rhubarb variety!
i recommend Canada red from Hartmanns if they still have it.
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I just started reading up on varieties last night, definitely looks like Canada Red is a winner. Thank you!
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Anyone have spray suggestions for wooly aphids on GB ? They are starting to kill the new growth and smashing and the hose aren’t sufficient.
1 gallon of water with 1 tablespoon of Castile soap applied once every 3 days for a total of 3 applications knocked out a very heavy infestation.
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starks has their variety also. i put 2 in this spring. ill post how they do in the future.
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