gooseberry sawfly

[JohnParticipant]

Hi Charles

I netted (enviromesh) my gooseberries early in the season and had an excellent crop. I left the net on as what I thought would be protection against sawfly but, having ignored the gooseberries for several weeks, I see they are almost stripped bare of leaves! Will they recover next season and what would your advice be for now and next season?

Thank you very much.

[tj_theParticipant]

I have grown gooseberries for many many years, at first I used fret about the saw fly, then I realised they (the sawfly) were my friends! Gooseberries have vicious thorns and the leaves obscure the fruit AND those thorns, so when the sawfly conveniently remove the leave it’s usually the perfect time to harvest!

Also, I found that trying to remove and kill the sawfly simply extended their season because there was always a supply of food for them, if I left them they removed all the leaves and then had nothing to eat. Finally, I find that once the weather turns cooler the sawfly remain dormant and the gooseberry has plenty of time left to put leaf on before the end of the year.
Of course it just so happens that in my area the sawfly start to denude the bush as the fruit is good to pick. Occasionally they don’t coincide and I find it difficult to find the fruit through the dense foliage

[charlesModerator]

Tj this sounds brilliant.
I happen not to have had sawfly and it sounds like they would have helped contain my over exuberant gooseberries.

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