How and with what to treat gooseberries for scab: the most effective methods of combating the disease

A disease called scab often affects gooseberries. Fungal spores are small in size and easily carried by the wind, making it very difficult to protect the plant. How to treat gooseberries against scab and what preventative measures will help protect the crop from death, we will tell you in the article.

What kind of disease is this

Scab is a fungal disease that quickly spreads throughout the plant. in conditions favorable for fungal growth.

She is often confused with powdery mildew. The differences lie in the fact that the causative agents of powdery mildew are not marsupial fungi, like scab, but erysifaceae, or powdery mildew.

What is dangerous for gooseberries

Scab disrupts the process of photosynthesis in gooseberries, affects and destroys the berries, which leads to a sharp reduction in yield indicators.

With severe infection, the shoots suffer, which is why nutrients reach the plant in small quantities, and due to lack of nutrition, the gooseberry dies. Bushes weakened by scab may not survive the cold winter or fail to bloom in the spring, making it impossible to harvest at the end of the season.

Spreading

Microscopic fungi are carried by the wind or on the wings and legs of pests. If the gooseberry bushes are very thick, the disease spreads faster when watering or precipitation occurs: drops flow down the leaves, bounce off the soil and reach new shoots and bushes.

Signs of infection

Scab appears on fruits, leaves and shoots gooseberries.

Among the external signs noted:

• peeling of the skin of the berries;
• brown spots on fruits (ranging from light shades to dark brown-brown burns):
• warts on leaf blades and shoots.

The leaves are the first to suffer. Velvety spots appear on them with a focus in the center of the leaf blade. After the spores mature, they grow and change color from light to rusty.

After this, the disease spreads to the berries. The shape of the fruit changes and they crack, allowing spores to penetrate the pulp. Bacteria dry out the berry from the inside, leaving only dry skin.

The last stage is the defeat of the shoots. Spots appear on them, the stems become deformed and stop growing. The nutrition of the plant is disrupted, after which the bush can no longer be cured, and the gooseberry dies.

Causes, causative agents of the disease

The causative agents of scab are pathogenic microscopic fungi known as ascomycetes, or marsupial fungi. They move easily through the air and reproduce quickly in suitable conditions, namely:

• if the soil moisture in the area is increased as a result of frequent watering or prolonged rainfall;
• when watering, the foliage of the plants gets very wet, the moisture flows down the shoots to the roots and stagnates there;
• air humidity remains high at a temperature of +12…+27°C;
• in the morning heavy dew, fog, rain;
• the gooseberry shoots were not thinned, the foliage is very thick;
• on the site there is an invasion of pests moving between plantings;
• the bushes were planted after black currants or another variety of gooseberries.

Treatment options

Scab is easy to cure in the initial stages of manifestation. For this purpose, various methods are used, which together give good results.

Traditional methods

At the initial stage of the disease, when the first external signs appear and the scab has not spread throughout all the gooseberry bushes, use folk remedies:

1. Mullein solution. 1 part mullein is mixed with 3 parts water and infused for 3 days. Then the bushes are sprayed at least 2 times, with a break of 7-10 days.
2. Ash solution. For 10 liters of water take 1 kg of ash. After thorough mixing, the solution is infused for a week, after which it is used to spray the bushes once every 2 days until the signs of the disease disappear.
3. Soda and soap. Rub 50 g of laundry soap and dilute it in 10 liters of water. Add 40 g of baking soda. The solution is used twice: before flowering begins and after it ends.
4. Manganese sulfate. A universal remedy used by gardeners as a top dressing, for preventive purposes and as a way to combat scab at the initial stage. To do this, prepare a 1.5-2% solution, which is used to treat gooseberries throughout the entire growing season once every 3 weeks.

Agrotechnical techniques

Protect the plant from scab and stop its spread throughout the plantings agricultural practices help:

• regularly weed the soil around the gooseberries, remove fallen leaves, branches and stones;
• if diseased shoots are found, they are removed, and the cut areas are sprinkled with wood ash or moistened with a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
• not allowed bush thickening, it is important that air passes freely between the branches and shoots and dries out the moisture;
• produce regular watering, corresponding to the gooseberry variety;
• provide timely protection of gooseberries from pests using insecticides, vinegar solution, tobacco fumigation, mustard infusion (insects carry the fungus on their paws and wings);
• follow the fertilizer application schedule for gooseberry varieties;
• Preventively treat the bushes with copper sulfate or other copper-containing products.

Biological drugs

Biological drugs are safer than chemicals, but their effectiveness is much lower, so requires several treatments throughout the season:

1. Copper sulfate. 20 g of copper sulfate and 70 g of crushed laundry soap are diluted in 5 liters of water. Spraying is carried out once a week, in damp weather - every 3-4 days.
2. Bordeaux mixture. 100 g of copper sulfate is diluted in 1 liter of water. Lime is slaked separately in the same proportions. The resulting solutions are poured into 6 liters of water and sprayed with the same frequency as indicated above.

Chemicals

Of the chemicals recommended:

• “DNOC” (10 ml per 10 liters of water), in early spring;
• arsenates (10 g per 15 liters of water), until the berries appear;
• "Acrex" (10 g per 10 l), during the dormant period, autumn and spring;
• “Karatan” (10 g per 10 l), during the dormant period, spring and autumn;
• "Nitrophen" 125 (12 g per 10 l), in the spring before the buds appear.

Spraying is carried out early in the morning or in the evening under the weather conditions specified in the instructions for the drug.

Features of struggle during flowering, fruiting, dormancy

Do not use chemicals during the flowering period, because they will scare away the bees, and the gooseberry will not form an ovary. In this case, scab is treated with folk remedies.

They are also used during the fruiting period, if the disease appears less than a month before picking the berries.If the fruits are still far from ripening, gardeners use chemicals, which by the right time will be completely washed off from the surface of the fruit, or the active substances harmful to the human body will go through a period of decay.

In the dormant stage, gooseberries can be treated with both biological products and chemicals, and folk infusions and solutions.

Getting rid of scab on berries, leaves, branches

When spraying gooseberry bushes with the selected solution or preparation, make sure that the liquid got onto all parts of the plant and well soaked the soil around the tree trunk. This allows you to destroy the mycelium and reduce the likelihood of relapse.

In dry weather, spraying is carried out once every 7-10 days, and in high humidity - 2 times more often.

It is better to dig up bushes that have suffered greatly from scab and burn them outside the site, and pour boiling water over the soil and sprinkle with wood ash. A solution of potassium permanganate will also work.

Scab-resistant gooseberry varieties

Varieties that are not afraid of scab and powdery mildew:

• Neslukhovsky;
• Lefort (photo below);
• Spring;
• Houghton;
• Malachite;
• Ural grapes;
• Chernysh;
• African;
• Negus;
• Russian yellow And Russian red;
• Isabel;
• Kolobok;
• Firework.

Preventive measures

Prevention is an effective measure to combat scab. It's about about the treatment of bushes in spring and autumn, already after harvest.

The risk of gooseberry scab infection is reduced if Every spring, until the buds awaken, treat the plantings with a 7% urea solution. Spraying is carried out in the early morning or in the evening after sunset. The liquid should completely wet all parts of the plant and thoroughly moisten the soil underneath.

In autumn, fallen leaves are raked and taken outside the site, where they are burned with the rest of the plant debris. The tree trunk circle is dug up, after which urea is again used according to the scheme described above.

Conclusion

Scab is a common problem faced by gardeners who grow gooseberries on their plots. However, timely identification of the initial signs of the disease allows you to preserve the harvest and save the garden from destruction.

Use combined treatment methods, do not neglect agricultural techniques for growing crops, and prepare for the new season in the fall.