Gooseberry Bush Problems

Question

Hi I have a lot of gooseberry bushes as we make wine but have had some problems this year, 1) On 2 bushes half the bush died off just after leafing, so I cut the dead wood away and sealed the cut and the half left has produced well, what causes this. 2) On most of my bushes the leaves have turned yellow and 90% have fallen off, they produced well though, what causes this and is it a problem. 3) Would you advise fertilising the bushes after heavy cropping. 4) Two, previously good cropping bushes lost nearly all their leaves just after the fruit was big pea size and the fruit never grew much and did not taste nice, what could be the reason

Answer 1

Unfortunately, your photos did not come through. It sounds like soils are infected, but this will be hard to say for certain.

There are several tests that I would run, first. These articles will help:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/testing-moisture-in-plants.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/testing-soil.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/soil-ph-plants.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/test-soil-for-pests-and-diseases.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/making-sure-soil-drains-well.htm

This should tell you exactly what is wrong with the soil. Likely, there are nutrient issues, or soil drainage problems.

Answer 2

I was hoping someone with experience of gooseberry bushes would answer as the suggestions made are very unspecific to my problems and a load of information to bypass the specific problems. Like how does half a bush die for no reason whilst the rest flourishes