What's eating my rovada redcurrant?

Rovada redcurrant is most threatened by currant blister aphid, which causes vivid red-blistered leaves each spring. Gooseberry sawfly caterpillars can strip foliage rapidly. Birds love the late-ripening berries. Control aphids early with soap spray, watch for sawfly larvae, and net heavily before berries color.

Leaves develop raised red or yellow blisters in spring; colonies shelter on the underside of distorted leaf tissue; early shoot growth weakens. Apply insecticidal soap or neem oil at bud burst before leaves curl; remove and destroy badly blistered leaves; tolerate light infestations if natural predators are present.

Small pale-green caterpillars with black spots can completely strip a bush of leaves within days, starting from the interior. Inspect inner branches from late April; pick off caterpillars by hand on small plants; spray pyrethrin or spinosad if populations are high.

Ripe red berries stripped from strigs before or during harvest; Rovada's heavy late crop makes it a prime target. Net the entire bush with 15–20 mm mesh from when berries start to color; a fruit cage is the most reliable long-term solution.