What's eating my worcesterberry?

Worcesterberry, a thorny Ribes hybrid, faces the same pests as gooseberry. Gooseberry sawfly caterpillars are the most destructive, capable of stripping a bush bare. Aphids distort shoot tips, and birds take ripening fruit. Currant clearwing moth bores into older canes. Inspect weekly from late spring.

Caterpillars skeletonize leaves from the centre of the bush outward; heavy infestations strip the plant entirely. Check under leaves for pale-green caterpillars from mid-spring; hand-pick on small plants; apply pyrethrin-based spray or neem oil on sight.

Leaf curl and distortion at shoot tips; sticky honeydew residue and secondary sooty mould. Blast off with a strong jet of water; encourage ladybirds and lacewings; insecticidal soap for heavy infestations.

Buds stripped in late winter; ripe fruit taken before harvest. Net bushes from bud-burst to end of harvest; use bird-scaring tape as a secondary deterrent.

Larvae bore into canes, causing sudden wilting of individual stems (dead arm). Cut out and destroy wilted canes below the entry hole; burn or bin — do not compost.