Apple & Gooseberry Mildew
/The wet winter seems to have encouraged mildew to set in on my fruit bushes. American Gooseberry Mildew (Podosphaera mors-uvae, #572) infects the fruit buds and then spreads to the neighbouring leaves, where Apple Powdery Mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha, #576) starts in the young buds on the tree. Both fungi will have infected the bushes last summer and then thanks to the wet early spring, now manifested as powdery white spores on the leaves and fruit. The apples have no blossom or fruit this year, as they cropped last year and must be a variety that only fruits alternate years. The gooseberry crop though was looking good, but now it does not appear quite so appetising.
