Asking from Athabasca, AB. I have a gooseberry bush and the fruit of late seems to be infested with some sort of bug that has bored into the fruit or was laid prior to the fruit being formed. In the end the fruit is not a nice clean berry but needs to be trimmed of the little critters. I do not know what bug it is so am wondering if you can give me information on control of these pests. Insecticide to use and application date. Hoping next season will be better
Pests Eating Gooseberries.
From your description of the borer action, you may have the larvae of a sawfly. You must first inspect the whole plant, cut off and destroy all infected canes you find. There is also a currant borer that likes gooseberries, so check all your fruiting bushes.
In Ontario, there are strict laws concerning pesticide use.
You need to check with Alberta’s requirements on use and application.
The following sites may be helpful to you, with Ontario’s included. The University of Massachussetts site has excellent detail on care and prevention.
https://www.alberta.ca/pesticide-management.aspx
https://www.ag.umass.edu/fruit-currants-and-gooseberries