Cape gooseberry new leaves yellowing and falling off, help!

I have several cape gooseberries flowering like mad, they are vigorous, however all the new growth is turning yellow and falling off. My first berry which was developing also turned yellow and fell off. What could be the issue? My soil is sandy and supposedly perfect for these plants.

You might want to post what your climate is. Where I live, it's fall and leaves are all yellowing and falling off. You can edit your profile to state your location, and it should help with other's identifying your plants problems. Some soils may have the right ph and structure (sandy, clay, etc), but be missing nutrients, and those nutrient deficiencies are often common to certain areas.

I really wish I knew more about identifying plant problems, but I'm pretty new to gardening. I'm thinking it's some kind of nutrient deficiency/nutrient absorption issue (sometimes too much of one nutrient inhibits the absorption of other nutrients). You could get a soil test to see what nutrients you may or may not be lacking. In the US, sometimes they are free through the county or other programs.

I hope someone else can come along with more experience and help you further!

More often than not, yellowing leaves are the result of too much moisture and not enough air circulation. They appear to be nestled in an enclosed corner, which would hold considerable moisture. Gooseberries do not like damp roots, so stick your finger deep into the soil and check how wet it is there.
Hope this helps.
Marianne

I live in Florida in zone 9b, and I suspect that moisture could be the issue, at least I hope so! It was raining for a couple days when the problem started after I watered them once and the soil was wet. There is a fine line with these plants because the sandy soil dries out quickly and they tend to wilt since they are so shallow rooted. I wonder when they will become more deep rooted?

I guess these plants are supposed to require nutrient lacking soil and if I were to fertilize them, they would only grow vegetative growth. I am afraid to fertilize them, and the soil is somewhat rich (some old mulch mixed in) I will hold off on the watering and see what happens. It makes me kind of nervous.

I will update you if anything improves, which I hope it does!

Thank you everyone with the quick responses!! I really appreciate it!

I have noticed on Physalis species that it is common for leaves next to the flowers to turn yellow. I have presumed that this is a method of attracting more pollinators... Because the yellow leaves mimic flower petals and might attract bugs more efficiently. This would be similar to the red leaves around the flowers on Poinsettia.

Joseph has it right for this family of plants. What you are seeing is the plant using color to attract pollinators.
If it were a mineral deficiency there would be discoloration on many more leaves.

That is so cool, never knew about that. Thanks Guys!

Is it just this family that does that? What other plants do that?

Bougainvillea, euphorbia, pineapple, dogwood, banana, Douglas fir and other conifers.