North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[david liezen <chandos49@hotmail.com>]

Perhaps you do not know that aphids overwinter as winged adults. Winged 
adults reproduce sexually (that's what goes on in those clouds of winged 
aphids at the end of summer) and both their eggs and the adults can survive 
winters frozen. The moisture inside them is chemically bound (that's the 
short answer from my Organismal Biology prof.) so that cell walls do not 
burst while frozen. Each year a later generation become only wingless females 
who create female clones of themselves. Some time late in summer the 
asexually reproduced wingless females produce male and female winged adults. 
I don't know how that is managed.
I wouldn't have either the imagination or the chutzpah to propose such a life 
cycle. 
 
Once the adults emerge from their hiding places in Spring they fly to likely 
plants/trees and lay some eggs. I am confident your aphids became consorts to 
your Consort by that route.
 
Find a Lady bug? Take it to the happy hunting grounds on the Consorts.
 
BTW, that is a black currant I've looked at for including in my yard. Please 
let us know how they do.
Thanks,
Dave Liezen, Spokane, WA, z6
 
> Date: Sat, 4 Jun 2011 09:45:59 -0500
> From: qazingulaza@gmail.com
> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Clove currant ribes aureum
> 
> I was thinking that removing the leaves that are hosting the majority of the
> aphids will allow the plants to outgrow them...
> 
> What's even more interesting to me is that I bought a bunch of Consort Black
> currant seedlings a few months ago & the aphid is showing up on them. They
> were all potted up with fresh potting soil & are at a different location
> from the Crandalls. Did the aphids come on the bareroot plants?
> 
> ~mIEKAL
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, Jun 4, 2011 at 9:32 AM, Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us> wrote:
> 
> > Why pull off the leaf? Even distorted, it is doing its job. When I do
> > anything, I manually remove/smush the aphids with my finger, leaving the
> > distorted leaf in place.
> >
> > Sounds like the plants may have come infested with aphids. They winter
> > underground, and may not have emerged until after you'd put the pots out 
> > in
> > the warmth for a bit. If they are isolated from all your other plants (and
> > haven't spread yet) it might even be worth springing for some insecticide.
> >
> > Ginda
> >
> > On Jun 4, 2011, at 10:02 AM, mIEKAL aND wrote:
> >
> > > These are little plants in containers. I'm just pulling the really bad
> > > leaves off. It's weird tho because I've been growing currants for 20
> > years
> > > & this is the first time I've seen them.
> > >
> > > ~mIEKAL
> > >
> > > On Sat, Jun 4, 2011 at 8:56 AM, Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us> wrote:
> > >
> > >> That is my experience. I often get current aphids, and the affected
> > leaves
> > >> look pretty ugly. But I rarely do anything about them, and the plants
> > have
> > >> remained healthy for years, now.
> > >>
> > >> Ginda
> > >>
> > >> On Jun 4, 2011, at 9:50 AM, mIEKAL aND wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> I just discovered Currant Aphids on a bunch of Crandall starts. The
> > >> leaves
> > >>> are all puffy & slightly discolored. Reading around the net it seems
> > >> like
> > >>> they mostly cause cosmetic damage & don't really injure the plants.
> > >>>
> > >>> ~mIEKAL
> >
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