The wild grapevines are amok this year, covering trees etc.
One by the gate has cooties. Bugs, and galls of some sort (not sure if galls is the right word, can't think of a better one.
I'm assuming that any vines with these on them need to be pruned off and treated as toxic waste.
Am I correct in this assumption?
I figure the bug picture will be so obvious to those who know that I didn't need to get a better shot.
is that top one aphids? that looks like how they cover things, although in my corner of the world they're either black or a powdery gray. You could just smash them off with your fingers if they are aphids, hosing them with water or spraying them with a soap solution works too. I'd not worry too much if they were aphids.
the bottom one looks like leaf and stem gall, I would pop that off it it were in my yard. i've read you can spray soap for that too (apparently spread by mites?) but i don't have practical experience with it on grapes.
Thanks :)
They are wild grapes, and they are totally amok this year, I have no urge to baby them. Watch for the thread I'll be making soon about what I'm doing with them :D
Ok, nothing redeeming in there. Not going to grow up to be lovely butterflies or anything. That's what I expected.
They are getting a haircut. :D
from what i've seen, if there are cool things inside the galls they are larger and rounder (at least in my part of the world), not irregular or smaller.
i can't WAIT to see what you make with them! hope they produce a whole tubload!
Dolmas, and also use to make your pickles crunchy!!! I miss having a grapevine for just that reason. At my favorite veg store when they have gherkins someone with a vine at home always brings in some grape leaves to share.
Tereza Okava wrote:Dolmas, and also use to make your pickles crunchy!!! I miss having a grapevine for just that reason. At my favorite veg store when they have gherkins someone with a vine at home always brings in some grape leaves to share.
I used them for pickles many years ago, these days I'm curious what else they'd crunch up :D I used pickling lime a few years ago to do odd things to squash :D I'll try to experiment!
Our elderberries had most of the stems covered with aphids like that this year. It also affected the apple trees. Worst I've ever seen them, probably due to it being a wet, warm spring and everything making far too much soft new growth. And there are ZERO ladybirds this year. Literally, not one. Hubby was all for cutting the branches off, and cut some, then I convinced him to wait. Yesterday I noticed the aphids have almost gone. Not sure if it's too dry for them or if something else is predating on them.
Wish I knew what was going on!
Grape leaves are yummy! I didn't know about making pickles crunchy. How does that work?
I'm only 65! That's not to old to learn to be a permie, right?
Well, if you want to (and can) cut them down, you could make weed-tea fertilizer from them. I do that with weeds that have gone to seed or are infested with aphids. If I leave it too long it gets super nasty smelling, though so this year I'm going to try using it sooner.
Works at a residential alternative high school in the Himalayas SECMOL.org . "Back home" is Cape Cod, E Coast USA.
You can thank my dental hygienist for my untimely aliveness. So tiny:
permaculture thorns, A Book About Trying to Build Permaculture Community - draft eBook