Redcurrants, aphids and old plants

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Daveswife
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Two redcurrant questions. Apologies for length of posting!

Firstly, aphids on our newest redcurrant bushes are causing dark red blisters on some leaves so I have removed all the affected leaves. In previous years only the top growing tips have been affected, curling up over the aphids, so I just snip them off. There appears to be no long term effect on the crop. So the first question is, if I carry on doing both things would this treatment be adequate or is there something else you would suggest? These bushes are growing in full sun.

The second question concerns old redcurrant bushes in a different area of the garden to the newer ones. These are about 30 years old, pruned and mulched every year with our home made compost and a layer of hops from the local brewery. We usually enjoy a good crop, although last year not so good. This year I see that two of the bushes have died off and two or three others look a bit spindly. I put this down to erratic pruning this winter but I am beginning to think they are just too old and need some drastic action. Interestingly, this group of bushes shows no sign of aphids at the moment. These old bushes are growing in part of the garden which does not get full sun.

Three alternatives, do I:
Persevere and carry on pruning and mulching each year or
Hard prune in the hope of re-envigorating growth or
Dig them up and plant something else in this area.

I should be very grateful for any advice.
Angie
Stephen
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Hi Daveswife
I am no expert but do grow redcurrants both in my small backgarden and on the allotment.
In the garden (walled and on the north side of the house, it gets morning sunshine and high summer sun) I have frequently suffered from leaf curl aphid and they seem to love the growing tips. As the keaves curl, it is difficult to spray them, so I often snip the tips off the plants, which soldier on. These are about 14 year old bushes.
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Primrose
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I have a couple of bushes about 15 years old which seem to be permanently affected by these aphids / leaf blisters. I can't eliminate the problem which has absolutely no effect on the massive crops I seem to get so I just try to prune them moderately, keep them watered and throw a few chicken manure pellets around the base every spring. The bushes seem pretty indestructible so I don,t think it's the age of the plants but possibly their location and worn out exhausted soil ?

I'd hard prune some bushes back, leave the others and apply a good fertiliser and see how they respond. If cropping is still poor, I'd dig them out. It may be they're struggling through lack of sunlight.
Last edited by Primrose on Fri Apr 19, 2019 3:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Stephen
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IMG_20190419_124318.jpg
IMG_20190419_124318.jpg (5.3 MiB) Viewed 3639 times

I have found lots of aphids today and just a little blistering like this (it is blistering not insects tight into the bark and in reality is a coral pink, which doesn't show well in the mobile phone picture). Leaves curling away, making it difficult to spray the little bu88ers. I've used the hose so far.
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
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