In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:
|
| There apparently isn't a major problem with growing growing broad beans -
| the problem seems to be plants like philadelphus, viburnum etc. - i.e. the
| alternate (winter) hosts. As quite a lot of common weeds are alternate
| hosts, it is quite hard to avoid that aphid.
|
| I'm sure you're right but I've only ever seen them on broad beans here.
| Pity, I love them. Perhaps their hosts are in adjacent gardens.

Wouldn't make a huge difference - the aphids fly a respectable distance.

My experience is that the severity of the problem is very dependent on
the year's weather. This year, I had bad aphids on my first crop (very
late due to the cold spring), have had few so far on the second (why
not? Dunno), and few ants's nests survived the past few winters.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.