I want to begin a compost pile starting with some corn stocks but noticed they are spotted with live black aphids. Would the compost wind up being contaminated with these critters or their eggs next season?
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15 years ago
Aphids/eggs in compost?
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- posted
15 years ago
If they are black, forgive me, but I doubt those are aphids. ;-)
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15 years ago
Oh!! Are aphids only white boys then? :-)) I'm sure that is not da case.
Ed
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15 years ago
Nope! Dem's extraterrestrials...
Green blooded bro's!
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15 years ago
They're definitely corn aphids:
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15 years ago
From the link you cited later in the thread: "As corn begins to senesce later in the season, winged aphids are produced and migrate to other suitable hosts."
Aphids have complex life cycles that alternate between asexual (parthenogenetic) reproduction and sexual reproduction. The sexual reproductive phase can be on an entirely different host plant than used during the asexual phase.
The aphids on your corn right now are in the asexual phase--they don't lay eggs. That's for the winged generation, and the article on corn aphids suggests that they may do that somewhere else.
Should be perfectly safe to compost those stalks. If you were able to compost then in a hot pile, you could feel even more certain.
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15 years ago
There are black aphids. They love nasturtiums, among other things.
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15 years ago
oh i get it ha ha, Yea, when it comes to growing a garden you can't help but notice how important genetic purity is in retaining the characteristics of various species of plants.
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15 years ago
I think it is not a good place to live in the compost. Besides it depends from when you are going to use that compost.
During the developing of the compost the temperature rise, cause of the fermentation and perhaps you could have some hard-boiled eggs :-) Besides when perhaps the little nymphes get out they will find a not good environment for their life and you know the most of the aphids live on a a leaf, or the stem of a plant. What could they do in the humid compost? ...probably they will die because the humidity promotes fungi infections on their bodies. I hope this will help,