I found the first signs of a significant infestation today. Here's what I spotted initially from above:
Underneath I found these guys going about their evil doing:
Needless to say I removed the leaf immediately, which is why it's on our outdoor table rather than still on the plant. They were subsequently disposed of. I didn't find any evidence of them being on any of the other leaves but will be keeping a very close eye on things.
I also noticed this somewhat mysterious dying-off of some of the lateral, secondary shoots on the Columbus:
As there is a very neat distinction between the dead & dried part vs the green & alive part I'm hoping that this is a case of the plant deciding to concentrate its efforts on forming cones further up the plant. All of the dead lateral buds I found like this are lower down than the newly forming cones on this particular bine. There are a good number of cones forming though:
These are the cones that have developed the most so far. If my harvest only includes the cones that are visible now I will still be happy. The other bines of the the Columbus have yet to produce any so I am hopeful I will be getting a lot more. The same is true for the Cascade and Willamette. There is still plenty of growing left to be done this year so I'm in no hurry.
