Plant Pests

/Plant Pests

Aphids

Aphids are piercing, sucking insects and suck the chlorophyll out of plant leaves, making them weak and opening them up to infection by other pathogens. They excrete "honeydew" which attracts ants and provides the perfect environment for the growth of sooty mold. This mold reduces the amount of sunlight that reaches the leaf cells and reduce photosynthesis, which of course affects the plants ability to produce new leaves and fruits. We've included a link about Aphids, but at this stage you'll probably want to use a pesticidal soap; they're available at your local garden center. You'll need to follow the label directions and make sure the plants are well watered before you spray them. You'll also need to follow-up, most likely, with more sprays, but again be sure to follow the label directions for best results.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/QT/aphidscard.html
Scroll down to the bottom of this page and click on the Read More About Aphids link for more detailed info.

By | 2016-02-29T22:32:06-08:00 February 29th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Slugs Snails Or Chewing Insects

Looks like snails or slugs but could also be caterpillars. Look under the leaves for caterpillars and remove them by hand if you find them (some of them are small and some of them can get quite large, like the Tomato Horn Worm). Look for snails and slugs at dawn or dusk and remove them and dispose of them. Also look for slime trails around the plants early in the day to indicate their presence. If you have an area of your garden or landscape that may be harboring snails, we recommend trapping them and/or collecting them from the area every morning until you've eliminated them (or as much as possible). Snail baits must be used exactly right to be effective and can be toxic to children and animals. Since snails/slugs lay eggs in soil, we also recommend regular cultivation of the soil with a hoe or claw-type tool around the yard/garden, but avoid damaging plant roots. This link provides great info about managing snail/slugs.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/QT/snailsslugscard.html

By | 2016-02-29T22:25:20-08:00 February 29th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Chewing Insect

The problem may be chewing insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, etc.. Have you looked at the undersides of the leaves for a caterpillar? If you don't see an insect, we would normally suggest you cut off all the damaged foliage but since your plant has so many leaves affected, leave them be and check the unaffected leaves several times a day to see if it's on-going. Chewing insects are usually large enough to see with the naked eye, but they can be green, so look closely. If it is a chewing insect, spray with an organic control such as Spinosad - it has a 7-10 day residual - but spray in the early evening after the bees have returned to their hives. Once the spray has dried it is safe for beneficials. There are also synthetic systemics but make sure it is formulated for photinias. Suggest you show a few of these leaf samples to a horticulturist at a garden center for confirmation of the problem and suggested controls.

By | 2016-02-29T19:02:42-08:00 February 29th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Aphids On Seedlings

These are aphids, an insect that is especially attracted to new growth. They damage plants by sucking juice from the plant, harming the growth when their pierce the cells with their mouth parts. Aphids can weaken established plants, distort growth, and even kill young plants. Aphids can be green, white, orange, yellow or black in color. Fortunately they can be controlled fairly easily. Young plants in small containers can be taken to the sink and the aphids sprayed off with the spritzer that most kitchen sinks have. Many people use a hard stream of water to knock them off of outdoor plants. The funny thing about aphids is that when you knock them off they don't fly or crawl back up on the plant! You can also spay with insecticidal soap, available at your garden center. Don't use dish soaps or other home-made soap sprays because most household cleaning soaps and detergents have other ingredients that can harm plants. Only use a product made for plants and use it according to directions.

By | 2017-09-11T15:49:22-07:00 February 29th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Aphids On Leafy Vegetables

These look like aphids. They will typically feed on the newest plant growth. You can identify Aphids (with a magnifying lens) by the two "cornicles" (structures that look like tiny tailpipes) extending from the rear. If you see the cornicles, you will want to control these insects with a pesticidal soap, available at your local garden center or wash off with a strong stream of water. These insects reproduce rapidly (giving live birth, rather than laying eggs), so you can also narrow the possible insect species down if you see that some of them are smaller versions of the larger ones. Sometimes an adult will develop wings and they look a bit different than the rest, but they'll still have the "tailpipes". Also, the white bits are probably the cast-off exoskeletons of aphids, while the green or grayish moving creatures are the aphids themselves.Here is a link that you might find helpful:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7404.html

By | 2016-02-29T13:09:03-08:00 February 29th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Damage From Thrips

Sap sucking insects called Thrips (singular or plural) have been, and probably still are (in the new growth), feeding on your plant. The damage we see in your photo is severe, and characteristic of the damage these tiny insects cause when they occur in high numbers. Unfortunately, they have destroyed your plant and it will not likely recover, even from pruning the damaged tissues, or elimination of the Thrips. In addition, if you prune with Thrips insects present they will feed on the new growth that develops after pruning. We suggest you remove and destroy, or dispose of this plant in a sealed bag, and if you have other plants near this one, inspect them for Thrips and treat accordingly before bringing a new plant like this one home. Please see these links for more information:
http://zsi.gov.in/Cop-11/animal/THYSANOPTERA.pdf
http://www.pestcontrolindia.com/know-your-pest/pest/insect-agricultural-pests-chili-thrips-13-21-130.aspx

By | 2016-02-28T22:17:22-08:00 February 28th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Beetles In Canada

We're not sure this is a "pest", and we're sorry to say we can't ID this insect to species, but we can tell you its definately a Beetle. There are many thousands of Beetles in the insect order called Coleoptera, and many families and species included in that order. Some of these insects are pests and some are "good" bugs in that they will eat some of the other insects that cause damage to plants. We narrowed our investigation down to those that are common to Canada and found the following link. We hope this will be of interest to you. Otherwise, if you are concerned that this particular species may be causing damage to your plants, or is a common house pest, we suggest you take it to a local garden center or other knowledgeable person in your area. If this beetle species is not giving you any trouble, you may just enjoy learning about them, in general.
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/beetle/

By | 2017-09-11T15:49:22-07:00 February 28th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Aphids

Yes... and lots of them!! You'll want to get control of these pretty quickly. They don't usually kill plants, but they will excrete lots of plant sap called "honeydew"; this attracts ants and provides the perfect environment for the growth of sooty mold. This mold doesn't actually infect the plant but it will reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the leaf cells and reduce photosynthesis, which of course will affect the plants ability to produce new leaves and fruits. We've included a link about Aphids, but at this stage you'll probably want to use a pesticidal soap; they're available at your local garden center. You'll need to follow the label directions and make sure the plants are well watered before you spray them. You'll also need to follow-up, most likely, with more sprays, but again be sure to follow the label directions for best results.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/QT/aphidscard.html
Scroll down to the bottom of this page and click on the Read More About Aphids link for more detailed info.

By | 2016-02-28T07:22:56-08:00 February 28th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Onion Maggot

Onion Maggot – (Delia antiqua) is the most serious insect pest in onions. Onion maggots damage both the roots and more importantly the bulbs of onion, radishes and garlic. Most root maggot adults are attracted to rotting organic matter; avoid incorporating animal manure or green manure in spring. When possible, delay planting susceptible plants until the threat of root maggots is reduced, which is generally after June 1st.

It is important to remove host plants in the fall, including their roots, and destroy them which kill the overwintering pupae. This practice also helps to expose over-wintering pupae to predators and cause them to dry out. Onion maggots cause the greatest damage in their first larval stage, which occurs when the plants are very young. The maggot over-winters in the soil.

Control includes: disposing of cull piles or volunteer onions. Second and third generation onion maggots prefer injured or dying tissue. Avoid damaging or bruising any of the crop during harvest

By | 2016-02-27T23:22:20-08:00 February 27th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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Green Beans

There area couple of issues here. First, chewing insects are decimating the leaves. Possibly grasshoppers or earwigs? And secondly, the white spots can be caused by several different pests: aphids, leafhoppers or spider mites.

Leafhoppers are green, brown, or yellow bugs to ⅓-inch long with wedge-shaped wings. They jump sideways and suck the juices from plants. Use insecticidal soap. Cover plants with floating row covers to exclude bugs; spray with insecticidal soap.

Spider mites or aphids suck plant juices causing stippling. Top of leaves speckled or stippled white or yellow; fine gray webbing on undersides of leaves; leaves eventually turn pale green, yellow then brown. Keep plants well watered. Wash mites off leaves with spray of water or use insecticidal soap. Ladybugs and lacewings eat mites.

It looks like you have drip irrigation? That's good because some damage can be done by overhead watering on a hot day. With the drip, you won't have to re-apply the insecticidal soap as often.

By | 2016-02-27T21:44:31-08:00 February 27th, 2016|Plant Pests|0 Comments
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