Can anyone help me figure out what are bothering my plants? I usually use Captain Jack’s Dead Bug but want to be sure it will help. I have several leaves with white spots and no evidence of anything on their undersides. I found something crawling on this one that was skinny and then found these little guys. Sorry it’s dirty- a storm kicked the dirt up onto some lower leaves.
I used some castile soap and water in a spray bottle, I had spider mites few weeks ago, if you get them early like the stage they in now you’ll be fine, I keep checking all leaves every day now though if I see any damages like that, I spray all the leaves with the castile soap and water mix and after couple hours defoliate the damaged leaves
Sorry the white spots look like thrip damage aphids don’t do that …you may have had both …but the little guys do look like aphids my bad I jumped the gun
The aphids you can literalist kill with water by spraying it on them it will knock them off the plant and they can’t live anymore or find their way back …you just need to spray it and spray it until they are gone …they usually lay eggs that hatch every three days so if you remain proactive and spray them daily you will disrupt their life cycle and rid them without any pesticide however I see thrips damage too so you kind of need to at this point CJDB is awesome or look up a product called grow safe ,it made from plant oils that will naturally kill pests
Haha thank you my friends I spotted another teeny critter crawling away but couldn’t get a good picture. I suspect he may have been a thrip but I’m over here like how did I get so many pests at once?! And where are they all hiding?! Anyway- I’ll kill them all! And their families! Rather deal with pests now than once we’re flowering anyway!
Listen don’t get crazy spraying water can keep them at bay if you have those pests trust me by the time you start flowering their predators will be there I’m not saying don’t spray jacks or something similar …but you want a few bad guys around to be sure the hood ones make it …they know where to eat …
Thanks for the tips! I gave them a good rinse and did one treatment with CJDB just to keep them at bay. The leave damage appeared overnight so I don’t want it to get out of hand. For the most part though, I let nature take it’s course
One way that helps confirm aphids. The ants enable and colonize them. If you have ants going up and down your plants, you probably have a serious aphid problem.
@Lacewing I’ve seen it in my fruit trees and the ants do go from one to another just like busy little farmers. Had a plant last year that had lots of ants. She was sickly even spraying soap spray, neem, CJDB just didn’t make much difference.
Obviously genetics is the ultimate factor, but after that I have a theory that if you have the perfect soil, with everything the plant craves in abundance no critters or disease can touch her, kind of like our human immune systems, plants are extremely complex organisms that we humans are just now beginning to crack their coding. You’re correct about letting nature and her predators do their work.
@amanda0412 I only see one aphid in the picture the rest looks like your top soil washed up under the leaves. I would wash/fine spray them off really well with a pump sprayer, paying attention to under the leaves. If you can find them, go get some some lady bugs and let them loose, they will do the heavy lifting.
I believe this also and some pests are actually welcome if you ask me because the good ones will come hungry and like you said if the plant is healthy and being taken care of it can resist a little snacking on it