Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Tiny black bugs on the stems of my mums?

I can't figure out what these little tiny bugs are. They almost look like teeny black spiders, but they are all clustered on the stems of the mums. There are not any on the leaves. I also see red spiders, maybe 5 per plant crawling around on the leaves.

The plants themselves look healthy otherwise but I don't remember seeing these bugs last year.

I don't think these are aphids because they are not a pale greenish color. Definately very black and small about the size of a pin head. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

Tiny black bugs on the stems of my mums?
Do they fly? Kind of like a gnat? If so, I had this problem with my lily. I tried everything and this is what worked. Finally!...

Schultz houseplant and garden insect spray. Green spray bottle, I bought it at my local nursery. Good Luck!
Reply:You should always use a general specracide after bring ALL plants and flowers home from a nursery,..... It's hard to say but ur lucky you caught it early,. Treat soon!
Reply:Sounds like blackfly (aphid) and red spider mite, but without pics it's not possible for me to say for sure.



A good spray treatment (use outside in still conditions) would be something like 'Roseclear 2'. This has the added advantage of being a fungicide as well as an insecticide.



The organic approach though would be to wash the aphids off with some water or 'pinch out' the soft growing tips of the affected plants as this is usually where they congregate. Dispose of well away from plants and garden to avoid reinfestation.



Also, look out for ants! Seen the film? Ants will carry aphids into their nests to over-winter then carry them to new shoots on plants in spring/summer. They 'farm' them like cows and collect the sugary liquid the aphids excrete. OK if you want to suck an insect's bum I suppose.
Reply:Aphids come in all colors. Without seeing your little visitors, I can't say. Are they easily squished? Then a soft bodied and easily dislodged with a strong stream of water. Or, try mixing up a batch of insecticidal soap or even dish soap.......not too strong, and spraying them. Soaps work on soft bodied insects, not too well on those with hard shells.



When you see several insects together, good chances one is feeding on another......so you might want to give the feeders a chance to clean up the problem. Exception is aphids and ants.......the ants fight off aphid predators since the ants eat the aphid excretions.
Reply:I get these in my flower garden as well exspecially in my Delphiniums. What I use and is pet and kid friendly is green Palmolive dish soap mixed in tap water in a spray bottle Just a few drops,shake and spray the plant,it wont hurt the plant at all but dont spray the plant when the sun is on it,early morning or the evening when its a bit cooler works best. I use it on everything ,house plants too,Re spray every 7 to 14 days to get the eggs that hatch. I use a 16 ounce spray bottle that I picked up at my local hardware store in the gardening isle.This is a safe and inexpensive way of killing those pesty bugs. It also works on the caterpillars that eat our trees but make it really soapy and spray. It has to be the green Palmolive and if a few drops don't work try a couple more.My daughter has a blast spraying the bugs in my garden and it won't hurt her or the plant.Almost forgot Use warm water .A horticulturist gave me this info.

myspace layouts

No comments:

Post a Comment