----- Monday, 4th April 2011 -----
The insecticidal soap seems to have worked!! The aphids are all dead.. I shall wait until the plant regenerates some and then post another pic! :) In the meanwhile, I have managed to capture yet another visitor on camera. This one is welcome in my book - what do u think?! Can you see the web? It spanned the entire length of my roof - what a busy spider!
----- 26th March 2011 -----
Insecticidal soap has been purchased and plants have been sprayed accordingly.. I hope it works!! According to some quick research you can easily make insecticidal soap at home using liquid soap. Does anyone have experience with this? Also, how to tell a liquid soap from a detergent if the bottle is not labelled "liquid soap" ? Any particular ingredients to keep an eye out for?
----- 12th March 2011 -----
I shall document all kinds of visitors to my garden here. Sadly, the first pictures are not of the most welcome visitors, but they are visitors none the less! I hope to slowly attract birds and other beneficial animals that may balance out the harmful effects from the below.
Justine, these look like Aphids to me. If you look at the backs of these bugs they have two "tail pipes" on there backs. The Aphids eat constantly, and these pipes are where the plant fluids are excreted that they can't use. Another sign that these are Aphids is a sticky substance on the leaves. This is called honeydew. Ants can become a problem next because they eat the honeydew.
ReplyDeleteInsecticidal soap is the answer, or sometimes a garden hose can be used to knock them off. Don't spray in the heat of the day. Sometimes this can burn foliage.
That is so helpful Lisa, thanks! I am not at all familiar with garden pests so you really are teaching me what is what right now. I'll give the insecticidal soap a try and hopefully post an aphid-free picture of the same plant in a few weeks!
ReplyDeleteJustine, the second insect is a leafhopper. Sticky cards will capture them. The other alternative is a systemic pesticide. I know that I would not want to use this on food plants. Let me know if you need the sticky cards. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteSticky cards it is then, that shouldn't be too difficult to find here. I know from my observations last summer that leaf hoppers become a huge problem when it starts to get hotter, so I'd better stock up on those sticky cards nice and early. Thanks!
ReplyDelete