User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

Leafhoppers

First worms, now leafhoppers. Leafhoppers EVERYWHERE!! What do I need to spray to kill those?

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

If you are interested in organic control, first learn to pause and look around for natural predators before spraying anything. If the infestation is heavy enough to notice, the predators will not be far behind if you have been fostering good Bio-diverse, chemical-free environment.

My first thought was spiders because the web weavers will catch the adults in flight — learn which ones are more vulnerable to accidental destruction of their orbs and nests — and the stalking hunters like crab spiders, etc might take care of the stationary nymphs... Praying mantids are great because they are so numerous on hatching, are fast and nimble at patrolling, and will take care of tiny pests all the way up to really big pests as they grow (it helps to scatter the hatchlings do they don’t turn on their hatchmates), but others Include your typical Garden Patrols like lady beetles and green lacewings, Damselbugs. One that I didn’t think of immediately is minute pirate bugs.

I sometimes also see small birds that appear to be catching bugs off the plants — hopefully the pests and not the beneficials.


I do eliminate the nymph stage Spittlebugs as I come across them — easy.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

I've got plenty of adorable little spiders, but they're too small to help me much. My garden spiders, zig-zag spiders, zipper spiders, whatever they're called.... they're smaller than an inch! 😆😆😆😆 They're so cute, but not much of a help. Ditto with my mantises. My garden patrol workers either don't do their job, are not plentiful enough, or are too small to do a good job. 🙄

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

the baby patrol will take care of the baby riffraff

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

I hope so, but I just watered my garden this evening and there were leafhoppers EVERYWHERE!! Too many leafhoppers, and too few baby spiders.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

I'm sick to death of hearing my mother complain to me about no matter what she sprays on her pea plants, NOTHING is killing the aphids, or leafhoppers. She's told me she's used Sevin, some other garden sprays she found, and she made Gary's pepper spray from the recipe I gave her. Nothing's working. As for me, I'd rather not use poisons, but I'm tired of seeing leafhoppers myself. I've never seen them this bad, we've NEVER had them like this. I don't have enough spiders to control them. No mantises. There's too many leafhoppers, I need a spray ror dust.

User avatar
applestar
Mod
Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Try sticky traps if you don’t have yo worry about collateral beneficial insects. I’ve read about using them on end of sturdy stick handles/beaters to capture whiteflies as you walk through the rows of plants — maybe adapt the idea?

As for your mom’s garden, she may be seeing pesticide resistant pests... or she may not be dying the products effectively. Any rate — Make sure she is taking all poison handling precautions including wearing a dust mask if she if using dust products.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

As far as I know, she's used all her sprays and dusts like twice already, including the pepper spray. Nothing is stopping the leafhoppers. It would be about right that the pests are resistant. I HATE resistant pests.

On my garden I try to hand pick the nasty things and stomp on them. Leafhoppers basically suck the juice out of your plants, right? Isn't that what they do?

User avatar
Gary350
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 7396
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

I assume your talking about those very tiny bugs on the under side of tomato leaves. Do you have 1 of these $4 garden hose sprayers from Harbor Freight, it has 6 settings there is 1 for a very hard fine spray that works great to blast bugs off the under side of leaves. I have also learned 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 tsp dish soap in 1 gallon of water sprayed on under side of leaves makes the bugs be gone. I think bugs don't like the 8ph baking soda spray so they leave. You can mix baking soda water stronger than 2 teaspoons, try 3 or 4 or 5 if 2 is not working. When I lived in AZ they had few desert bugs but the bugs they did have were industrial strength bugs normal bug spray did nothing.
Attachments
92398_W3.jpg
Last edited by Gary350 on Thu Jun 18, 2020 7:13 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
TomatoNut95
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 2069
Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

No, these are not tiny bugs. These leafhoppers stick on the stems and branches of the plants. I just destroyed one I found on one of my Basil plants.

I've already told my mother about blasting with the water hose. She got tired of it after doing it only a couple of times. Unfortunately my mother is NOT a patient woman, and she HATES going outsides. They're her peas, not mine. But I'll tell her about the baking soda idea. The baking soda won't cause any foliage harm to the peas, will it? She'll want to know, as she's a very precautious person.

As for me, hand picking and stomping works good for me. 😆



Return to “Organic Insect and Plant Disease Control”