Help with pests.. New to gardening

[FishFL]

Hi, So the past couple of days I have been a little concerned about my squahes, cucs, and zuccinis (5-7 inches tall). The leaves have started to yellow.

This morning I inspected them and I think from research on google I have identified them as spider mites/ two spot mites. They are all under the leaves and they especially have taken to my peppers(6-10 inches).

Although I have not found any webbing they I think this is what I have. They are orange/brown very very small and populated. The juveniles look more transparent with a yellowish/green tinge. They are not active even when I wipe them away, I believe they are sucking from the leaves.

I am growing ORGANICALLY. So how do I get rid of them? Without pesticides, any homemade organic recommendations?

[applestar]

If two spot mites are indeed what you have, I am battling them myself on a tomato plant. I'm just using soap solution, but have found that spraying is ineffective due to all the fuzz on the tomato plant as well as the rugose/puckered/sheersucker type leaves this particular plant has. The mites are under their invisible webbing cast among the tomato fuzz and across the the puckered leaves so that the spray doesn't reach them. The more severely infected leaves are also being attacked on the topside where they hide inthe creases made by the veins.

I have been using cotton swabs to get into the puckered depressions, 1" watercolor brush to paint entire surfaces, and large beverage cups filled with soapy water to dip entire leaves in. In addition to the mites, the dip in the cup washes off unseen aphids. When the bottom of the cup is full of mites and aphids, I replace the soapy solution.

I find it amusing to mutter and cackle "NOOO!! The DIP?!!! Not the DIIIP!!!!" from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? but that might be just me.

ETA -- with the cucurbits, you will want to be careful of fungal issues due to all the indevitable leaf wetting, as I do also with the tomato plant. I have been using Dr. Bronner's Teatree oil liquid soap which I believe will help provide fungal preventive.

[FishFL]

Thanks,

So I went back out to investigate. I brought a piece of printer paper, scraped a leaf full onto it and looked closely. They actually have 6 legs, and after googling again, they are DEFINATLEY Aphids. Not sure if thats better or worse. But, I havent seen any pics of the orange/brown ones. They are identical to the green ones except the color.

I guess I am going to spray with water to knock them off. They obviously reproduce very rapidly. But is there any other way to control them other than wiping or washing them away?

[Francis Barnswallow]

I had problems with aphids on my peppers. I just used an organic soap spray. It works for a day or two and then the aphids just come right back. Basically you just have to keep them in check by spraying the organic soap every few days.

Keep in mind that during the summer and fall months here in Florida, the pest problems are much worse then they are now (leaf hopper worms, flea beetles, fruit worms, army worms<---the worst if not eliminated at first sign of plant damage, hornworms, climbing cutworms, and your neighbor's kids stealing your strawberries).

I figured I'd let you know about these pests so that you can be prepared and know what to look for. Always check under the leaves!

[FishFL]

Thanks Francis,

I will definitely get familiar with those pests.

I went out to the garden and sprayed all the aphids off. I noticed that they quickly crawl back to the plant. There were hundreds at the base of the pepper plants. I will continue spraying them off as needed but I will not be around all the time to babysit. What about the soap solutions? Are they safe? How long will one application last?

I did BTW experiment before spraying with a couple of ants that were near the garden and placed them on the leaves. They immediately went underneath and mostly ignored the aphids but it looked like they were picking at what may have been their larvae. Does this sound right?

[Francis Barnswallow]

The soap solution I use is safe and organic. The application (especially during the more hot and humid months) last only about two days given we don't get our almost daily sea breeze thunderstorms, but it does work. In my experience aphids love the pepper plants, especially the blossoms and fire ants are always "protecting" the aphids.

Check this link out regarding the mutual relationship between ants and aphids.

https://insects.about.com/od/coolandunus ... aphids.htm

.....and also O'Doyle rules!!

[rainbowgardener]

Wow... great article. Some of that I knew already, but some I had never heard before, like the ants tearing wings off aphids so they can't leave or even being able to chemically prevent wing development. When you get in to the details, Nature is full of these amazingly complex relationships.

My experience with this was in trying to pull a tall weed (sorry, I forget now what it was). I started experiencing all these sharp pains. Investigating, I discovered that the plant was coated in aphids, with ants guarding them which were biting me. Mostly ants and I co-exist in the garden just fine, but these were biting like crazy, anytime I got near "their" aphids.

[imafan26]

If you want organic controls this link is from UC Davis IPM page.

Other things you can do. Trap plants and plants that will lure beneficial insects: Marigolds, Dill, Fennel.

Plant fennel 30-50 ft away from the rest of the plants. Marigolds can be interplanted among most things. Dill should be separated from its own relatives and tomatoes. Fennel and Dill draw the aphids toward them.

Fennel is pretty impervious to attack. They will also attract lady bugs, parasitic wasps, and hover flies which will ultimately control the aphids. You need to be patient though, you cannot spray anything because they kill the predators too.

Lady bug larvae are downright ugly but they eat their weight in aphids every day.
I have fennel and marigolds in the garden and the only plants that have aphids are the onion and cowpeas which attract black aphids. I plant nasturtiums as a trap plant for that.


https://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7404.html

https://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/NE/conve ... eetle.html

[sepeters]

I have a horrible aphid problem in my garden. There are ants everywhere out there and I know they are the real source of my anguish. I have been spraying with neem oil, since my garden has been stricken with much pestilence due to a wetter than usual summer and warmer than usual winter. They die down quite a bit for a while, but always seem to come back full force and suck the life out of my plants. The spinach stems are covered in honeydew and I can see them in there feasting on the tender leaves. Digusting.
My one point of consolation when we had a cold snap and all my tomatoes and eggplants died, was that the aphids would die in the frost too. There weren't any for almost a week and they came back again. I wonder if the ants brought them down into their tunnels to wait out the cold.
Nasty little creatures. And gall dern the ants for conspiring against me!

[imafan26]

I put out Terro ant traps. There are outdoor versions. They contain boric acid. You can make your own trap using boric acid sold as Roach Proof, it used to be sold in pharmacies, but I haven't seen it lately, and sugar.

https://tipnut.com/ant-killer/

I put the terro traps at the base of my citrus tree and lemon grass. They just attract ants like crazy. Aphids and scale frequently go after citrus especially the new leaves. I use neem when the new leaves start coming out. And yes the ants protect aphids and will carry them from place to place.