• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

4 lined

menotume

menotume

I've got these critters devastating some basil and sweet pepper leaves, 50% of the leaves are now black spots. I see 6 or 8 at a time on a leaf. If they move on to my hot peppers, I'm gonna get mad :mouthonfire:

4lined_bug_adult_l1.jpg



All I can find is that they are called "4 lined bugs". Anyone had any experience with 'em?
 
Never had any experience with them, and I hope I don't, because apparently they like currants and gooseberries, which I have. :eek: Might have to break out the nasties on them e.g. malathion.
 
No, they aren't. This is just what my basil looks like ...
6-20fourlined-plant-bug-on-.jpg


Going to try some Rotenone (if I can find some tomorrow). Will post the results.
 
Ok, it's getting serious now. These buggers have now three of my basil plants, one bell pepper and have hit one leaf on a Cayenne! The nursery didn't have Rotenone or Bayer Veg and Garden spray - even though they are a Bayer distributor, so I settled on Sevin. I just sprayed the basil and the buggers laughed at it and kept feeding. I'll have to see if they are still around tomorrow.
 
I have checked the affected plants several times today and have found no fourliners!

It's a bit too early to come to definitive conclusions yet, but my thoughts so far:
  • Sevin works for the Four Lined Plant Bug. I mixed mine at about 1/2 the recommended strength and sprayed the plants thoroughly as per the instructions.
  • I really don't like using such a product, especially since Sevin is reported to kill large numbers of bees when one takes pollen from a sprayed plant and brings it back to the hive (none of the plants that I sprayed had flowers on them). I will be looking for alternatives like Neem Oil and Bayer Advanced Veg and Garden liquid.
I'll post here if the buggers come back or if I am able to test an alternative method for dealing with them.
 
Well speak of the devil...I was just checking my plants and saw that same pattern of little black circles all over some of the leaves. I turned the leaf over and guess what I found. :eek: Now that I think about it, I think I've seen that same pattern on some of the leaves on my blueberry plants, which are right next to my currants and gooseberries. :shocked:
 
Kill those suckers!

I have 2 2nd-year blueberry plants about 10 feet away from my bug-ridden plants and they weren't affected.
 
Over the past couple of weeks, the four liners have spread to untreated peppers, basil and even a little on tomatoes. I put the Sevin away (anyone want an almost new bottle?) and moved on to Neem Oil purchased at Lowes.

The Neem Oil seems almost as affective as Sevin. Good news for me as it's much 'safer'. I use it at 1/2 the recommended strength, but need to reapply every few days, especially on the basil where new growth is quick. I can tell that the Neem works well as the buggers always move on to untreated plants. I can't tell 100% for sure if the Neem kills them or just repels them, but the overall population does seem to be dwindling :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top