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pests A few aphids...

jblo

jblo

Been watching some bug chew marks develop on my one hab.  Today I finally found the little bugger - definitely an aphid.
 
So I gave my other plants a really close look.  I found one other plant that had maybe 10 aphids just hanging out.  No damage at all yet.  I got rid of those as well.
 
My question is, do I take preventative action now or do I wait and see if the ecosystem will "take care of itself" through predator bugs, etc.
 
Neem oil ASAP  or you could dust em with Diatomaceous earth(you cannot get this wet)  do not play with aphids their damage shows up long after you have killed em,  they can bring mites via piggyback,  I've been there done that and had 30+ plants almost die.
 
Don't leave them to multiply! I tried the hands off approach last year and it nearly ruined my whole garden. Spot kill any you see with your favorite method. Check every day on the underside of the leaves. If you have a bunch of plants, preventive measures are advisable.
 
Diatomaceous earth is questionable with aphids. It primarily works with rigid exoskeleton insects, while aphids are soft-bodied.
 
geeme said:
Diatomaceous earth is questionable with aphids. It primarily works with rigid exoskeleton insects, while aphids are soft-bodied.
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It did kill em for me But you have to get it on them, they have long legs and don't touch the plant surface, they shed an exoskeleton which makes em susceptible.   though I do prefer neem oil for aphids over the magic dust.
 
Prehensile said:
Neem oil ASAP
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how to use ? spray it? i found some in cosmetic store but its quite expensive, 50ml about 2$, is this quantity enought to apply at 10-20 plants?(then its no so expensive but hard to spray)
 
I don't think aphids are going to leave holes in the leaves. Are they tiny holes? Like pin pricks? Could be flea beetles doing that.

I smash any I see with my fingers and let the predator insects take care of the rest.
 
jblo said:
Well, I can see holes in my leaves. Perhaps that's not from the aphids?
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No.  Aphids are sap suckers.  They feed off the juices of the plant not the stems or leaves.  Think of them sort of like a mosquito.  Little tiny sucker they insert and suck juices out through.  You cannot see these holes..  Maybe post some pictures so we can more accurately help you figure out whats wrong.  
 
Indeed.  I think I've got two different pests.  I've def got aphids.  Picking up some neem today to start dealing with those.  Not sure what's chompin on my leaves yet - I haven't seen anything on the tops or bottoms of the leaves.  I've looked closely and thoroughly.  I'll post some pics in a bit.


Another question, can I use the neem preventatively after I've cleared all the aphids I could find from the plant or does it only work when sprayed directly on the critters?
 
Cool.  Are they perfect round tiny holes or what?  Like stupidjerk said could be flea beetles. Inside or outside?
 
I've found both little green crawling aphids (mostly on one single plant - maybe 18 over the last two days) and winged black aphids.  Since I cleared the green ones this morning, none have returned, but I've seen the winged ones here and there randomly.  No more than one or two total on 29 plants.
 
Neem locked and loaded.  Will apply this evening.
 
Here's some pics of the chewed leaves.  I have yet to see any critters on the plants besides the couple of aphids.
 
On a Sapporo:

 
On a Habanero:

 
Another leaf, same plant:
 
compmodder26 said:
I'd say slugs.
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+1  That looks like slug damage to me.  Go out at night and survey the plants.  Somehow they do not leave a lot of slime on the leaves so there isnt much evidence they were there except for these types of holes.  Good luck!
 
If I recall, there's some kind of common household item to put down on the dirt to ward off slugs.  Is it orange peals or coffee grounds?
 
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