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Question for the Experts....

AlabamaJack

AlabamaJack

eXtreme
I have been fighting aphids/mites all spring. I treated every plant completely with safer soap this past Sunday (5 days ago)...I have a lot of damage (crinkled new growth) on a lot of my plants...I took some pictures a few minutes ago so I could see close up better (old eyes don't work too well anymore) and this is what I found....are these aphid/mite eggs or extremely young aphids/mites, dead aphid/mite bodies?....

macro pic...this is somewhere around 120X

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pic of damaged new growth....

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My best friend ever...

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If this is not aphid/mite damage could it be Ca/Mg deficiency?
 
I have seen the same thing on my grape vines this year as well. They look like little pearls on there. I havent noticed anything unusual lately. Im going to watch this thread

They almost look like stink bug eggs but mine were much smaller
 
I had an aphid infestation at the end of last year, they were absolutely covered, to the point where some leaves were 90% covered.

And I can tell you I never, ever had any weird new growth like you have.

I would give them some Magnesium and Calcium and see what happens, just to be sure, foliar feed and in the water.

I would be willing to bet a lot of Nutrient problems go misdiagnosed due to insect problems.

Insect infestations will pull nutrients out of the ground faster than the plant normally would, so it makes sense they would be having nutrient related problems.

I'm sure they will be fine, Good luck man.
 
That distorted new growth certainly looks similar to the aphid damage I was fighting before my plants finally went outside. I had to use Safer and Neem almost everyday to finally get rid of the little bastards. Be careful with multiple Neem sprays though as that can hurt the plants. Looks like you need some ladybugs on patrol bad. I'm pretty sure the Safer will kill aphid eggs if it comes in contact with them.
 
I had bad problems just like your 2nd pic plant last year AJ, and I came to the conclusion that it was some sort of aphid related problem.
 
I remember the "distorted" leaf thread we had last year Derek...it is similar but more widespread this year...

oh well, I just gave them a good dose of epsom salts...we will see in a couple of weeks if this helps...

I still don't know what those little white thingys are on the first pic...probably will take it to my local nursery man to see if he can identify them...
 
I've had some aphid problems,Just wipe them off or sacrifice the leaf if it's to bad.I'm lucky enough to have a resident population of ladybugs.I've also had leaf distortion.I mix some nutes,and the Epson's Salts together in a spray form.I like to make a tea of nutes by soaking some worm castings(1 handfull) in a gal of water and soaking a couple days.This must be strained of course before spraying.It's very mild and won't burn the leaves.Worm castings also make a nice top-dressing for when the plants need a perk.Of course your own favorite nutes diluted and mixed with the salts will work as well.Best of luck!
 
Good luck AJ. I say if the safe soap isn't working...Nuke them with some good Ortho product. Once should be all you need.


Careful naming your dog as your best friend, wouldn't want the wife to read that.:lol:
 
RichardK...its hard to wipe aphids off of 250+ plants...

Pepperfreak...I got some ortho today that is true chemical warfare...am holding off on using until I hear from the Texas A&M extension service Entomology expert...

wife knows Roscoe is my best friend...and the only time he gets aggrevated with me is when I am in HIS doghouse... :lol:
 
AJ, unfortunately I can't offer advice about your first photo as I don't know what species of aphids/mites you have to contend with in the US, but I can tell you that the leaf distortion in your other photo has been caused by aphid infestation.

If it was caused by a nutrient deficiency, you'd see it on older leaves, but as far as I can see in your photos, it's just the younger leaves at the top of the plant which have been affected; the nice soft juicy leaves that the aphids like to suck sap from.

We have several aphid species here to contend with; some which give birth to live young and cause infestations within days, and others which lay overwintering eggs. All are a pain in the arse...
 
I'm thinking that too Tim...thats the reason I got the Ortho BugBgon max....0.3% BiFenthrin...kills on contact and is good for 6 weeks...I hate to kill my beneficials too but so be it...the aphids/mites are history...
 
I've seen that odd kinda growth on my Dorset that's trying to grow back, but pretty sure my issue is just fert-imbalance related.

Mine showed up after the last big drain-through watering..I think musta hit a pocket of granular fert that wasnt properly broken up, so it got a big hit of fert it wasn't expecting. That's my theory for now anyways. :)
 
Tim said:
If it was caused by a nutrient deficiency, you'd see it on older leaves, but as far as I can see in your photos, it's just the younger leaves at the top of the plant which have been affected; the nice soft juicy leaves that the aphids like to suck sap from.
Click to expand...

The one thing I do know about nutrients, is that there are two types of deficiencies. Mobile nutrient and immobile nutrient deficiencies. If your new leaves are showing signs of deficieicny, it could be an immobile nutrient, as plants can move mobile ones around. Therefore if you have a mobile nutrient deficiency, new growth can look nice and green, while old leaves will suffer. The plant will move mobile nutrients to where they are needed most.

Since this is a problem in your new growth AJ, I'd say you may have an immobile nutrient deficiency. Phosphorus and Potassium are both immobile, so maybe a boost of bone meal might help? Or anything high in P and K... Considering it's not purely bug related...
 
Hey aj,
get some liquid Bonide Rotenone-Pyrethrins...
its easy,effective and has a three day half life in full sun light.
Safe for fruits and vegetables...i saturate at dusk on outdoor plants
after sun is off the foliage. if they are infested give a heavy wetting every other day for a week and then let go as directed.
8 oz will do a back yard garden for the season and if you get them hard early,well they never get a grip.
one thing is if you use this when mixing.
pour concentrate into sprayer ,then add water to it.
the other way and the concentrate will not dilute and will float on top of water.
I really hate Aphids/White flys/fungus knats/tick/fleas/lice/roachs/spider mites/spider mites/spider mites...
this kills them all.
just be safe as directed.

pablo
 
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