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tutorial The Pest Guide
- Thread starter Cayennemist
- Start date
So on my 2 OW plants I have some bugs that look like fruit flies (not sure what they are). The flies are mostly hanging around the soil not so much on the actual plants. Anyone have any suggestions? I have been spraying the soil with a spray that has .9% neem oil in it ,that don’t seem to knock the bugs out. I bought real neem oil and haven’t tried it yet. I’m trying to keep everything organic, but if I have to go nuclear I will. Any and all suggestions are appreciated, thanks.
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skullbiker
Extreme Member
If they are fungus gnats I usually grind up mosquito dunks and sprinkle over the soil and then water it in. I also use the yellow stickies to catch the flying ones.PtMD989 said:
Do does anyone here have issues with frogs? Maybe the wrong section, but thought I'd share.
https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9189895/how-did-a-frog-end-up-in-a-pepper/
https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9189895/how-did-a-frog-end-up-in-a-pepper/
skullbiker
Extreme Member
These are invasive and pretty much all over.Mr.joe said:
https://ufwildlife.ifas.ufl.edu/cuban_treefrog_inFL.shtml
skullbiker
Extreme Member
I could send you a few, for environmental testing.[emoji6]Mr.joe said:
This week I am battling the armadillos that are tunneling under my house. I could send you those too![emoji12]
Bou said:
If the larva actually get into the leaves I just gently dig them out or crush them with a sharp point like a toothpick or needle.
Problem is that even just the punctures the adults make from feeding become infected with bacterial/fungal diseases, so I need to keep them off the plants entirely and the usual method of neem oil doesn't repel them. They also ignore yellow sticky traps and don't care about the peppers being surrounded by smelly herbs like oregano and lavender.
I think I need get something that's more appealing to them then peppers, but the ruby amaranth I've planted has remained totally untouched by them or any pests for whatever reason (Plants in that family are said to make good trap crops...though evidently not this particular species).
Bou
Extreme Member
Takanotsume said:
Did a quick Google search and found the links below:
https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/leafminer-vegetables
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/r604300911.html
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Hi, Im having a couple of issues with my scotch bonnet plants that Im unsure what they are specifically. Unfortunately the images in this sticky seems to be broken so cannot validate what Im facing, and consequently what intervention is required.
From what I gathered, the first might be whiteflies, and the second is scales. For the scales I tried some 10% isopropyl, and then soapy water but not sure if this is the appropriate course. I am getting some kind of trypophobia with the scales.
Appreciate some guidance - and whether this is the right thread to post on.
From what I gathered, the first might be whiteflies, and the second is scales. For the scales I tried some 10% isopropyl, and then soapy water but not sure if this is the appropriate course. I am getting some kind of trypophobia with the scales.
Appreciate some guidance - and whether this is the right thread to post on.
Attachments
Soapy water works for the whiteflies as long as it's concentrated enough to properly smother them. You can tell they're dead if they stop producing the white fuzz.
As for the scales, you should be able to just wipe them off the plant using a damp paper towel; perhaps soaked in a mild alcohol solution. Their waxy coating makes them a lot more resistant to sprays then most pests so I prefer just removing them entirely.
As for the scales, you should be able to just wipe them off the plant using a damp paper towel; perhaps soaked in a mild alcohol solution. Their waxy coating makes them a lot more resistant to sprays then most pests so I prefer just removing them entirely.
Something odd has been going on as of late, as the leaf miners have not touched my plants for close to a month now, whether it be the new seedlings or established plants.
I know they're still around though, as they're been attacking some tomato and pepper plants that other members of the family were tending to.
The only change I made recently was I started giving my plants worm casting tea (Made by simply soaking the castings in pure water for 24 hours or so, no aeration or anything) every few waterings. I know that the chitinase in the castings can trigger a chemical response in plants that can help deter pests, but I've been fortifying their soil with worm castings already, so perhaps the tea is causing a more significant/immediate response then the raw castings.
I know they're still around though, as they're been attacking some tomato and pepper plants that other members of the family were tending to.
The only change I made recently was I started giving my plants worm casting tea (Made by simply soaking the castings in pure water for 24 hours or so, no aeration or anything) every few waterings. I know that the chitinase in the castings can trigger a chemical response in plants that can help deter pests, but I've been fortifying their soil with worm castings already, so perhaps the tea is causing a more significant/immediate response then the raw castings.
Takanotsume said:
There was an interesting treatise about this here.>anyone use worm casting to repel pest?
Bou said:
I've never seen any benefit to this, personally - at least not in the way suggested. I think that so many authors push ideas with nothing more than anecdotal evidence (at best). If there's a mechanism for this to work, it's not explained well, and not in a way that is substantiated. I like compost tea, but I do not subscribe to this theory...
Yea, this author lacks credentials. I'm sure his experience/findings unfounded...solid7 said:
Jeff Lowenfels is the author of a trilogy of award winning books on plants and soil, and he is the longest running garden columnist in North America. Lowenfels is a national lecturer as well as a fellow, hall of fame member, and former president of the Garden Writers of America.
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Bou
Extreme Member
solid7 said:
HI Solid7, in fact the authors argue that compost tea, which is like a rich soup mostly made of bacterias, protozoans, nematods, etc. help the plants to defend themselves against nasties. Adding those benefical "microbes" creates a competition between them and the pathogens for space and leaf exudates. Maybe not a panacea but the concept looks trustable to me, while still being on the cheap side; I see it like one more biological weapon in the arsenal to stregthen the plants!