Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

White Fuzzy Problem Solved

Leave a Comment / leafhoppers, pierce's disease, plant hoppers /

Q. What are those “white fuzzies” on the stems of tomato, peppers, beans, and even outdoor landscape plants? White fuzzies (as I call them) are egg masses from insects closely resembling tiny cicadas. A.  These are “plant or leaf hopper” egg masses. Thanks to everyone who responded. Planthoppers and leaf hoppers are basically the same insect. The female lays her eggs on the surface and then covers them with a whitish waxy fuzz. You never see immatures because they drop to the ground from the eggs, much like cicadas. You only see weak winged adults like the grape leafhopper.  Unconfirmed Eutypa dieback (Pierces disease) on table grapes. The only times they cause plant problems are when there are lots of them (grape leafhoppers) or when they send viruses and bacteria such as those that cause Pierce’s Disease.             When these immature forms hatch from these eggs, they even look like very tiny cicadas. If you did see the immature forms from without the help of a magnifier, you might mistake them for flies. Once in the soil, they feed on plant roots until they are adults and need to reproduce. In the case of Eutypa dieback, these insects transmit this disease by feeding on the roots.

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Reader Had No Luck Using Spinosad and Soap and Water on Leafhoppers on Grapes

Leave a Comment / kaolin clay, leafhoppers, sunburn, surround /

My picture of grape leaf with leafhopper poopoo (the black specks) This came in from a reader regarding his lack of luck using Spinosad or soap and water sprays for leafhopper control in grapes. I want to share my experience using the diluted spray of a wettable clay compound to prevent leaf hopper damage to our grapevines. Last year our grapevines were greatly infested with leaf-hoppers. Repeated applications of insecticidal soap and spinosad could not make a dent in the insect damage. This year, we began early, when there were about 10 leaves on each arm of the vine, trying a natural wettable clay powder called Surround, that leaves a white coating of clay on wherever sprayed. We flocked the leaves both sides as best we could in a manner reminiscent of Christmas tree flocking, and left a white residue on both sides of the leaves that was intended to make leaf hoppers unable to damage the leaves through the clay barrier. The reapplication of spray becomes more difficult as the season proceeds and requires a definite commitment of the gardener to persist. Surround application to pear, turns the foliage white from the clay We can now say that for all our efforts, leaf hopper damage is much the same as last year. But there are two positives. First, the grape skeletonizer eggs don’t have a chance as they are dead abornin’. Second, the birds who are inclined to peck every last one of our figs, do not peck the whitened figs. So at last we can have some tree-ripened fruit. -Harrison Thanks Harrison. I would like to post your observations. On the other hand I have had luck with Spinosad on leafhoppers on grapes for several years in a row. It does not totally wipe them out but it did reduce the numbers considerably over previous years. And we never really saw damage to the berries themselves with the leafhoppers they were just a nuisance. As far as Surround goes I have used it at the orchard for a couple of years to reduce sunburn on apples and never really got it to work well and it was a pain to apply so gave up with about half of a 50 lb bag left.

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Borers in Fruit Trees and Buggy Grapevines

1 Comment / flying insects, grape pests, jumping insects, leafhoppers, whiteflies /

Q. Through the years I have planted many fruit trees and lost many to borers especially stone fruit trees. My grape vines have been devastated by whiteflies to the point where I could not harvest one healthy grape leaf last season. I have tried soap water but to no avail. Also, I have tried Lindane against borers but their work keeps appearing on my plum trees. A. Whiteflies can be a difficult problem. We have not experienced whiteflies on grapes. The closest insect which might be confused with whiteflies, and is a common problem on grapes, are leaf hoppers. Please make sure you are not confusing whiteflies with leaf hoppers because the treatment is very, very different. Whiteflies are like dandruff and usually fly in a cloud of small white insects when the leaves are disturbed. They usually leave a sticky substance on the leaf surface from feeding. Click here to see some Whitefly pictures Leafhoppers on their backs, maybe 1/8 inch long Leaf hoppers on the other hand jump and are brown in color but they can accumulate in thousands on grapes and jump in your face, your nostrils and eyes as you pass the grapes and disturb the foliage. Both are nearly the same size but whiteflies are white and fly more delicately while leaf hoppers jump and are brown. If soap and water sprays are used religiously on the grapes when these insects are small it should give fairly good control. If soap and water is delayed until they are mature adults, then control is probably iffy at best. Whiteflies are listed on the University of California and pests lists for grapes but not a common pest. Leafhopper feeding damage on grapes Click here to learn the Common Pests of Grapes If they are whiteflies then sprays such as pyrethrins might be a good choice but the label must include grapes if you are to use it within the law. If these are leaf hoppers, then sprays applied in May such as spinosad might be useful when this insect is still juvenile. In both cases when these insects are adults they are much more difficult to control. Sap oozing from cut limb of plum Regarding the borers in your plum tree, Plum can be attacked by boring insects but it is not as common as some other fruit trees like peach, nectarine or even apple. Please check and make sure that this is in fact borers causing damage and not just sap oozing from a stressed out tree. When plum is stressed from water, intense sunlight or heat stress they will ooze sap. There is no insecticide you can use on fruit trees once they are attacked by boring insects and still safely eat the fruit in my opinion. Most insecticides recommended after fruit trees have been infested are usually systemic in nature. This means that the insecticide could also be in the fruit, not just on the surface.

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