Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

Aphids on the Loose in Your Landscape and Garden

Leave a Comment / how to control aphids, plant lice /

Aphids overwinter on all sorts of plants in your yard and attacking plants primarily in the spring. As soon as temperatures warm up these “mother” aphids start looking for places to feed and populate. They don’t need a mate to do this. They can just give birth to living young directly and bypass the mating rituals. If you look close on newly emerging “soft” tissue of plants you will most likely find them. Ladybird beetles (ladybugs) and green lacewings help but in sufficient numbers they can get out of control. Aphids have populated this soft, succulent flower stalk of red yucca. The adult was probably overwintering in the leaf crevices of the plant, When the flower stalk emerged she began feeding and giving birth. This is red yucca with an emerging flower stalk, taken about a week ago. If the mother aphid overwinters out of the cold in the leaf crevices this insect can “catch a ride” on this emerging plant part where tissue is soft and succulent. From there it is much easier feeding than on those tough old leathery leaves. Aphid mother and young Leaf curling on plum and aphids feeding along the new, soft stem growth. Aphids feeding and reproducing on young pomegranate fruit. Aphids feeding and reproducing on rose flower buds. Insecticidal soaps work very well on aphids. No reason for hard pesticides. It may take a few applications but you will reduce their numbers significantly. Control ants too. They tend to move them about on different plant parts. Spray the undersides of leaves as well as the tops.

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Ants Farming Aphids on Pyracantha

1 Comment / ants, firethorn, green bugs, plant lice, pyracantha, sticky sap /

Q. We have a couple pyracantha bushes. We noticed this past summer some small, pen point sized, bright green bugs on the end of the branches. A day or two later I noticed ants in those same places but couldn’t tell if they were eating the bugs or not. Please advise if we need to do something.   Pyracantha, sometimes called firethorn,, with its red berries.Some have orange, yellow and off-red. A. From the sound of it the bush had aphids, sometimes called plant lice, but summer is not the usual time that aphids appear. Aphids normally appear with new growth in the spring and disappear when it gets hot.             Ants are attracted to aphids because the aphids release sugary honeydew when they’re feeding on the pyracantha leaves. Leaf cupping on plums due to aphid feeding in the spring.             Ants “farm” the aphids, take this honeydew excretion and use it. So you may see ants traveling up and down the pyracantha gathering and transporting honeydew to their nest in the soil. Ants may even move the aphids around to new locations to expand their “herd”.             It’s not a big problem if these are just aphids. The aphids will cause some stickiness on the leaves and may cause leaves to fall from the plant if the feeding becomes heavy. But that time of year I would not expect them to be a big problem. Ants herding aphids for their honeydew             If the problems is excessive the easiest thing to do is mix some soap and water, about as much as you would use when you would wash your dishes. Put it in a spray bottle and spray the soapy mixture directly on these green bugs, usually on the underside of the leaves.             You will probably have to do this every couple of days since soap and water does not leave any poisonous residue on the leaf surface and these spots will repopulate quickly after the spraying is done.             If you want more permanent control then you can use a traditional insecticide that has a label listing ornamental plants and aphid control. You can also treat the ant nest in the soil. Pouring boiling water on the ant hill will give some temporary organic control of the ants.

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