Well, it seems here in Maryland that we're preparing for our
17-yr visit
from cicadas.
http://www.mda.state.md.us/press/cicada.htm
Yikes! I'm still a relative newbie. I wasn't working with
bonsai on the last
cicada visit 17 years ago. Can anyone give me some instruction
on what I
should do to protect my trees?
Thanks!
Lisa Miller
Westminster, MD
region 6/7
First, don't worry about it too much. If there are full size
hardwood trees in your neighborhood, the adult cicadas will
choose them first -- more food and cover (birds are quite fond of
these very juicy bugs). The major problem is from the larvae,
which suck sap from the roots. Since it is the larvae which
remain alive and underground for the 13-17 years that give this
critter its name you are unlikely to have any in your pots -- and
if one did burrow into the soil, you'd lose them in any of
several repottings done in that period.
Assuming an adult did go after your favorite hardwood bonsai,
they're big enough (1-2 inches) that you'd have a hard time
missing them. Flick them off with a fingernail or, if you are a
proponent of chemical warfare, spray them with a pyrethrin spray
(or, as my Southern Living Garden Problem Solver says, Sevin).
The adult infestation lasts about a month (Sometime between now
and June). Females cut slits near the ends of branches into
which they lay their eggs. This kills the branch tips, so it's
best to keep an eye on larger hardwood bonsai over the last week
or so of whatever 30-day cycle the species you have will be on.
There is no control for the bigger trees in your yard; you can
spray smaller ones, like peaches, to get some of the adults. The
young will have been doing their damage over the past dozen
years. You learn to live with them. They usually don't do a LOT
of damage.
Jim Lewis -
- Tallahassee, FL - Only where
people have learned to appreciate and cherish the landscape and
its living cover will they treat it with the care and respect it
should have - Paul Bigelow Sears.
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