bugs in dense foam around plant base: should I let them be?
Hi there, I am a gardening newbie but am trying to take a fairly hands
off organic approach. A lot of the plants in my vegetable bed have masses of soft, wet foam around their bases full of squat insects that are grey-brown with a red patch on either side of the abdomen. They are almost flea-like in their squatness, with the body sloping up steadily form the head to the middle of the abdomen, and then sloping down quickly to the tail. I assume these are instars and not adults, and they are not very segmented. I am finding them on tomatoes, chard, oregano, and lot's of other stuff. Should I let them be, or should I take measures (organic) to control them? My chard has started having large patches of wilting on the leaves (thin, soft, brownish light-green patches) but I don't know if this is related. I can email you pictures, or is there a place I could post them? Thanks for any help! Grey |
Grey wrote:
Hi there, I am a gardening newbie but am trying to take a fairly hands off organic approach. A lot of the plants in my vegetable bed have masses of soft, wet foam around their bases full of squat insects that are grey-brown with a red patch on either side of the abdomen. They are almost flea-like in their squatness, with the body sloping up steadily form the head to the middle of the abdomen, and then sloping down quickly to the tail. I assume these are instars and not adults, and they are not very segmented. I am finding them on tomatoes, chard, oregano, and lot's of other stuff. Should I let them be, or should I take measures (organic) to control them? My chard has started having large patches of wilting on the leaves (thin, soft, brownish light-green patches) but I don't know if this is related. I can email you pictures, or is there a place I could post them? Thanks for any help! Grey well, the first item you list are spittle bugs, they are mostly harmless, the best defense is a nice spray of water to get them off the plants as far st the brown patches it could be over watering.. welcome to the wonderful world of gardening, i love it!! |
"Joe" wrote in message ... Grey wrote: Hi there, I am a gardening newbie but am trying to take a fairly hands off organic approach. A lot of the plants in my vegetable bed have masses of soft, wet foam around their bases full of squat insects that are grey-brown with a red patch on either side of the abdomen. They are almost flea-like in their squatness, with the body sloping up steadily form the head to the middle of the abdomen, and then sloping down quickly to the tail. I assume these are instars and not adults, and they are not very segmented. I am finding them on tomatoes, chard, oregano, and lot's of other stuff. Should I let them be, or should I take measures (organic) to control them? My chard has started having large patches of wilting on the leaves (thin, soft, brownish light-green patches) but I don't know if this is related. I can email you pictures, or is there a place I could post them? Thanks for any help! Grey The brownish patches are likely from leafminer, see http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/vegprob...leafminer.html Floating row cover is a good organic solution. Bill Moats Pau Hana Farm Milton-Freewater, Oregon |
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