Hello everyone.

We have a 25 year old green acer and a 20 year old red acer planted
within 6 feet of each other. Yesterday, for the first time, my wife
noticed lots of tiny blackish bugs (about 1/2mm long) on all the buds of
both plants. There are none on the branches. Does anyone know what they
might be and how we can get rid of them? We are novices in the gardening
world so any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Simon.

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:45:04 +0100, simon wrote:

Hello everyone.

We have a 25 year old green acer and a 20 year old red acer planted
within 6 feet of each other. Yesterday, for the first time, my wife
noticed lots of tiny blackish bugs (about 1/2mm long) on all the buds of
both plants. There are none on the branches. Does anyone know what they
might be and how we can get rid of them? We are novices in the gardening
world so any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Simon.

I don't have a definitive answer but I don't see that a quick squirt with **very**
dilute washing up liquid would do any harm to the plants and might upset the bugs.
It works very well with greenfly and blackfly.
I'm a novice too and very envious of your Acers - mine's a foot high and just about
survived it's first winter. They are so beautiful, don't you think?

I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Liz

In message , FF
writes
On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:45:04 +0100, simon wrote:

Hello everyone.

We have a 25 year old green acer and a 20 year old red acer planted
within 6 feet of each other. Yesterday, for the first time, my wife
noticed lots of tiny blackish bugs (about 1/2mm long) on all the buds of
both plants. There are none on the branches. Does anyone know what they
might be and how we can get rid of them? We are novices in the gardening
world so any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Simon.

I don't have a definitive answer but I don't see that a quick squirt
with **very**
dilute washing up liquid would do any harm to the plants and might
upset the bugs.
It works very well with greenfly and blackfly.
I'm a novice too and very envious of your Acers - mine's a foot high
and just about
survived it's first winter. They are so beautiful, don't you think?

I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Liz

Thanks for the reply Liz. My green-fingered mother-in-law has suggested
that we apply dilute washing-up liquid. My wife is going to try this
today. As you put it - fingers crossed. I'd still like to know what
these little bugs are though. And yes, the acers are the best features
in our garden.

Cheerio,
Simon.

On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 08:21:00 +0100, simon wrote:

In message , FF
writes
On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:45:04 +0100, simon wrote:

Hello everyone.

We have a 25 year old green acer and a 20 year old red acer planted
within 6 feet of each other. Yesterday, for the first time, my wife
noticed lots of tiny blackish bugs (about 1/2mm long) on all the buds of
both plants. There are none on the branches. Does anyone know what they
might be and how we can get rid of them? We are novices in the gardening
world so any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Simon.

I don't have a definitive answer but I don't see that a quick squirt
with **very**
dilute washing up liquid would do any harm to the plants and might
upset the bugs.
It works very well with greenfly and blackfly.
I'm a novice too and very envious of your Acers - mine's a foot high
and just about
survived it's first winter. They are so beautiful, don't you think?

I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Liz

Thanks for the reply Liz. My green-fingered mother-in-law has suggested
that we apply dilute washing-up liquid.

Great minds an' all that:-)
It worked for shield bugs on our bay tree, but we had to lather up each affected leaf
with our fingers. It also worked very well (without the shampooing action) on our
broad beans, but this year we're going to try planting marigolds between the beans.

My wife is going to try this
today. As you put it - fingers crossed. I'd still like to know what
these little bugs are though. And yes, the acers are the best features
in our garden.

If you have a "best feature" you're way ahead of me:-)
Though my lawn's quite cool - it's the exact size I'm prepared to mow and stuffed so
full of spring bulbs I can't possibly mow it for another month! But there's still
space for one sunlounger, as I discovered at the weekend:-)

Liz

In article , FF
writes
On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 08:21:00 +0100, simon wrote:


Thanks for the reply Liz. My green-fingered mother-in-law has suggested
that we apply dilute washing-up liquid.

Great minds an' all that:-)
It worked for shield bugs on our bay tree, but we had to lather up each affected
leaf
with our fingers. It also worked very well (without the shampooing action) on
our
broad beans, but this year we're going to try planting marigolds between the
beans.

If you're not doing it already, pinch out the tops of your broad beans
once they've got to a reasonable height. If the tender tops aren't
there, they're less attractive to blackfly.

Planting either very early or very late is supposed to help too.

Ad avoiding growing the alternative host plant nearby - can't remember
what it is but have an idea it might be spindleberry. I think Nick knows
so he may jump in and correct me.

--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 06:04:40 +0100, Kay Easton wrote:

In article , FF
writes
On Wed, 14 Apr 2004 08:21:00 +0100, simon wrote:


Thanks for the reply Liz. My green-fingered mother-in-law has suggested
that we apply dilute washing-up liquid.

Great minds an' all that:-)
It worked for shield bugs on our bay tree, but we had to lather up each affected
leaf
with our fingers. It also worked very well (without the shampooing action) on
our
broad beans, but this year we're going to try planting marigolds between the
beans.

If you're not doing it already, pinch out the tops of your broad beans
once they've got to a reasonable height. If the tender tops aren't
there, they're less attractive to blackfly.

Planting either very early or very late is supposed to help too.

Ad avoiding growing the alternative host plant nearby - can't remember
what it is but have an idea it might be spindleberry. I think Nick knows
so he may jump in and correct me.

Thanks for the advice:-) Following a thread here last year we planted the broad beans
in the Autumn, some in a patio pot and some just in the ground. The potted ones seem
to be doing slightly better for now, but time will tell.

Liz