Hi All,
I have a single Brussel sprout bush. It got attacked with bazillions of aphids last week. The aphids, in turn, got attacked by me with organic Chrysanthemum. They are all still hanging there dead. Nothing is moving.
Question: what do do with the damaged leaves? Cut them off? Leave them be?
Many thanks,
-T
If the leaves still have some green, leave them be.
i had a mutant cabbage plant this year that wasn't cabbage, but some other leaved green. stems tasted like edible stuff, but it sure wasn't a cabbage as intended.
the plant grew rather well and i was curious as to what it would turn out to be, but as it got bigger aphids started in on it too. at first i picked off those leaves i could find, but the past few weeks i've been busy or ill and couldn't pick leaves.
the other day checking the cabbages i noticed that the entire plant was covered in aphids and the surrounding ground was coated with aphid dander (and whatever is left when lady beetles get done with them). the lady beetles were trying their best to keep up, but it was impossible. all the aphids in the leaves would get the leaves to curl and the lady beetles couldn't get in there to eat them.
so i took the entire plant out and relocated it to the far weed pile of no return. it was rather icky trying to get the plant out as the aphids were sticky and falling off all on my arm enough that they just smeared all over. ended up having to cut it out one branch and root at a time. when done i hosed off in nice sun warmed water.
the aphids were light green to gray coloured.
then i hosed the surrounding plants off to make sure any aphids off and away would have more of a challenge. this plant was growing in contact with both edamame soybean plants and other bean plants. no aphids took up residence elsewhere that i can tell. none to be found.
quite amazing that a specialized aphid like this could exist, manage to find the one plant in the yard. it didn't touch the neighboring cabbage plants and i've not seen it elsewhere.
songbird
What did you do, beat them with the organic chrysantemum? How do you know that it was an organic flower? Poor flower; what did it look like when you were through? Are you really just trolling? At any rate, if the leaves are still green, though deformed, leave them. Next time you see aphids, remember that a simple water spray is all it takes to "control" them; I use a "Hudson" type pneumatic sprayer. Contrary to myth, aphids so abused do _not_ climb back up and re-infest the plants because their "mouth" parts have been ripped out of their cute little faces.
The white 'dander' is the cases of aphids after they have outgrown them. They go through several stages of growth leaving their shells behind them. I have pictures if you (or anybody) are interested.
David
sure! :)
songbird
Hi David,
Thank you!
The leaves look like hell, but the still have the same color as the rest of the plant. The dead aphids are still stuck in the plant were they died. Plugging their holes, I presume.
-T
Said so on the bottle.
Thank you.
-T
Hi David,
How soon do their eggs hatch and I have to retreat?
-T
Number 3 shows the shells (white) and live bugs (green) on a rose hip.
In many cases there are no eggs, depending on species and the part of their life cycle aphids frequently reproduce viviparously, that is they give birth to live nymphs. They can reproduce at prodigous rates in good conditions so regular inspection and attention is a must, in a few days they can get away from you again. As others have said hose them off or if you cannot get them off use a fairly benign contact spray like pyrethrum but when bees are not active (eg after sundown).
David
Oh, I was just kidding. I just figured you were referring to pyrethrum. Not really necessary for aphids unless, of course, unusual circumstances require it. The best defense against aphids is to keep plants healthy, thriving and well-watered. They seem to more readily attack plants that are already under stress or are nearing the end of their life cycles. My experiences with Brussels sprouts were a lot like yours, LOL.
Thank you!
David Hare-Scott wrote: ...
i'm not sure why, but dropbox hates my software or slow connection, i'll try again some other time and see if they will show up.
songbird
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