What are these bugs on this plant and how do I get rid of them?
February 13, 2011 1:57 PM Subscribe
What are these bugs on my sister's plant and what should she do about them?
Be careful when using water on a succulent, if there's any collected in the crown for long periods it can lead crown rot which will kill the plant, so let it dry out between treatments.
posted by Carlotta Bananas at 2:05 PM on February 13, 2011
posted by Carlotta Bananas at 2:05 PM on February 13, 2011
A systemic insecticide would probably do the trick. You can get some little paper "pins" that you push into the compost and the plant then takes the chemicals up next time it's watered. As it's flowering, or about to, she can probably water it more frequently. Plants don't generally flower in the dry season.
They look like blackfly to me, a kind of aphid. Most pesticides will deal with them, and it will probably specify aphids on the label if it will.
posted by Solomon at 2:25 PM on February 13, 2011
They look like blackfly to me, a kind of aphid. Most pesticides will deal with them, and it will probably specify aphids on the label if it will.
posted by Solomon at 2:25 PM on February 13, 2011
Definitely spider mites, see the web they've made? They aren't killed by some standard systemic insecticides, so if she decides to go that way then she needs to check the label and get one that will work for these guys. Personally I'd try the soap and water thing and see if that does the job, then move onto malathion if it doesn't (we get mites on our citrus and Yates Maldison is the only thing that gets rid of them). Definitely agree about letting the plant dry out properly, and she'll probably want to wipe the dead bugs and web etc off too.
posted by shelleycat at 2:36 PM on February 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by shelleycat at 2:36 PM on February 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yup, spider mites. My mini roses had these little buggers (no pun intended) and the only way I definitively was able to get rid of them was by repotting the roses with new soil and spraying the roots with Safer's Soap. I removed as much dirt as possible from the roots. I tried the soapy water method and spraying Safer's Soap on the plants, but it just never seemed to work. You have to be very diligent in applying either method btw so you can catch all the mites during their reproduction cycles. Good luck!
posted by Calzephyr at 3:26 PM on February 13, 2011
posted by Calzephyr at 3:26 PM on February 13, 2011
They're aphids, definitely not spider mites. That web is not from the bugs. Spider mites are much smaller, not black, and there would be webs more consistently where the bugs themselves are. Also spider mites hate moisture- they build their webs in sheltered areas.
I personally blast aphids off succulents with a hose. Don't use systemics except as a last resort- they kill many beneficial bugs in soil and are very much a scorched earth method of pest control. Horticultural oils are also detrimental to the waxy coating on the leaves of succulents. If you want to wipe them off with a q-tip in rubbing alcohol you can. Or mix a teaspoon of dish soap in a quart of water and spray. This helps dehydrate the insect, but they die on the plant, which is why I advocate the hose blast- purely an aesthetic choice.
Aphids on succulents tend to appear with fertilizer use, or increased availability of nitrogen in warmer soils. Also sometimes when extra water is causing soft new growth. Usually they go away on their own, especially if you avoid using pesticides that harm beneficial insects. Most of the time, aphid damage makes a plant look ugly, but doesn't do much harm.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:52 PM on February 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
I personally blast aphids off succulents with a hose. Don't use systemics except as a last resort- they kill many beneficial bugs in soil and are very much a scorched earth method of pest control. Horticultural oils are also detrimental to the waxy coating on the leaves of succulents. If you want to wipe them off with a q-tip in rubbing alcohol you can. Or mix a teaspoon of dish soap in a quart of water and spray. This helps dehydrate the insect, but they die on the plant, which is why I advocate the hose blast- purely an aesthetic choice.
Aphids on succulents tend to appear with fertilizer use, or increased availability of nitrogen in warmer soils. Also sometimes when extra water is causing soft new growth. Usually they go away on their own, especially if you avoid using pesticides that harm beneficial insects. Most of the time, aphid damage makes a plant look ugly, but doesn't do much harm.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:52 PM on February 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
I went and looked at the spider mites on my plants and they're small and black and look just like the picture (although we've had the bigger red ones too). Whereas the aphids we get are big and green and totally different. So it could possibly be a different species of either, or you could have both (since the web came from somewhere that's not aphids).
But, in the end, the soap and water thing will kill them regardless so it's the obvious place to start (after physically removing as many as possible).
posted by shelleycat at 4:20 PM on February 13, 2011
But, in the end, the soap and water thing will kill them regardless so it's the obvious place to start (after physically removing as many as possible).
posted by shelleycat at 4:20 PM on February 13, 2011
Nthing spider mites. These should be removed physically (ie, blast them with water). Orange oil will be a good way to keep them off going forward.
These bugs usually only attack plants that are already in distress, so you should also try to improve the drainage of the soil (that's a succulent, so you don't really need fertilizer or compost - the other two soil improvements you might make for other plants).
posted by Gilbert at 4:29 PM on February 13, 2011
These bugs usually only attack plants that are already in distress, so you should also try to improve the drainage of the soil (that's a succulent, so you don't really need fertilizer or compost - the other two soil improvements you might make for other plants).
posted by Gilbert at 4:29 PM on February 13, 2011
Those don't resemble any of the species of spider mites that I've dealt with. For the record, spider mites are my nemesis and I accept any chance I get to throw them under the bus. However, they have a pretty characteristic shape that I'm not seeing in your photo- I even think I see wings on some of them. The webbing seems to be from something else (perhaps a spider mite that has been outcompeted by the new resident).
I am siding with oneirodynia and solomon, seem to be aphids. Either way, frequent treatments of soapy water will help, especially if you can physically wash them off the plant.
posted by palacewalls at 8:28 PM on February 13, 2011
I am siding with oneirodynia and solomon, seem to be aphids. Either way, frequent treatments of soapy water will help, especially if you can physically wash them off the plant.
posted by palacewalls at 8:28 PM on February 13, 2011
They're not spider mites, they are aphids. They're too big, they're in the wrong place on the plant, that web is not a spider mite web, and the little white exoskeletons littered all over the place are from aphids shedding their skins as they grow. There are no black web-spinning mites, though there are some with brown spots. Mites prefer dry and dusty conditions. Most mites are not active in the middle of winter, and even in mild winter areas will not be around in wet conditions, unless some other plant stressor or pesticide application has boosted mite populations artificially.
Aphids, on the other hand, will appear all over new growth and do the most damage at temperatures between 65 and 80 degrees. Ants will often be present. Insecticidal soaps are good control because they do not persist, and then kill the many beneficial insects that feed on aphids.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:00 PM on February 14, 2011
Aphids, on the other hand, will appear all over new growth and do the most damage at temperatures between 65 and 80 degrees. Ants will often be present. Insecticidal soaps are good control because they do not persist, and then kill the many beneficial insects that feed on aphids.
posted by oneirodynia at 3:00 PM on February 14, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Carlotta Bananas at 2:03 PM on February 13, 2011