Posts Tagged ‘pests’

Anyone out there know what these little critters are?  I noticed them on the underside of my Tuscan Pepper plants.  In all my years gardening, I have never seen anything like them.  They look like tiny lady bugs, but I want to ensure they aren’t something destructive to my tiny ecosystem.  Here’s the specifics: A cluster of papery, white eggs (punctured perfectly at the top where they hatched) Small bugs that are brick-red, with six black spots on them This morning, I noticed another clump – the small bugs were all black and looked more like spiders. Anyone have ideas?

On Monday, I wrote about my run in with aphids.  Some readers commented that I may have gone a bit overboard with my pruning– and I think that may be fair.  However, I’d rather be safe than sorry.  Since that time, I’ve only noticed a few aphids on the pepper plant that was next to the eggplants, and I took care of those the old-fashioned way – with my fingers.  I posted a link to the article on my Facebook page asking for advice, and the results were…interesting.  Both funny and serious, it is definitely worth sharing.  I’ve replaced the names. #1 – From someone who believes in the pyrrhic victory: napalm #2 – From a pragmatist: C said by lady bugs Me: I heard that too. Has he tried them? You guys probably have them already since you live in such a natural area! M: No we haven’t. C

As I alluded to in this morning’s post,  I have a huge problem.  Aphids.  Those annoying little bugs that hide on the underside of your plants and generally wreak havoc.  I’m still trying to deduce how they got there – as I’ve only spotted them on three of the plant varieties – the snow peas, the fairy tale eggplants, and this flower. I first noticed them on the eggplants: Hundreds of green little bugs, crawling all over my beautiful fairy tale eggplants! The eggplants saw the worst infestation, their large droopy leaves touching the soil.  I’ve heard that once you knock them off, they have a hard time climbing back on to the plant.  It makes sense, then, that the eggplants were an easy target.  Another interesting fact about aphids is that they have a symbiotic relationship with ants.  Aphids produce a sweet substance called “honeydew” than ants love –