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Old May 26, 2018   #1
bower
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Default suddenly multiple pests...

When I went to close up the greenhouse yesterday evening I discovered that aphids were suddenly all over the tomato plants. I had aphids on my greens earlier and moved them outdoors for that reason.
I snapped a few pics before crushing the ones I saw before dark, but as shown in the pic there are more critters than just aphids here. Not sure what the tiny white things are but I think they are thrips. Would not even notice them without my glasses on. But the populations of all of them seem to have exploded all at once.
I just spent the afternoon catching up on my pruning (big time) and also sprayed soap on affected leaves that weren't actually removed.
If anybody recognizes the various pests, please help with ID. I don't know if the soap is good enough to handle this situation, or what else to do. This is a job for my tiny spider crew, but they haven't shown up yet..
I did take a few more pics before the purge this afternoon but haven't looked at em yet to see if they came out any better.. darn tiny pests.
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Old May 26, 2018   #2
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Second round of pics are a bit clearer... I really don't know what the white things are, but they definitely have legs. And a mouth to feed, i expect.
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Old May 26, 2018   #3
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Well google tells me these are all aphidy things. The white are either nymphs or cast off cuticles. Cuticle onesie has feet in it of course.
Must admit I am a bit relieved, one pest at a time then is quite enough.

Same situation is pictured here:
https://www.growweedeasy.com/cannabis-aphids/

And scroll down here to see aphid and cast off cuticle:
http://influentialpoints.com/aphid/A...morphology.htm
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Old May 26, 2018   #4
KarenO
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Aphids and exoskeletons. Safers soap shoukd thin them out to a manageable level
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Old May 26, 2018   #5
EPawlick
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KarenO View Post
Aphids and exoskeletons. Safers soap shoukd thin them out to a manageable level
KarenO
I've got them too here in Southern Ontario. Picked them off by hand but I'll be mixing up a batch of safer's soap next.
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Old May 26, 2018   #6
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I've never seen so many on tomato plants. My bad with the lettuce. It's funny, they actually recommend tomato leaves as a spray to kill aphids!
Anyway I caught up on my pruning - took out lower foliage on everything even the determinates, and thinned the upper leaves too. They were worst on the low. And some soap in places. I was glad of the cold day, as I found several winged ones (again!) and I know that's bad news.
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Old May 26, 2018   #7
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Yep... aphids! insecticidal soap as a first try and a second and a third try.. then I go to ladybugs. I can pick up at a greenhouse locally 1500 at a time. If you have to order them it is still worth the time it takes to get them. they aren't expensive and do a much better job than pesticides. I went to get some last Wed. I forgot to put them out after church and waited until thurday evening. By tuesday of this week they aphids were all gone and sadly enough most of the ladybugs have left too. I keep finding one here and there and when I do I scout other plants that I know are aphid magnets and drop them there... like calibrochia..
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Old May 27, 2018   #8
jillian
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I also discovered aphids on a tomato plant a few days ago. First time ever on tomatoes, and they were PINK! Didn't know there was such a thing as pink aphids. Of course I googled it, then immediately sprayed with neem oil. Geez.
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Old May 27, 2018   #9
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I agree with everyone. Those are aphids. The are a problem here in this part of Texas too. They come in many different colors, but basically look the same. I have read that some people wash them off, and if that works - cool. I have used soapy water, a product called, "Garden Safe", and even Malathion. Some of my earliest memories are from 1969-70 when aphids were on my grandmother's Bleeding Hearts. I don't know what they used back then - I was 4 and/or 5 years old.
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Old May 27, 2018   #10
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I love the ladybug idea but there's no local supplier and it's not as simple as picking up the best deal on Amazon, for me. Couple years ago I posted a pic of a local ladybug that turned up in my greenhouse:
http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...hlight=ladybug
As it turns out, this two-spot is a species that is now quite rare in North America - at least partly because they have been displaced by introduced species which are bigger etc.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/na...cies-1.1018024
http://www.lostladybug.org/identific...tools-1083.php

I really hate the soap battle, I've been through it with peppers and one shot never works, it becomes a never ending messy time suck. But I'll have to try a bit of it, see if I can get this under control. I don't have time for it this year. Final prune down could be early.
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Old May 27, 2018   #11
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Oil emulsion works pretty good. I use a commercial emulsifier and neem (1:5) but I really think I could save (lots of) money and go for any oil. 5% works great but you need to test it to see how the plants handle it, it wipes 95% in one application. I think the soap also needs a certain concentration to be really effective.
Spraying big plants is just so much work, luckily I never have many aphids on tomatoes (I have everything else though, spider mites, russet mites, some unknown things).
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Old May 27, 2018   #12
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Can you not order them to be delivered? I know we are in different countries... which is why I ask. actually try any beneficial insect and if possible plant a beneficial insectary blend planting somewhere close if you keep our greenhouse open. it needs to be a permanent bed. a place where they can winter over.
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Old May 27, 2018   #13
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There's a company in Guelph Ontario that ships twice a week iirc - just checked their site and they are out of ladybugs for the season. Also doesn't look like they are carrying the same species as our local one.

I did see a company called "Biobest" that sells the two-spot, and they do have distributors in Canada (they are in Belgium!), but the distributor's website didn't load.

That is a great idea to create an overwintering site for the biocontrol beasties. I bet they love your flower gardens. I don't have an open greenhouse which is really the problem. My garden is full of perennial herbs and pesticide free all these years, it is teeming with beneficials but inside the gh, it's a different story. I'm actually sad to see the parasitoid wasps getting in because they don't really have the resources to stay alive, breed etc in that hothouse/coldhouse environment... and they end up caught in sticky traps. Two years in a row. It bothers me no end, can't seem to do any thing without doing harm to the good guys as well as the bad. Looks like I caught a spider this spring too... The wasps are great for something (caterpillars likely) but smaller things probably required to prey on little aphids.
If it wasn't for the snow and the rats , I'd be happy to put all my plants outside in nature's care. Actually, there's a lot of stuff on my sticky traps, for a "closed" greenhouse. (Yeah, open house to those pesty ants too )
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