toocoolo
Well-Known Member
I've found that for the outdoors grower, bugs are the main problem. That assuming you don't have to worry about been spotted and stuff, which is my case thanks to the tolerance for home grows in my town. Thank god!
So far, I've dealt with gnats, thrips, worms of many kinds... and without knowing it, I've been dealing with a little bastard that seems to be called "MEALY BUG". Here they call them "cochinillas", so it was kinda hard to find information about them since I didn't knew the english name for'em.
Since my outdoor garden is widely exposed to all kinds of fauna, this summer I've been spraying my babies with Neem Oil and BT, in order to control Thrips and Worms, which are the main pain in the ass in this zone. But I was surprised to discover well hidden Mealy Bugs, attached to the stems of one of my plants. And I was shocked to find out that it wasn't just a couple, but a really good big infestation of em in most of the stems of my lady. They're this little shell-like bugs attached to the stem, that look almost like a cocoon more than a bug. Around 0.5cm of size and the color of a shell (pics enclosed). Close to where they're stuck, there's always some sticky juice, kind of like honey.
They're hard to spot in the way they don't really seem to affect the plant appearance. And they don't really move. So you have to go look for them really good and take them off the branches with a knife or bare fingers. Sometimes they're under the leaves as well.
I'd like to ask if anyone knows anything useful about those damn creatures:
-Are they gonna ruin my almost ready plant?
-Is there a better way to get rid of them aside from taking them out by hand?
-The honey like thing I find around them is part of my plant's juices?
Any help against those bugs will be much appreciated.
And if you're an otdoors grower, keep an eye on those bugs! Check out the pics, and watch out for 'oily' and 'sticky' spots on leaves and branches. You can see that juice on the last pics.
So far, I've dealt with gnats, thrips, worms of many kinds... and without knowing it, I've been dealing with a little bastard that seems to be called "MEALY BUG". Here they call them "cochinillas", so it was kinda hard to find information about them since I didn't knew the english name for'em.
Since my outdoor garden is widely exposed to all kinds of fauna, this summer I've been spraying my babies with Neem Oil and BT, in order to control Thrips and Worms, which are the main pain in the ass in this zone. But I was surprised to discover well hidden Mealy Bugs, attached to the stems of one of my plants. And I was shocked to find out that it wasn't just a couple, but a really good big infestation of em in most of the stems of my lady. They're this little shell-like bugs attached to the stem, that look almost like a cocoon more than a bug. Around 0.5cm of size and the color of a shell (pics enclosed). Close to where they're stuck, there's always some sticky juice, kind of like honey.
They're hard to spot in the way they don't really seem to affect the plant appearance. And they don't really move. So you have to go look for them really good and take them off the branches with a knife or bare fingers. Sometimes they're under the leaves as well.
I'd like to ask if anyone knows anything useful about those damn creatures:
-Are they gonna ruin my almost ready plant?
-Is there a better way to get rid of them aside from taking them out by hand?
-The honey like thing I find around them is part of my plant's juices?
Any help against those bugs will be much appreciated.
And if you're an otdoors grower, keep an eye on those bugs! Check out the pics, and watch out for 'oily' and 'sticky' spots on leaves and branches. You can see that juice on the last pics.
