Life cycle of aphids
Thanks! I thoguht I had aphids indoors, but I musy have something else.
Tiny tan things the shape of rice grains, but much smaller. At MOST 1 mm long, maybe half that.
it's funny: there are thousands of them, but I don;t see any holes in leaves. Brunnera, Penstemon and Lobellia.
Rick - some aphids are tan in color. They don't usually make holes in plants, just suck out the juices and leave the leaves looking like brownish paper. And, yes, there can literally be thousands of them!
Rick - are your bugs sucking on your plants, or are they boiling up out of the soil? I have problems with Fungus Gnats indoors, the larva live in the potting soil. The tiny adults look like fruit flies to the naked eye.
I do have a few gnats, but in past years I've had many more more gnats but none of these "tan aphids" or whatever they are.
I thought the drooping (and scattered necrosis on Brunnera that have been indoors too long) was just that the plants have been ion 3" pots under lights too loong. But if the bugs can suck leaf juices without leaving visible holes, that probably is the problem.
Do you think a 0.2% hydrogren peroxide spray would kill any bugs? I'm reluctant to use insecticide in my bedroom!
Rick - Insecticidal soap is supposed to kill aphids. In my experience, it also kills plants, so proceed with caution.
I used a liquid kelp and water solution successfully to kill aphids on my peas last spring. It leaves the leaves very sticky.
Thanks!
Both "sticky" and "soap" sound good. maybe I'll try them in that order, diltuing the soap more than reccomended.