I was out admiring and tending to my plants and looking at my one and only Hoya I noticed at the very tip of one of the branches were a bunch of yellow looking things on the underside of the leaves. I cleaned it off and it turned into a gooey liquid. Im not sure if they were bugs all stuck together and I smushed them or what. Any one ever seen anything like that before or have any advice?
(pic of a leaf)
Hmmmm, sounds a bit like a mystery to me! I know that aphids can be yellow, but so can the sap from some hoyas such as carnosa and pubicalyx. I also notice amber clumps of dried sap on my kanyakumariana when I make cuttings.
I suppose if you were to just keep an eye on it, and try to keep it free of pesties you will be in good shape.
I am convinced that bugs come with the turn of the seasons. I was mealy bug free all winter, but found some on only one plant come spring. Then I found mealies on only one plant this weekend, after being mealy free all summer. Bizare. Still it was motivating enough for me to go around and poison all the hoyas again. Sigh... I hate bugs, especially on my hoyas, but I sort of figure that it just comes with the territory - if you've got hoyas, you've more than likely got mealies.
I do have some resident spiders that have glorious webs in my hoyas that no one is allowed to kill. I am sure that they help keep the pest population under control, and I know that they keep dlambii from sneaking around looking to abscond with my large leaf lambii heee heee!
Sara
Sounds like aphids. Here is a link with some information about their life cycle, reproduction, and control measures.
http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef103.asp
These did look like little bodies but when I first saw it I just instinctivly wiped it off. I will keep an eye on it. If they turn out to be these how do I get rid of them. I am surprised cuz I dont usually have pests on my plants with the exception of ants. I have alot of spiders that I allow to live in my garden just for that purpose. I've noticed alot of frogs around too. I was glad cuz after our over abundance of rain the skeeters are the size of twin engine airplanes. It being my only Hoya I want to be sure to take real good care of it. I havent had much luck getting any in trades. I lucked out with this one cuz I saw this guy at a street corner selling plants out of the trunk of his car. I dont know how he obtained them but he did look like he needed money. He was asking $2 for it but I knew it was worth more so I gave him $5. He was very grateful.
Thanks for your quick response and the advice.
I get those aphids too, on the outside plants. I think they are called "citrus" aphids. I heard they used to be very common on the west coast, and have slowly made their way east with plant shipments and they now must have a pretty good foothold in my area. One day there will be nothing, the next day 30 of them, usually all ganged up on one little section of new growth. A little shot of insecticidal soap and they are done for. I don't even spray the whole plant, I don't really like to use chemicals and the aphids always seem to be congregated in one place anyway.
I have been pretty lucky with mealies too, but I must have brought something in this year (a rhipsalis I think ) that a few were on, and since the early summer I have found a few here and there, including 2 yesterday on Mathilde, but as long as you are super vigilant, you can keep them under control.
ps- that was nice of you to give that guy more than he asked, most people wouldn't do that ..
This message was edited Sep 17, 2007 8:29 AM
It sounds like aphids to me as well. I get them on my Hoya kerrii, and only on Hoya kerrii, every year. I suspect it is due to the fact that kerrii's flowers exude a very thick, almost syrupy fluid that attracts the aphids. I wish insecticidal soap worked for me. I almost always have to use malathion to totally get rid of them.
Robin
what do mealies look like? I have a problem w/ my hibiscus that I havent id'd. lots of tiny dark looking bugs and ants on top of that.
Mealies are little white bugs. They can also look like gooey cotton. I usually find them on undersides of leaves, on new leaves (either top or bottom of leaf), and by the nodes.
The things on my Hibs look like a cluster of fleas but they arent
That sounds more like scale. Try looking that up & see if it looks like what you have.
