I was pruning dead limbs off of my mock orange and found that the entire top of the bush was covered in these things (along with a lot of ants). Anyone have a suggestion as to what this is and more importantly, how to get rid of it? Organic solutions would be great. Thanks!
Dana
Although it is hard to tell from the photo, the MO appears to be aphids. Since they have such soft bodies, it is easy to kill them with a soapy water solution, which dessicates (dries) their bodies. Around 2 Tablespoons per gallon is plenty. Put in sprayer and be sure to cover them. You'll need to watch and repeat as necessary, since they breed faster than rabbits. Lots faster....
Thanks for the info ceejay - I'll give it a try as soon as it stops raining...... We're soaked up here!
It looks like aphids! yuk! Buy some ladybugs and spread on your plants at night. They eat the aphids. You really have to keep watching. I had a massive aphid problem this year, and in the end I had to go heavy metal on them (organic sprays didn't work!).
