Insects Something is eating my plant. What


should I do? Many insects are transient. They eat a few leaves, then either pupate or move on, so my first rule of thumb is observe before acting. Don’t disparage the ability of the plant to take care of its own ills. If it’s healthy and well nourished, a plant has many innate weapons at its disposal to deal with insects and other invasions. The plant is losing the battle. What


now? The second line of defense is your gar- den hose. Knock the pest off its pins with a sharp spray, being sure to hit the undersides of leaves where insects love to lay their eggs. My plants are dying. Help! If the in- festation gets too bad, try to identify the insect. Aphids are the most common pests. The suck the juices from the plant – you may see the leaves curl or find them covered in a sticky substance. Aphids come in many colours: red, brown, orange, green, black, and they look like grains of rice with legs (assuming you can see that well). Aphid infestations are generally treated with the hose, but you can also spray them with Saf- er’s soap. Other insect invaders. There are far too many specific issues to deal with here, but


here are a couple of hints. First, determine what part of the plant is being attacked. It’s more serious if it’s the root and you may need an insecticide powder to deal with the invader. Many insects are specialists, tar- geting just one plant or plant family. The red lily lead beetle would be one of these.


Hand pick the bugs or spray their larvae or eggs with Sevin or neem oil. Some, like the delphinium worm, attack flowers. Cut the plant down and hope for a second flush of blooms later in the year. Ants. They are generally only a nuisance


by building small hills and do not harm your plants. Ignore them.


Disease Yuck! My leaves are covered with white stuff. This


is powdery mildew. It can be prevented by spraying sus- ceptible plants (certain varieties of phlox, for example) with a concoction of one tsp. baking soda, a few drops of dish detergent in a litre of water. Spray weekly to prevent the problem getting worse. Clean up leaves in fall. But the best idea is to simply look for mildew-resistant plants. The plant leaves are turning yellow with green veins.


This is chlorosis and it is caused by the inability of the plant to access iron or certain other nutrients from the soil. You will notice this in both very wet and very dry years. Adding garden sulfur and chelated iron can help. The leaves of my trees and shrubs are covered with bumps. This is probably a gall mite. While they can be un- sightly, they won’t kill the plant. Ignore them.


Watch The Manitoba Gardener on Shaw TV Channel 9


Summer 2012 • 23


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