What are these little buggers?

[djayz]

Am away for a few days but my missus has just sent me these photos.

 

The fruit was taken from my Spanish Lisbon lemon tree, which I sprayed with abamectin 2 weeks ago and again last week with wood vinegar. 

 

What are these little red fellas called? Anybody know? 

 

 

[Seth1a2a]

The closest match might be these guys in the photo below.

Look them up and pick your poison.

 

 

.

 

False-codling-moth-thaumatotobia-leucotreta-caterpillar-pest-of-orange-cirus-sinensis-fruit-south-africa-.

 

 

 

 

 

[drtreelove]

On 1/7/2024 at 6:10 AM, djayz said:

Am away for a few days but my missus has just sent me these photos.

 

The fruit was taken from my Spanish Lisbon lemon tree, which I sprayed with abamectin 2 weeks ago and again last week with wood vinegar. 

 

What are these little red fellas called? Anybody know? 

 

 

I thought you were striving for organic management.  The approach you indicate is contrary to a biological program. Be advised, Abamectin as well as obviously being ineffective, is a harsh chemical pesticide, detering or killing off beneficials (pest predators and parasites, birds, weaver ants, mini-wasps, beneficial bacteria and fungi). It's also a "translaminar" (penetrating systemic) chemical that can penetrate the skin and contaminate your fruit.  A better approach might be to cultivate the micro-biome on plant and fruit tissue surfaces, and to build a favorable environment for beneficials, build soil fertility and natural resistance to pests and diseases. 

[djayz]

On 1/16/2024 at 11:40 AM, drtreelove said:

I thought you were striving for organic management.  The approach you indicate is contrary to a biological program. Be advised, Abamectin as well as obviously being ineffective, is a harsh chemical pesticide, detering or killing off beneficials (pest predators and parasites, birds, weaver ants, mini-wasps, beneficial bacteria and fungi). It's also a "translaminar" (penetrating systemic) chemical that can penetrate the skin and contaminate your fruit.  A better approach might be to cultivate the micro-biome on plant and fruit tissue surfaces, and to build a favorable environment for beneficials, build soil fertility and natural resistance to pests and diseases. 

I was/am/was/am striving to grow organically, but sometimes (rightly or wrongly) I feel it's futile here. Despite using organic methods, sprays, etc. once or twice a year I get these infestations and it seems like the organic approach isn't harsh enough to solve the problem. That's why, once or twice a year, I feel like I have no other choice but to turn to the stronger chemical pesticides. 

The time and effort I have put into, and am still putting into, growing fruit and vegetables simply can't be in vain. 

Perhaps it is taking me longer to build up a beneficial growing environment, soil fertility, etc. than I had expected. 

As always, thank you for your feedback. It's very helpful. 

[drtreelove]

On 1/21/2024 at 4:52 PM, djayz said:

I was/am/was/am striving to grow organically, but sometimes (rightly or wrongly) I feel it's futile here. Despite using organic methods, sprays, etc. once or twice a year I get these infestations and it seems like the organic approach isn't harsh enough to solve the problem. That's why, once or twice a year, I feel like I have no other choice but to turn to the stronger chemical pesticides. 

The time and effort I have put into, and am still putting into, growing fruit and vegetables simply can't be in vain. 

Perhaps it is taking me longer to build up a beneficial growing environment, soil fertility, etc. than I had expected. 

As always, thank you for your feedback. It's very helpful. 

I sympathize, it takes awhile to gain confidence in shelving the harsh chemicals and trusting the biologicals and integrated pest management. But it does work if you can get it right. The key is not one product or practice, but a comprehensive preventive management plan.

 

I have found that plant pest and disease resistance can be achieved faster than I thought with preventive management, primarily good water management (not too much or too little) and soil fertility building. Not just 'fertilization' for growth response, but building "high nutrient density" in soil and plants, as taught by the Soil Food Web School and modern Regenerative Agriculture models, reduction vs oxidation practices as taught by Dr Olivier Husson and featured by Matt Powers, The Permaculture Student. Avoid high salts, high NPK chemical fertilizers, they definitely set up the wrong kind of chemistry which becomes a pest magnet. Cover crop with mixed species (Dr Christine Jones), or plant mixed diversified beds as in the Grow Biointensive method (How to Grow More Vegetables... John Jeavons), mulch, never allow bare ground around your plantings. 

 

Recognize that the beneficial soil biology, as well as a protective microbiome on the leaf and stem surfaces, are important natural plant protection processes and barriers for pests and pathogens. Cultivate this and don't destroy this biology as best possible. As well as building soil organic matter content or cover cropping, inoculate your soil with compost, compost tea or extract, worm castings or the effluent, and spray the foliage and stems with it too. 

 

There are always some aggressive pests or disease that can get started no matter how good your management, but that is best handled by knowing local issues and anticipating seasonal infestations and infections, and by daily or at least weekly inspections and early intervention. Like right now, as the weather warms up and the spring growing season kicks in, you can expect to see moths and butterflies flying around looking for inviting habitat to lay their eggs, which hatch into hungry larvae/caterpillars. If you know this is coming, you can get ahead of it. Inspect daily for egg masses or first instar caterpillars, especially the underside of leaves. Mechanical control is an important and effective IPM method; Hand picking off of caterpillars, rubbing off mealy bugs with a rag or cotton glove, or using a water blast can achieve a practical level of control without any environmental contamination.

 

If necessary, use your botanicals with the right timing, you don't wait for the caterpillars to start feeding heavily and then try to knock them down, but you anticipate this and apply your rosemary, lemon grass and/or clove botanical, or Aza concentrate (neem seed oil extract of azadirachtin) weekly as a preventive repellent. Or if you are away from your garden and it gets ahead of you a little, then you can still do early intervention before the losses mount. Wood vinegar, pyrethrins (harder to find here) are potent organic program compatible knock down insecticides with minimal residual environmental contamination. 

 

Don't panic at the first sign of insect activity. If you have built reasonably good soil fertility the moths may fly around but not be attracted and not lay their eggs  and feed on your plants. One or two grasshoppers may start to feed a little but not be attracted and not call in their swarm of buddies. Some insects seek habitat on your plants but do not feed there. Try to identify and know what you are dealing with so that you don't over-react and can manage appropriately and use biorational methods and materials.  Don

[djayz]

On 1/23/2024 at 1:18 PM, drtreelove said:

I sympathize, it takes awhile to gain confidence in shelving the harsh chemicals and trusting the biologicals and integrated pest management. But it does work if you can get it right. The key is not one product or practice, but a comprehensive preventive management plan.

 

I have found that plant pest and disease resistance can be achieved faster than I thought with preventive management, primarily good water management (not too much or too little) and soil fertility building. Not just 'fertilization' for growth response, but building "high nutrient density" in soil and plants, as taught by the Soil Food Web School and modern Regenerative Agriculture models, reduction vs oxidation practices as taught by Dr Olivier Husson and featured by Matt Powers, The Permaculture Student. Avoid high salts, high NPK chemical fertilizers, they definitely set up the wrong kind of chemistry which becomes a pest magnet. Cover crop with mixed species (Dr Christine Jones), or plant mixed diversified beds as in the Grow Biointensive method (How to Grow More Vegetables... John Jeavons), mulch, never allow bare ground around your plantings. 

 

Recognize that the beneficial soil biology, as well as a protective microbiome on the leaf and stem surfaces, are important natural plant protection processes and barriers for pests and pathogens. Cultivate this and don't destroy this biology as best possible. As well as building soil organic matter content or cover cropping, inoculate your soil with compost, compost tea or extract, worm castings or the effluent, and spray the foliage and stems with it too. 

 

There are always some aggressive pests or disease that can get started no matter how good your management, but that is best handled by knowing local issues and anticipating seasonal infestations and infections, and by daily or at least weekly inspections and early intervention. Like right now, as the weather warms up and the spring growing season kicks in, you can expect to see moths and butterflies flying around looking for inviting habitat to lay their eggs, which hatch into hungry larvae/caterpillars. If you know this is coming, you can get ahead of it. Inspect daily for egg masses or first instar caterpillars, especially the underside of leaves. Mechanical control is an important and effective IPM method; Hand picking off of caterpillars, rubbing off mealy bugs with a rag or cotton glove, or using a water blast can achieve a practical level of control without any environmental contamination.

 

If necessary, use your botanicals with the right timing, you don't wait for the caterpillars to start feeding heavily and then try to knock them down, but you anticipate this and apply your rosemary, lemon grass and/or clove botanical, or Aza concentrate (neem seed oil extract of azadirachtin) weekly as a preventive repellent. Or if you are away from your garden and it gets ahead of you a little, then you can still do early intervention before the losses mount. Wood vinegar, pyrethrins (harder to find here) are potent organic program compatible knock down insecticides with minimal residual environmental contamination. 

 

Don't panic at the first sign of insect activity. If you have built reasonably good soil fertility the moths may fly around but not be attracted and not lay their eggs  and feed on your plants. One or two grasshoppers may start to feed a little but not be attracted and not call in their swarm of buddies. Some insects seek habitat on your plants but do not feed there. Try to identify and know what you are dealing with so that you don't over-react and can manage appropriately and use biorational methods and materials.  Don

Every time I start to lose faith, I read your posts and know that there must be light at the end of the tunnel again. Thank you Don. 

[drtreelove]

Here's some excepts from a course on Plant Health Care from learntrees.com with some interesting statements on PHC and Integrated Pest Management:

 

Integrated pest management is an environmentally sensitive approach to controlling pests that does not rely totally on pesticides. IPM depends on frequent monitoring of plants and pests so that control strategies are used only when and where needed. IPM is a decision-making process that assesses pest status and determines logical and environmentally sound management tactics. A variety of control methods--cultural, mechanical, biological, and chemical may be employed.

 

Furthermore, IPM takes a holistic approach to pest control encompassing pests, and diseases rather than singling out only one pest-plant problem. By understanding the use of IPM as part of Plant Health Care, we can ensure the long-term survivability of our trees and the health of our environment.

 

If we approach IPM as part of a responsible PHC program this means practitioners should choose the least toxic, narrow-spectrum control option necessary to meet the objective. This helps to avoid pest resistance and secondary pest outbreaks.

These control options may include biorational control products – Insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, botanicals, insect growth regulators (IGRs), microbial-based products, and microbial agents.

 

This also means that we must incorporate sound cultural practices as the basis of our PHC program.

If we promote total plant health, we avoid many problems (preventative medicine). Cultural and environmental problems are minimized, and healthy plants are better able to withstand insect or disease damage.

 

While often the most successful approach, prevention strategies are sometimes insufficient for managing pest populations and plant injury at tolerable levels. When monitoring reveals that an action threshold has been exceeded, control is often necessary.

 

Eradication, or complete elimination, of a pest is often unrealistic and is rarely a goal in IPM unless dealing with highly noxious, introduced pests.

Suppression is the most common insect pest control goal in plant health care, intending to reduce the pest population to tolerable levels.

 

Monitoring is a program of regular inspections to make observations and collect information to aid in making decisions about the management of pests and disorders.

Monitoring is critical to the success of an IPM effort.

 

When monitoring indicates that pests require attention, PHC employs an IPM approach to manage them.

The primary keys to successful IPM are familiarity with pests' life cycles, correct diagnosis, and monitoring. Monitoring is crucial, but you must also have the correct identity, behavior, and life cycle information. One has to know, for example, when to begin the monitoring process, and to do this, you have to know the pests' complete profile.

 

So, when do we take action? There are various criteria used to answer this question and determine our action threshold. If the pest is life-threatening to the plant, mere presence may dictate management action. However, mere presence does not always dictate the action. Plant phenological stage can also influence injury tolerance and impact pest control decisions. Phenology is the relationship between recurring biological events and weather changes.

Pest managers often use an economic threshold - population level at which serious damage or yield losses occur, to signal that action must be taken. 

The aesthetic threshold is the damage level that is unacceptable to the viewer, even though plant health may not be at stake. Unfortunately, ignorance about the pest and the plant's ability to withstand some damage often results in unnecessary pesticide applications.

 

There are four general methods to manage insect, disease, and weed problems.

Cultural Control

Biological Control

Mechanical Control

Chemical Control

Several of these tactics may be carried on concurrently or implemented at different times to achieve a truly integrated management approach.

 

 

 

 

 

[drtreelove]

Homemade Insecticidal Soap Recipe

The simplest insecticidal soap is nothing more than a 2% soap solution. To make this at home, you will need:

• Sprayer: Any clean spray bottle or garden sprayer will work fine for spraying insecticidal soap. Make sure the sprayer or bottle hasn’t been used for herbicides.
• Pure Soap: Use a pure liquid soap, such as Castile, or all-natural soap. The active ingredient in insecticidal soap comes from the fatty acids in animal fat or vegetable oil, so it’s important to use the real thing. Don’t use detergents (which aren’t actually soaps), dish soaps, or any products with degreasers, skin moisturizers, or synthetic chemicals. Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castile Soap is usually pretty easy to find in stores, or check your local natural-foods store for other options.
• Pure Water: Tap water is fine for making insecticidal soap. If you have hard water, you may want to use bottled water to prevent soap scum from building up on your plants.

To make homemade 2% insecticidal soap, mix together:

• 5 tablespoons soap to 1 gallon of water

OR

• 1 heavy tablespoon soap to 1 quart of water

Other ingredients that can be added to homemade insecticidal soap

Homemade Insecticidal Soap Recipe Variations

Like any other home remedy, there are as many variations on this recipe as there are gardeners! You can also try:

• Diluted Solution: If the spray causes damage or burns your plant foliage, cut the amount of soap in half and try a 1% solution. This is the concentration usually found in commercial sprays. The lighter solution might be less effective but is gentler on plants.
• Cooking Oil: To help the solution stick a little longer, add two tablespoons of light cooking oil (such as corn, canola, olive, or safflower) per gallon of water to the mix.
• Vinegar: To make a spray that also targets powdery mildew, add a teaspoon of cider vinegar per gallon of water to the mix.
• Garlic or Pepper: To help repel chewing insects, add a teaspoon of ground red pepper and/or garlic per gallon of water to the mix.
• Bar Soap: For a less-exact recipe, drop a bar of pure soap (such as organic bar soap or Ivory) into a gallon of water and leave it overnight. Remove the bar and shake well before spraying.

 

[steven100]

Grubs ....

[steven100]

 

 

OFF!^® Bug Control I is a concentrate that, when attached to a hose and sprayed around a backyard perimeter, will protect an area up to 16,000 sq. ft. OFF!^® Bug Control I will kill 110+ insects outside the home on outdoor surfaces for up to 8 weeks. It works to kill and repel insects on trees, shrubs, vegetables, and ornamentals.

 

https://off.com/en/product/backyard/bug-control-i

 

[gargamon]

I don't know what they're called but they are wonderful deep fried. 

[drtreelove]

On 1/26/2024 at 5:09 PM, steven100 said:

 

 

OFF!^® Bug Control I is a concentrate that, when attached to a hose and sprayed around a backyard perimeter, will protect an area up to 16,000 sq. ft. OFF!^® Bug Control I will kill 110+ insects outside the home on outdoor surfaces for up to 8 weeks. It works to kill and repel insects on trees, shrubs, vegetables, and ornamentals.

 

https://off.com/en/product/backyard/bug-control-i

 

Well that's one way to do it, kill every living thing in the garden and pond.

lambda-CYHALOTHRIN 

"The substance is very toxic to aquatic organisms. This substance may be hazardous to the environment. Special attention should be given to mammals and bees."

National Ins titutes of Health (.gov)