HELP! Pests got my favorite Hoya!!! 😭😭😭
I’ve never seen these long skinny black bugs before. Are they thrips? I’ve had this Hoya for maybe 6 months. It has been losing leaves the entire time, but I thought it was more from drying out in a sunny window. How do I get rid of these? #Hoya #HoyaHangout #HoyaHeads #hoyaaustralislisa #PestControl #PestsAndPlants #pestID #pestpatrol #helpneeded #help #GregGang
Last watered 1 month ago
7
@nellz4estfairyz Hi Nellz! I would mix me up some Neem oil and peppermint spray (and water of course) and spray both sides of the leaves and the stems really good! Then in another 5-7 days do it again! Not much can live through that my friend! Good Luck!🪴🌺
@Ponytailmom thank you! I do have a neem oil spray from weed the wild and I also have peppermint essential oil. What exactly does the peppermint do?
If it's thrips (and to me it looks like it) that might not be enough. First off, 5-7 days is not in line with their life cycle, which is a lot longer. And you have no chance to get at the eggs since they lay them deep into the plant tissue. I think they also at some point during the cycle find their way to the soil, but I'm not sure about that.
I've not yet had to combat them myself (I'm always stocked up on predatory mites to ward against flat mites, which might have helped, since thrips larvae are also on their menu)
But a friend of mine fought them haphazardly for months and never got completely rid of them and they destroyed a lot of plants. Not saying this to discourage but to say to maybe look into the life cycle and more tailored solutions before all your plants are affected (which also means, I would quarantine first, ask questions later. )
To be more certain on the id: the ones I've encountered recently in another household were tiny. Black or yellow black, depending on the stage they were in. They loved to sit very still on or under (depending on the plant and stage) the leaves, often near the veins. Not in a big clump like e.g. aphids or running around, like mites: they just sat there. I usually inspect plants quite thoroughly and still might have missed them, if i hadn't been specifically looking for them. Most of the time, the damage is more obvious and the first thing you notice: patches of silvery surface created by tiny specks of damaged tissue on the leaves or stems. A bit like in your first pic. Later on, lots of black spots as well.
I think I saw an influencer on youtube talking in depth about them and her possible solutions, covering all bases from beneficials to systemics. She seemed very well researched and experienced compared to most influencer content I've stumbled across. If I find it again, I'll post it.
Oh, and without wanting to stir up controversy again: I still advise to stay away from heavy oils like neem on hoyas and orchids. If you decide to use something like that, proceed with caution. I know most of my experience stems more from orchids, but there are also some voices from the hoya world that I trust (including my hoya lady), that report the same experience. You might get lucky with the more hardy species, but even then, one repeat treatment too many - even with way lighter oils than neem - might suddenly clog the pores and suffocate the leaves. I would at least try to be 100% certain that a) is really thrips and b) neem oil really works against them in few applications before using it. (From what I've seen, more would be needed with thrips though).
Whatever you choose: Good luck. I hope it's not them. And if it is: it might be worth it to look at tailored solutions and maybe beneficials. I know I love my little fighter mites and I've seen immediate success of them in that other household. (I don't think they are eradicated there yet, but adult thrips population went down massively for now. And some of those mites will stay, so the population will not explode as fast, even when the new generation comes in)
I've not yet had to combat them myself (I'm always stocked up on predatory mites to ward against flat mites, which might have helped, since thrips larvae are also on their menu)
But a friend of mine fought them haphazardly for months and never got completely rid of them and they destroyed a lot of plants. Not saying this to discourage but to say to maybe look into the life cycle and more tailored solutions before all your plants are affected (which also means, I would quarantine first, ask questions later. )
To be more certain on the id: the ones I've encountered recently in another household were tiny. Black or yellow black, depending on the stage they were in. They loved to sit very still on or under (depending on the plant and stage) the leaves, often near the veins. Not in a big clump like e.g. aphids or running around, like mites: they just sat there. I usually inspect plants quite thoroughly and still might have missed them, if i hadn't been specifically looking for them. Most of the time, the damage is more obvious and the first thing you notice: patches of silvery surface created by tiny specks of damaged tissue on the leaves or stems. A bit like in your first pic. Later on, lots of black spots as well.
I think I saw an influencer on youtube talking in depth about them and her possible solutions, covering all bases from beneficials to systemics. She seemed very well researched and experienced compared to most influencer content I've stumbled across. If I find it again, I'll post it.
Oh, and without wanting to stir up controversy again: I still advise to stay away from heavy oils like neem on hoyas and orchids. If you decide to use something like that, proceed with caution. I know most of my experience stems more from orchids, but there are also some voices from the hoya world that I trust (including my hoya lady), that report the same experience. You might get lucky with the more hardy species, but even then, one repeat treatment too many - even with way lighter oils than neem - might suddenly clog the pores and suffocate the leaves. I would at least try to be 100% certain that a) is really thrips and b) neem oil really works against them in few applications before using it. (From what I've seen, more would be needed with thrips though).
Whatever you choose: Good luck. I hope it's not them. And if it is: it might be worth it to look at tailored solutions and maybe beneficials. I know I love my little fighter mites and I've seen immediate success of them in that other household. (I don't think they are eradicated there yet, but adult thrips population went down massively for now. And some of those mites will stay, so the population will not explode as fast, even when the new generation comes in)
@MusicalRedmint thank you for all of that information. I think it is thrips. I’ve only had time to do a little bit of research, but from what I understand, this will need attention every 5 to 7 days for 4 to 6 weeks at a minimum. 😅😢 I have read that name, oil or Damascus earth or combination of both will be helpful. I didn’t have time to do much research because my first step was to take as many plants as I could outside and hose them down. I followed up with spraying them all down with soapy water with rubbing alcohol and peppermint because I know the rubbing alcohol works on most insects although I’m not sure about these. I left them out outside all night because the temperatures were mild enough last night here and it rained lately the plants look very happy this morning lol. I think they’re just faking it so I’ll bring them inside this morning. I followed up with the Bodine mite X spray which reportedly according to the labeling on the bottle works on thrips. I believe it’s a garlic clove spray with some other type of pesticide in it, but the garlic and clove is extremely strong. That’s why I spray that stuff outside only lol. I will bring them in today and take out another batch of about 30 plants from my office and do the same thing. Obviously I will have to treat all these plants again within a week or less and I need to check all the plants and the rest of my house, so I’m feeling a little exhausted and overwhelmed! I would like to try ladybugs. I have never used any predatory mites or bugs before.
From what I know ladybugs can be a hassle because they don't like to stay in one place. They do seem to catch some adult thrips, but I don't know how feasible it is, to get enough and top keep them on your plants unless you put them in boxes. In any case or will mainly serve for population control rather than completely getting rid of them in most cases I'd think. The same effect could be achieved by mites with less hassle (provided the humidity and temperature are high enough for them to thrive).
I love my mites. Cucumeris amblyseius is reportedly effective against thrips larvae and from what I've seen I can confirm anecdotally.
One thing to keep in mind of you consider beneficials however, is that systemics or mechanical tactics are a no-go, even reasonably before putting the little helpers in the plants, otherwise you'll kill the beneficials as well.
Diatomaceous earth has the same problem as the other methods: it only gets those that get in contact with it. So the adults, and of those only those that happen to move over it. Since you probably won't cover every leaf and every underside that could be a problem. It also doesn't work when wet, and if you cover your plants all over, when dry, you might want to consider that its dust can harm our or our pets lungs over time. (Also, it as well will kill the beneficials, especially since most I know would move around a lot more than the thrips)
Going around, checking and killing every thrips on sight is a good first step of population control as long as you are unsure what to use.
I love my mites. Cucumeris amblyseius is reportedly effective against thrips larvae and from what I've seen I can confirm anecdotally.
One thing to keep in mind of you consider beneficials however, is that systemics or mechanical tactics are a no-go, even reasonably before putting the little helpers in the plants, otherwise you'll kill the beneficials as well.
Diatomaceous earth has the same problem as the other methods: it only gets those that get in contact with it. So the adults, and of those only those that happen to move over it. Since you probably won't cover every leaf and every underside that could be a problem. It also doesn't work when wet, and if you cover your plants all over, when dry, you might want to consider that its dust can harm our or our pets lungs over time. (Also, it as well will kill the beneficials, especially since most I know would move around a lot more than the thrips)
Going around, checking and killing every thrips on sight is a good first step of population control as long as you are unsure what to use.
@MusicalRedmint thank you! I will check that out.