What is THAT?!? - citrus aphids

[Llamas]

Eeekk! Aphids! So thats whats been making my kumquat tree so sticky! Having solved that mystery, how do I get rid of the little beggars? Whats the best way? They seem to particularly enjoy the undersides of the leaves and the stems of new growth, and they look a bit like a tiny sea chiton- sort of small, oval and flat.



eeeEEEeeeevile, is their only name and what they doooo!



The resulting honeydew they are so kindly smattering all over my lovely tree.

[Nicos]

Isn't that called Scale Insect???

Google Image Result for http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/scale6.jpg

I get that on my Orchids

[Llamas]

Excellent, toothbrush and Provado. Thanks!

[Nicos]

Urmm...is it safe to eat the fruit after using a systemic pesticide?????...or is it just an ornamental plant????

[starloc]

It looks like scale, citrus aphid is more just like a stamdard greenfly but a darker colour, If theres not that many of the scale, touch them with a cotton bud with isopropanol on them, then soak every week or so with a neem oil spray to keep them down, another one that works is a spoon of clear parafin in a litre of water ( same as horticultural oil ), or if you keep it off the soil , a dash of isopropyl alcohol in a litre of water and wash the plant works as well,


the systemics work well as well, most break down quite quickly so with a fruit that takes ages to ripen they should be fine with a food crop systemic, most times its something like 14 days, i think it is safe with provado but not sure, but dont use systemics too often more than they say as they build up

[Llamas]

Urmm...is it safe to eat the fruit after using a systemic pesticide?????...or is it just an ornamental plant????

We just use it as an ornamental. I love the tree, but I'm not actually the biggest fan of kumquat.

[starloc]

We just use it as an ornamental. I love the tree, but I'm not actually the biggest fan of kumquat.

They look good with the fruit on dont they , i have a few kumquats and like calamondins they taste terrible! ,If you dont eat them , just soak it with systemic provado bug killer, if yo have a spray bottle you can get a concentrate to mix up yourself much cheaper than the squirty bottles, but keep an eye out for spider mites as they often follow scale killed by provado, but systemic spider mite killer is available just not for food crops

[Llamas]

Super! Thank you very much for your advice. I'll be blasting those wee beasties before the week is out. heh heh hehhh

[gojiberry]

Went to use provado on strawberry plants today and according to the instructions it is active in the plant for 3/4 months so be careful in using it on a plant where someone may eat the fruit. The insect looked like woolly aphid rather than a scale insect, When I used to grow cacti I always used parrafin on a cotton bud to get rid of them, both the woolley aphids and scale insects.

Ian