Comments

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  whirliegig wrote:

  I’m guessing they’re spider mites. They like to wreak havoc when humidity is low. Try isolating those plants. You did the best thing. If repetition doesn’t work after a week you may need to try a natural insecticide – especially if the mites spread to any other indoor plants.

  Posted on 14 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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  SassyGardenGirl wrote:

  Any natural insecticide recommendations? I’m very new to the whole pest control thing, and I’d like to keep it as organic as possible.

  Posted on 15 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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  whirliegig wrote:

  Now that I see the photo I’m going to retract my suggestion that they’re spider mites. Don’t get too excited because I may be wrong, but in the photo those look quite a bit like ticks. Those we have down here are much darker, so I’m not sure that is indeed what you have – I can’t see them very clearly so I hope I’m wrong. Cross-reference at these sites to make sure:
  http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/ticks
  http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/MedEnt/TickBioFS/TickBioFS.html

  Posted on 15 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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  SassyGardenGirl wrote:

  Well, from my research, I don’t think they’re spider mites. They do have the right life cycle (adult overwintering on leaves, and laying lots of eggs…eggs hatching in 2-6 days) to match what happened when I brought these in. These bugs seem pretty big to be spider mites though. On the other hand, they aren’t like any ticks I’ve seen around here. For one I live in the city, and we only have one large tree in the courtyard. Ticks in our area are also much darker if the ones I’ve seen (and gotten off the family dog) are any indication. These also have six legs, not eight like ticks. One more thing…whatever they are, they seem to be sucking the plant juices, because I cut my irises back today and they were very dry. Usually my shears are covered in iris “juice” when I cut them. Any other ideas?

  Posted on 15 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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  Hypo_Mix wrote:

  hmmm what’s that plant oil called? its used on aphids on roses, probably do the trick… donno if its organic though.

  any insecticide will do the trick most likely, so you can look around for an organic one….just make sure it doesn’t kill the plant! (my GF killed her cactus that way. fly-spray+cactus=bad)

  Posted on 16 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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  TropicanaRoses wrote:

  At first I thought that they were ticks, but now I am not certain, because only the clearest image is one that looks like a tick. The rest of the bugs on the leaf I am uncertain about. I was looking for images of ticks with that particular coloring, and I found some like it that were seed ticks. I don’t know. Is there anyway that you can get a clearer picture? Perhaps one on a white piece of paper?

  Posted on 16 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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  TropicanaRoses wrote:

  I just looked at it on flickr, and enlarged it, and asked my 10 year old son what he thought they looked like, and he said “ticks”. :) I could see more than one that I thought looked like a tick once enlarged. :(

  Posted on 16 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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  cristyn wrote:

  They look like aphids to me. Aphids come in different colours and they don’t always have wings. I’m no tick expert, but I would be shocked to see ticks of that size at that density. Every post hike deticking I’ve been involved in lead to at most one tick; if ticks lived that closely, people and outdoor animals would just be covered with them. Also, all photos I’ve seen of ticks are solid; those look pretty translucent. Aphids have similar body shape to ticks; if you have a better resolution image than the one you posted, you could try to count legs. Do a google image search for aphid and you’ll see that what you’ve got looks more like aphids than ticks.

  Posted on 18 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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  whirliegig wrote:

  Good call, Cmagnus. I’ve been through an onslaught of ticks the past two summers, and yes, I’ve seen ticks in hordes that thick. I’ve had to deal with my phobia of parasites very quickly living out in the country.

  Posted on 18 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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  SassyGardenGirl wrote:

  Thanks for the info and research everyone!…I’m pretty sure now that they’re aphids of some sort. There’s only been one or two since I de-bugged the plants. Hopefully they stay away because my experiences with killing aphids have usually ended in death for the plant as well. Thank you again everyone!

  Posted on 21 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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  mendo_meg wrote:

  I’m also thinking they’re aphids (ticks are arachnids and have 8 legs). Try spraying with some neem oil and a tiny bit of natural liquid dish soap in water – neem oil is great for organic pest control. The soap helps it coat & stick to the plant. Aphids are nasty critters and definitely suck the life out of plants. Another great control method is to purchase some lady bugs at a garden store and release them near the aphids. Lady bugs are great to have around!

  Posted on 23 Nov 09 (over 3 years ago)

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