Common Garden Pests

By S. Khanna

Perennials are one of the healthiest types of plants. However, they are always susceptible to disease and pests. Weeds and dead stalks are the breeding grounds of pests, so it is advisable to remove them from time to time. Fungi favors moisture, so keep the containers well drained. Remove the damaged leaf or at the first sign of disease. You should avoid spraying strong insecticides at the first sign of pests because they kill off many beneficial pests too.

Let us have a look at some common garden pests:

Aphids are the most common garden pests. They are yellowish green tiny lice found clustered on tender shoots. Aphids stunt the plant growth by sucking its juices and cause curling leaves. Fungi thrive on honeydew, a sticky secretion by the aphids. If not treated, they multiply at an amazing rate. Knock off the aphids from the leaves with a strong water stream. Spraying Malathion or dimethoate can eliminate persistent aphids.

Japanese beetles are a very destructive group of pests. They include black blister beetle and June beetle. This 1/2 inch insect has metallic bronze wing covers. This Oriental import is a voracious eater, feeding on flowers and leaves alike. They are very devastating and a cluster can reduce the leaves to a skeleton. A small cluster can be eliminated manually and dropped in a can of water with a few drops of kerosene. Huge groups will have to be removed with carbaryl, Malathion or methoxychlor spray. Milky disease spores effectively contain the larvae.

Slugs and snails are two mollusks that harm a plant. Snails are ½ to 1 1/2 inch long and have a well-formed shell. Slugs are double in length but have only a small hump. Hidden by the day, they come out in the night to devour low hanging leaves. The tell-tale slimy trail behind them is their trademark. They chew large holes in the leaves and may wreck havoc on young shoots. The slugs can be deterred by placing sand near the plants. If they are numerous, metaldehyde can be used in spray or pellet form.

Leaf Miners are minuscule are actually larvae of certain flies or beetles. The eggs are laid inside the leaves and the hatched larvae devour the tender interior of leaves. They leave behind serpentine trails of damaged tissues called mines. Severely damaged plants have mines combining to form a single blotch. Their leaves shrivel and drop off. If unchecked, the plant can die too. The only way to get rid of them is by spraying Malathion, carabaryl, or diazinonor dimethoate once a week for a month to kill of the adult insect before it can lay eggs. The larvae are largely immune as they resides inside the leaf.

Spider mites are tiny arthropods, hardly discernible to the naked eye. They open up the leaf tissues a drink their sap. Leaves affected by thrips have distinctive silver or brown streaks. They produce several generations each season, causing widespread discoloration and deformities in the plant. Spraying Malathion or dimethoate can control thrip infestation.

Leaf hoppers suck sap from the leaves and destroy them. They leave a white mottled patch on the leaves. They also transmit viral disease like yellow aster. Plants infested with leaf hoppers should be sprayed with Malathion or carbaryl, especially under the leaves.

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