Are your roses sporting new leaves that glisten in the sunlight and are slightly sticky to the touch? See a trail of ants crawling up the trunk of your plum tree? How about powdery black stuff on your camellia bush or the garden furniture next to it? All are indicators that sucking insects may have […]
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First you see them, then you don’t. Those glossy new leaves that cloaked the branches on your dwarf fruit tree seemed to disappear overnight! Same with the succulent mahogany-colored foliage on your prize rose plant, and the prickly leathery leaves on a large chunk of your California live oak. What’s up with that? Even your
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March 10 to 16 is Termite Awareness Week. These tiny, sneaky, out of sight wood-damaging pests are a big concern for homeowners. Termites build colonies 24/7 and can chew slowly through your home, bit by bit. Termite Awareness Week aims to provide more information on what makes these insects tick, offer recommendations for managing them,
Ugh! Snails and slugs, the bane to most gardeners. Loosely related to octopi and oysters, they glide along on their muscular foot, secreting mucus to facilitate movement, leaving their trademark glistening trail behind. With similar biology, the snail carries an external shell while slugs have evolved without one. Both are most active at night or
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Do you have plants growing indoors? National Houseplant Appreciation Day is January 10, and it’s a good reminder to give your houseplants a little extra attention to keep them thriving. Take a close look at the leaves when cleaning them. Do any appear a little pale or have some sticky stuff on the leaves? If
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Have you been startled by a flurry of little flying beasts bursting out of the container of flour or corn meal you planned to use? If so, you’ve met one of the nasty “pantry pests.” Meal moths and pantry beetles are unwanted visitors to your food and dry goods stash. They can crawl through cracks,
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Ticks are sucking insects that can live all year round in our mild climate. If you’re planning to do some hiking around the holidays, learn how to protect yourself from having one hitch a ride on you. If you do get bitten, here’s how to properly remove the tick. These insects are not only a
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Did you know that mothballs, moth flakes, crystals, and bars are insecticides? They come in a solid form that slowly gives off a toxic gas that kills clothes moths and other insects. Mothballs in the U.S. contain very high concentrations of the chemical naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene as active ingredients. They are meant to be used
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One of the easiest insect pests to recognize is the whitefly. You might notice them sitting on the underside of an infested leaf or see them flutter off as you water or handle the plant, looking like tiny white moths. They’re easily disturbed but fly only a short distance before they quickly return to the
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Ants on your artichoke plant? Your plum tree or leafy vegetables? They’re a prime indicator that sucking insects are feasting on your plants. There’s a group of soft-bodied insects — aphids, mealybugs, soft scale and whiteflies being the most common, that feed by sucking juices from plants. The direct damage they inflict on the plant
