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For
answers to your questions, or to place an order by phone, please
call
802-644-8443
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Visit
our store at: BareRoots Hydroponics
234 Page Hill Rd
Waterville VT, 05492
Please call us for directions
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Spider
Mites
You'll first suspect spider mites when your plants start showing
up with little yellow speckle marks, right on the leaf surface.
(Also see thrips.) When you turn the leaf over, tiny, oval shaped
mites are seen scurrying around, about pin-head in size. With
larger infestations, a fine webbing can be seen covering the
plant tops (crawling with mites), and leaves will be browning
and dying. Spider mites seem about the most common pest to show
up in a greenhouse or indoors.
Beneficial insects to control spider mites:
Spider
Mite Predators
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a |
Spider Mite
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White
flies
Suspect
whiteflies when you start seeing small (1/12"), pure white
"moths" that are mostly resting on the plant leaves.
When disturbed, all rush out in the air, hesitate a while, then
fly back into the foliage. Looking closer, the plants might appear
shiny with honeydew. All stages suck on plant juices, and heavily
infested plants will yellow and grow poorly.
Beneficial
insects to control Whitefly:
White Fly parasites (encarsia formosa)
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a |
White
Fly |
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Aphids
What
you notice first with aphids is leaves that are curled, puckered,
and discolored. Looking closer, dense colonies of tiny (1/32"-1/8"),
soft bodied, pear shaped insects are seen, especially on tender
growing tips and underneath sides. Even when disturbed, aphids
move quite slowly, compared to most other insects
Beneficial insects to control Aphids:
Ladybugs | Aphid
Predators
| Aphid
Parasites | Green
Lacewings
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a |
Aphid |
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Thrips
Tiny,
slender thrips feed by scraping and rasping at tender leaf
surfaces. First symptoms are usually leaves that appear finely
speckled with yellow spots. Later, a silvery- metallic looking
sheen may cover leaf surfaces (not with all thrips, though),
and black specks (thrips fecal material) may be scattered
about. Only after close inspection is the real pest found.
About 1/10" 1ong, thrips can move quite quickly for their
size. To the bare eye, many gardeners report thrips as a small
"worm" with legs. Both larvae and adults look similar,
except adults have wings and can fly.
Beneficial insects to control Thrips:
Thrip
Predators
| Pirate
Bugs
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a |
Adult Thrip |
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Mealybugs
Another
insect that sucks on plant juices, mealybugs cause damage
similar to aphids - leaves will be distorted, plants are weakened,
covered with shiny honeydew, and finally a sooty mold grows,
killing the plant. However, when a search is made for the
cause, they don't look much like insects. Clusters of mealybugs
look more like some kind of cottony mass instead of pests.
Beneficial
insects to control Mealybugs:
Mealybug Destroyers
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a |
Mealybug
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