Hi, All of my maples are starting to leaf out and I notice a lot of small bugs (I assume to be aphids) laying eggs on the leaf buds and under the new leaves, especially on my Shishigashira and Aureum. What can I do to get rid of them? Thanks in advance for your reply and assistance.
Shishi, I used Pruzit (Ecostyle) lately, its biological stuff, seems to be OK as last week I had same problem on few of my acers, the Pruzit was advised already by a fellow forummember here, sorry cannot find the previous subject/post anymore. You can also hose the aphids off with water, I prefered to use Pruzit available at any garden centre I suppose. (at least here in my country) I had a huge amount of those aphids, they were black and round, they tight mostly under the buds or leafs, since I sprayed most are gone, I had to spray 2 times. Plants are OK here I suppose, I had those aphids on my Acer Ueno Yama, Higasayama, Oridono Nishiki and on Asahi Zuri. All continue setting out new leafs here.
Ladybugs is very good for me, in Italy use ladybugs for apple, but is no easy to find them(in Italy) for small use...
Insectidal soap is very effective on aphids and non-toxic. Or you can simply spray soapy water on them.
Dawgie: will soapy water harm the maples or leave any type of residue or any other side effects? Thanks
Here is another post that is inquiring about pests on maple buds... could these be some sort of aphid?
If you use soap ,spray at 5/6 am or 19/20pm,or soap+water+sum = leaves brown/flame. For me this method is well if acer not have leaves again Ciao alex
Can rinse the residue off of the plant after an hour or so, and not apply in sunlight. May have to apply a second time if the eggs hatch later.
The bugs are definitely aphids and I have purchased ladybugs to hopefully eradicate them the "natural" way but so far, there are still a lot present. I may purchase another package (approx. 1500 ladybugs in a package) this weekend before I try the soap and water. Chimera: The soap and water will not harm the tree, leaves, and buds in anyway?
Chimera: The soap and water will not harm the tree, leaves, and buds in anyway?[/QUOTE] Not as far as i know, have just used insecticidal soap on plants and rinsed it off after an hour or so. Think i may have killed one pink and white leaved maple when i forgot to rinse it off in time and the sun had come out for a while. As others have mentioned maybe a biologically safe dish detergent and water would work well, use "Ivory" dish soap here. See a recipe for soap, water and vinegar on this site www.vegansociety.com/html/animals/care/pest_control.php , maybe worth trying. Would be interesting to hear of any experience with the recipe. With the ladybugs , the larvae eat the aphids, not the adults is my understanding. Don't know if the larvae are sold or if you have purchased adults, nor how fast they reproduce. Have collected ladybug larvae from rugosa roses in late spring and early summer, if i remember right, and put them in seedling flats for aphids.
Hi I read in another thread that,the ladybugs when aphids finish "lady" fly in another garden ,I don't know your garden if is small or big ,if is small for me use common pesticide .if big no problem "lady" remain....
I too have read that ladybugs tend to "scatter" when released as opposed to staying nicely in your garden where you want them, so may be more practical in a large commercial application. I have also read that they navigate by the sun, so are more apt to stay where they were released if they are released after sundown or before sunrise.
According to Ed Hume a good fix for aphids is to urinate in a cup with some dish detergent. Spray the plants with mixture. This will not harm the plants and should kill the aphids.
