Release them into your garden, and they will happily feed on aphids and other pesky insects. Once you bring them home and allow their temperature to rise, they’ll soon wake up with a raging appetite.

Bug Boxes: Those beneficial bugs we just mentioned? You can buy them here at SummerWinds Nursery! Ladybugs are the most common commercially available predatory insect, and they come stored in a chilled container that coaxes them into hibernation.

Use a non-chemical treatment to get rid of them-chemical pesticides can pose a major threat to beneficial bugs that help keep pest populations under control. While it’s unlikely that aphids alone will end up taking down an entire plant, their damage is unsightly, and their waste can lead to a host of other problems. Some (but not all) aphids also inject a toxin into plants, which can distort growth and damage leaves even further. Their sticky honeydew rapidly builds up, which leads to all sorts of problems like mold growth or the arrival of ants who are attracted to the sugary substance. While a small aphid outbreak isn’t likely to do large-scale damage, this is a plant pest with strength in numbers, so large colonies can do considerable damage.

This substance is known as honeydew, which is a surprisingly pleasant name for what is essentially bug poop.Īphids feed by sucking the moisture out of plants, which causes yellow leaves and stunts the growth of new shoots. The most telltale sign of an aphid infestation is sticky droplets all over your plants. They can be green, yellow, brown, red, or black, depending on what kind of plants they like to feed on. These tiny little pear-shaped bugs have long legs and antennae. Solutions for Pests & Insects Watch Out For These Notorious Plant Pests

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