7

I got a plant pot in my room, growing some coriander.

I noticed some dusty stuff at the foot of the stalks, and upon closer inspection they are tightly clustered tiny little bugs!

They are all over a lot of my plants, tiny little green dots! Are they going to kill my plants? They have spread to my chilli plants :( They sort of make the stalk look textured and weird.

J. Musser
  • 51,627
  • 21
  • 115
  • 320
Tom Gullen
  • 349
  • 1
  • 4
  • 1
    could you please post a photo that clearly shows the problem? Also you may wish to take a look here: http://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/1223/insect-infestation-on-my-pepper-plant-what-do-i-do – Mike Perry Jul 10 '11 at 20:12
  • @Mike I don't have a camera but I'm 99% sure it's the ones in the second photo on the leaf! – Tom Gullen Jul 10 '11 at 21:27
  • I'm also a beginner just growing things for fun something to look after :( I put garlic powder on the soil because wikipedia says aphids hate garlic – Tom Gullen Jul 10 '11 at 21:33
  • then I recommend trying the procedure I outlined in that question I pointed you toward. Powdered garlic and garlic sprays are used a lot! in organic gardening (for pest control & prevention). Please let us know if the powdered garlic works. – Mike Perry Jul 10 '11 at 22:01
  • Does that things move? – lamwaiman1988 Jul 11 '11 at 01:20
  • @Gun yes they move around very slowly, if you poke them they move faster but they are definitely tiny insects. Garlic powder seems to be working really well! – Tom Gullen Jul 11 '11 at 08:05

1 Answers1

6

Are these aphids? They do cluster - especially around buds, where they can cause damage. An indoors infestation can quickly spread to other plants.

The organic method is a soap spray (never used it) - I use pyrethrum which is considered less harmful for food plants and delicate plants. You will still need to wash leaves/etc before eating, and be careful where you spray it.

For identification, the Wikipedia article has some photos. There are lots of different kinds of aphids, including ones which are 'farmed' by ants - you won't have those, but it gives you an idea of the diversity.

winwaed
  • 20,373
  • 4
  • 61
  • 115