Questions tagged [pests]

For questions about garden pests such as insects, birds and mammals.

In horticulture, the word "pests" is usually used for macroscopic animals, although smaller organisms (e.g. bacteria, fungi, viruses, nematodes) could be considered pests, as well as invasive plants (e.g. vines and parasitic plants).

Macroscopic animal pests are dominated by insects and mammals, although other arthropods, reptiles, and birds could all be pests.

All of these groups primarily contain beneficial or neutral organisms, so generally control methods should be limited and in the form of deterrents rather than chemical poisons.

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What are these sticky droplets and pests on my persimmon trees?

Some of my persimmon leaves have tiny sticky droplets at the back of some of their leaves. It is late spring here in Japan and leaves are green. Droplets show up on small leaves with pinkish colors but some larger green leaves have droplets as well,…
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What is this dark leafy vegetable plant? What's causing holes in the leaves, and how can I help it?

I got a variety of seeds from a friend. Most were swiss chard and butter lettuce but this one is different. Also it's the only one that's getting riddled with little holes. What's eating it? What should I do to stop them? I haven't used any…
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Get rid of pesticide resistant Spider Mites?

I regretfully come posting asking for advice on how to get rid of a very tenacious spider mite infestation in one room of my indoor plants. I have become convinced these pests have become pesticide resistant because they have shrugged off neem oil,…
mattb
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What's eating my broccoli and kale, and what can I do to prevent it?

Something has been eating my broccoli and kale plants. I haven't seen anything on it, so I'm not sure what it is. It started eating the leaves and has progressed to eating stems and recently seems to have cut one of the broccoli plants down to the…
Mike Eng
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Are these spider mites on my indoor eggplant?

Yes, numerous questions on the subject but I have some nice photos. These bugs are running along the webs quite freely so the webs are presumably made by them. They are on my indoor eggplant and I didn't see them last week. Only saw a few webs. But…
Graham Chiu
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Has anyone seen this kind of eggs in their kale and strawberry?

I guess these are eggs of some pest which is infecting the kale and strawberry plants in our garden. Has anyone seen something similar to this? If yes, what did you do to get rid of them without any use of harmful pesticides?
yasouser
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Is this the tomato potato psyllid?

I noticed these sugary white granules on my tomato leaves a couple of months ago, and saw some insects which I thought were aphids but didn't look closely. Now it looks as though my potatoes are infected. The tomato potato psyllid (TPP) arrived in…
Graham Chiu
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How many times do Fungus Gnats lay eggs?

If they lay eggs only once, this fact could help in eradicating them. If one has an extra pot of soil without a plant in it and waters this one day before watering the plants, then this pot may be targeted first for laying eggs. The next day the…
amoxus
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What types of fruit are most likely to be eaten by vertebrate pests?

So there are tomatoes in my backyard, and for some reason, nothing seems to eat them even though lots of birds visit the backyard, which surprises me. Do birds and rodents (mice and squirrels) have a preference for certain fruits? Like high calorie…
InquilineKea
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How can I stop an urban fox from using my garden as its toilet?

I live in the UK, in an urban terraced street where all of the back gardens are next to each other with fairly low walls. Recently what I believe to be an urban fox has started using our lawn as its own personal toilet (it's not a cat - the faeces…
Matt Hogan-Jones
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Rue with white dots and some 3mm white bugs

I have a Rue plant in my terrace, and for many weeks it has had some sort of plague made of white dots and some slightly bigger bugs, oval shape, no more than 3mm long. I've been using an organic repellent, with very little success. I don't even…
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How do I treat and care for trees infested with borers?

One of my apple trees recently started to look like it's dying (leaves dying when they shouldn't, bark peeling, lack of fruit, new branches growing and then quickly dying). My neighbor looked at it and noticed lots of small holes, pointing out that…
jhawes
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Is asparagus deer resistant?

I love the idea of edible landscapes, and asparagus is a nice early season treat that can wind up looking great in certain areas. BUT I don't want to waste time planting it all over if the deer are just going to eat it. Does anyone have experience…
That Idiot
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Scale infestation (Euonymus scale)

I have some sort of scale infestation on a small bush on my lawn. I'm not sure what sort of infestation it is - possibly Boisduval scale, but I'm not certain. Here are some photos: Any clue as to what it really is? And any tips on how to handle…
Chrisky
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Is this colored (brown, red, yellow) and hairy caterpillar dangerous for my strawberries?

I found this caterpillar on a strawberry-plant-leaf. The leaf had a lot of holes - I assume it was caused by it. The caterpillar is about 2.5cm long and has a diameter of ~5mm (without the hairs). It is quite hairy. Most of the body hair is white,…
Patrick B.
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