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What's up Everybody.
Back in February I was doing a little work in the foodscape and stopped to inspect some eggplants that were flowering. I knew that the likelihood of seeing any flowers changing to fruits was going to be slim. I seem to never get a harvest during the cooler weather. But, I checked anyway. I mean why not?
As I looked at each flower, I began to notice a few ants. I didn't think anything of it at first. Until I realized that there were ants scurrying on all the eggplants. While ants themselves are usually harmless to my eggplants.... Their presence indicates that there could be a larger problem.
Just as I suspected, the ants were not the only critter on my plants. I turned over several leaves to find aphids. These Green Peach Aphids are a species of aphid that are very fond of eggplant as well as other species of plants. They feed on plant tissue by piercing and sucking out plant sap. While this can cause stress on the plant, it typically does not result in loss of the plant.
However, the biproduct of aphids feeding on plants is a sticky substance called honeydew. This honeydew makes a perfect environment for diseases to enter the plant. These diseases are what normally lead to the death of the plant.
Interestingly enough, this honeydew is also why the ants are around. The ants use the honeydew for food. There is a pretty cool relationship between ants and aphids. The ants "farm" the aphids for the honeydew. The aphids exchange the honeydew for the security provided by the ants. Wild right?
Most gardeners begin to freak out when aphids appear. More often than not, gardeners go straight to the chemical pesticide isle at the local store to find a way to control the problem. But that's not always required. Aphids have numerous predators that already provide a natural pest control that's free of charge.
By growing a variety of plants and allowing insects in the garden, we can allow beneficial predators to do their job of pest control for us. The best way to attract beneficial predators is to be patient and not immediately remove the pests. If we are too quick to remove the pests, there is no time for the predators to find them in the first place.
Several predators of aphids are the larvae of insects. Examples are ladybeetle and ladybug larvae, hoverfly larvae, lacewing larvae, and mealy bug destroyer larvae. Since the larvae are the beneficial predators, that means we have to not only be patient enough for the adult insects to arrive.... but we also have to be patient enough for the eggs to hatch and the larvae to emerge. That's when the buffet starts!
In the videos below I show when I first found the aphids on the eggplants on Feb 12, 2024. At this point I have no idea exactly how long the aphids have been on the plants.
The second video is an update I did just 4 days later. Still no predators have arrived.
The third and final video was filmed on March 16, 2024. I had not checked the plants in several days. But this is the first time I had been able to identify any predators seeking and destroying the aphids. How awesome is that?
Check out the videos to see how it all went down!!
You can also head over the The Gardening Forum where we talk about another type of aphid - The Oleander Aphid - in our thread called "Gardening Friends and Foes"
See you...................................
Video 1: Discovery of Aphids Feb 12, 2024
Video 2: Update Video just 4 days after first discovery
Video 3: The predators have finally arrived!!