Bugs

We’re talking with customers everyday who are concerned that they have a fungus on their plants. My first thought is that it would be rare to have fungus this time of year since its so warm, windy, and dry. It’s much more likely to be a bug. Here’s how to identify and control.

Is it white and cottony on the stems and flower buds? If so, you have Mealybugs! They show up in the Summer on Hibiscus, Jatropha, Purslane, Salvia and many more of our plants. You can treat with organic Spinosad soap or Bee Safe 3-in1 Garden Spray – be sure to spray in the evening due to our high temperatures. We recommend spraying the plant once a week for 3 weeks.

Do your leaves look brown and speckled? Sounds and looks like a fungus, but this time of year, its most likely lace bugs on the underside of leaves. They are notorious for attacking Lantana. We’ve even seen some lace bugs on Zinnias and Persimmon trees this Summer. We recommend you cut your plants back one third to half, fertilize and then spray with organic Spinosad soap.

*Scale and sooty mold on a Eucalyptus tree*

Do your Crape Myrtles look black and sooty? This is a tricky one: black sooty mold is a fungus, but it’s caused by insects. Aphids, scale insects, and whitefly leave behind a sticky residue (called “honeydew”) that black sooty mold grows on. If you kill the bug, then the soot goes away. Each of these can be controlled with organic Spinosad soap or Bee Safe 3-in-1 Garden Spray.

-DeAnna

I always make it a point to garden in a way that works with nature and promotes life. Using the least toxic products when I have a problem or a pest in the garden is a big part of that equation. All pesticides and fungicides are killers, organic or not, so it is important to choose a product that is selective in what it kills. Bee Safe 3 in 1 Garden Spray is relatively new here at Gills and has quickly become one of my favorites for a few reasons:

It works. I use Bee Safe to treat aphids, mealy bugs, and powdery mildew with great success. It is also labeled for spider mites and fungal issues like black spot on roses – hence the name “3 in 1”.

Bee Safe is not a kill all. Bee Safe will not harm bees, butterflies, or hummingbirds. This is important because pollinators play a critical role in a healthy thriving garden.

It’s totally organic. Bee Safe is OMRI certified for organic gardening. The active ingredients are sesame oil and fish oil, which are very safe to use around your pets, your family, and the bees! It is also labeled for “same day use” which means you can spray your veggies and eat them in the same day. I’d still recommend washing them of course. And keep in mind that Bee Safe is an oil-based insecticide, which means you should spray it in the evening to avoid burning.

Promoting life in the garden is the best way to prevent pests in the first place. Make sure you are attracting pollinizers (like bees, birds, and butterflies), promoting beneficial insects, and adding compost to encourage healthy microbial activity in the soil. All these living things will work together to maintain healthy plants which are not as susceptible to pests.

-Wyatt

August is almost here! It’s time to start making the transition into an exciting new Fall planting season. Here are our top must-do’s for this coming month.

Check out our August Garden Guide for more tips and remember that trees, shrubs, and perennials can be planted 12 months out of the year! The only difference is the amount of water they need depending on temperatures and wind!

1. Choose Plants that Provide for Wildlife

Important fact: birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and small mammals that pollinate plants are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food. Plants attract and provide food for them to keep the cycle going. For example – plant Zinnia and sunflower seeds now, and they’ll be ready to feed migrating birds this Fall. Take it a step further and plant Texas natives! They provide for pollinators and require less water once established.

2. Pick Out Your Seeds

Watching your plants grow from a tiny seed is exciting and rewarding! Our Fall Vegetable Planting Guide provides the specific seed-planting dates to help plan your Fall garden. Most new seeds are already here! Look out for some of the rare and heirloom seeds we’re bringing in over the next couple weeks! We’ve been researching how to use liquid seaweed to improve seed germination. Worth a try! Another tip: use peat pots or seed starting trays to start seeds indoors, then move to a covered patio once they sprout. This will protect the seedlings and slowly acclimate them to the outdoor heat.

3. Prepare Your Garden Beds

August is the time to start preparing for Fall vegetables. Clean out beds and pull weeds. To get your soil ready, we recommend mixing Nature’s Blend Compost or Cotton Burr Compost into your soil to replenish nutrients and loosen the soil before planting. About 1 bag per 12 sq. ft. is good. Once prepped, add a thick layer of pine straw mulch, which will help retain moisture, keep weeds from sprouting, and keep the soil cooler until you’re ready to plant. As you plan your space, think crop rotation – don’t plant the same veggies in the exact same place you planted them last season, or you encourage pests and diseases.

4. Water Sufficiently AND Efficiently

With our temps and lack of rain, it’s vital to water your plants and lawn sufficiently AND efficiently. The goal with summer watering (with or without watering restrictions) should be to create depth moisture. For lawns and established plants and trees, this means watering less frequently, but watering deeply when you water. New plantings will require water every day to get the roots established. Use a water wand with a cut-off valve to make it easy on you and conserve water. Pro tip: Conserve water by watering at ground level, not spraying from above. This way, water soaks down to the roots rather than evaporating off the leaves.

5. Mulch for Moisture Retention

We know fresh mulch is the quickest way to refresh the look of your landscape. Proper mulching has other big benefits, especially during dry and hot weather. A good 2-3” deep layer of mulch will keep your plants and the soil moist and cool for longer after you water. Give the main trunks or stems of your plants a little space – mulch 2-3” deep throughout the bed, but no more than 1” deep against the main trunks/stems of plants.

6. Beware of Bad Bugs

White cottony clumps on tips, stems, and undersides of leaves in summer are most likely mealy bugs! People often think these are a fungus because of their appearance but one squish with your fingers will tell you they’re insects feeding on your plants. They especially love Hibiscus, Jatropha and some Salvias. We’ve been seeing a lot of spider mites too. You’ll notice a fine webbing and small sandy speckles (see photo). The mites themselves are usually on the underside of leaves. Both can be treated organically with Spinosad soap, Bee Safe 3-in-1 spray, or Neem Oil during cooler evening hours.

Mealybugs are here! Look on the tips, stems, and undersides of the leaves for these white insects clustered together. If they go unnoticed for a short period of time , they will produce a protective cottony barrier over their bodies to protect themselves. Many times we hear “I have a white fungus on my plants”. Insecticidal Soap or Neem Oil can be used to kill these pests. Multiple applications may be needed. Thorough coverage is a must, and I usually recommend spraying once a week for 2-3 weeks to make sure you have killed them all. If you only have a few clusters of them at the tips of your plants you could smash them with your fingers and rinse, or cut off the affected tips and throw away the bugs in a sealed bag. Be a bug scout. Keep your eyes open and search. These pests usually last most of the summer.

-DeAnna

If you have a Hackberry tree or a sago palm you know what I am talking about. Hackberry trees get wooly aphids every June that drip black sooty mold all over everything below the tree. Use Bayer Tree and Shrub Protect & Feed as a soil drench for 9 month insect protection. Since I have been treating my neighbors tree in March or April I have not had to spray to protect my yard, vehicle, or lawn furniture from the soot. If you have sago palms, use it to prevent and kill all the white bugs on the tops and bottoms of the fronds. They are called Asian cycad. This insect has been around since the year before the snow, so be diligent and treat to help rid the city of this pest.

image c/o Auburn.edu

-DeAnna

Ladybugs aren’t true bugs at all, they’re beetles. There are almost 400 different kinds of ladybugs in North America. Female ladybugs can eat as many as 75 aphids in one day, they also like to eat scale, mealybugs and spider mites. Ladybugs smell with their feet and antennae. A ladybug’s jaws chew from side to side instead of up and down like our jaws. The color of a ladybug’s spots begin to fade as it gets older. Ladybugs are most active when their body temperature is 75 degrees or warmer. A ladybug’s bright color warns birds that it does not taste good. When a ladybug flies, its wings beat 85 times every second. Female ladybugs are larger than male ladybugs. Aphids are the first pest to hit in the spring, and they love the new growth on plants. Buy your ladybugs now and keep them dormant in the refrigerator till your first outbreak of aphids, then release a few hundred at a time, preferably after sundown.

-DeAnna

Last year I planted my hummingbird and butterfly garden with over 30 milkweed, Turks cap, passion vine and native lantana. It grew beautifully in the back corner of my yard, and I pretty much just left it alone. Since now is the time to prune, I rolled up my sleeves, got out my pruners and started to go to town. Oddly enough, as I was whacking back a lantana I noticed in my peripheral vision movement all around me. So I stopped pruning and sat down and started to meditate. After about five minutes of sitting still, I opened my eyes and was absolutely floored! Every bug I have ever seen in my life was there in my garden. There were honey bees and bumblebees, fritillary butterflies and big bold monarchs, assassin bugs, ladybugs galore, orb weaver and large wolf spiders, a praying mantis, mud-dobber wasps, horseflies, house flies and soil gnats. And about 150 monarch butterfly caterpillars! It was like an optical illusion. The more I sat still, the more I saw everything moving around me. Not only were there bugs, but there were toads, lizards, and a bold mockingbird that decided to land not five feet from me. Of course there were aphids and whitefly, but I watched as ladybugs flew down and began to munch them all up, and a praying mantis was going to town on the flies. It was absolutely astounding! All this life was in a 10 foot by 10 foot bed. If you have a section of your garden that you can let be pesticide free and 100% organic, please let it be! You’ll be amazed by what life does in the garden when you’re not looking.

-Marta

We love the rain, but so do the skeeters. We have everything you need to repel and kill them. Mosquito Beater Liquid Hose-end can be sprayed across the lawn, shrubs and anywhere else they may hide. We also have Mosquito Dunks and Mosquito Bits for standing water in birdbaths, saucers, puddles or even old tires to kill their larvae organically. We have Mosquito Beater Granules which are essential plant oils on a flake to repel them. It is Lemon grass oil, Citronella oil, Garlic, Geranium oil and Cedar oil, so it smells really nice. And don’t forget our Skeeter Eggs that you hang on the porch or patio. They hold Citronella oil in a porous egg to repel for 200 sq. ft. Having a party or just want to enjoy the cool evenings outdoors. Come see us and we will get you what you need.

-DeAnna

Bugs

1. Choose Plants that Provide for Wildlife

2. Pick Out Your Seeds

3. Prepare Your Garden Beds

4. Water Sufficiently AND Efficiently

5. Mulch for Moisture Retention

6. Beware of Bad Bugs

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