Identifying common plant bugs

Tired of having to deal with worms and beetles crawling over your plants? Common garden pests such as the Japanese beetle and aphids could cause your plants to become less attractive or even cause physical harm to your plant.

Tiny but mighty is an apt name for aphids, which are tiny sap sucking insects that leave a substance known as honey dew on plants. This dew can then cause black fungus to form on your pristine plants. These bugs feed on soft stems, branches, buds and fruit and prefer new growth to mature foliage, meaning you cannot even harvest the fruit of your plants before these miniature devils release their evil upon your plants.

Another common bug is the Japanese beetle, which will feast on just about any flower they can lay their eyes on. If you want to keep your pretty petunias and poppies colorful and vibrant, these pests need to be ridden so they cannot chew holes in your flowers’ petals.

The Cabbage White caterpillar is another bug that can attack flowers though its name does not sound very deadly. It is a voracious eater and can easily destroy your brassicas and nasturtiums, leading to holey salads and torn petals. These caterpillars should be removed as soon as eggs appear before they are able to grow into fully developed caterpillars. To do this, regularly check on your plants and rub off any egg clusters and pick off any developed caterpillars.

The tomato moth does exactly what its name suggests and more. Aside from boring holes into your green tomatoes, they also affect lettuce and brassica, making them an extremely frustrating and deadly bug. Large caterpillars can eat large areas of leaves and gnaw on stems, making them fragile and easily broken. Fruiting vegetables are affected by the caterpillars depositing frass, the excreta of these bugs and by the bugs forming holes in the fruit.

However, by using our aspara hydroponic smart grower the bugs mentioned above can be eliminated as they simply cannot reach your plants. Without soil and limited contact with the outside world, your plants can grow without the fear of being affected by bugs and insects.