How to kill monsters eating my geraniums?

[brendawebster44]

Hello Everyone, sorry I have missed some sessions.That is not to say I haven’t tuned in and learned a lot. Now I need help with my new geraniums.The tiniest (things ).on the underside of the leaves 2/3 mm and the leaves  are full of holes, plus I am praying I have not got a case of rust. I treated the rust on my old geraniums with anti fungal I made up myself hum!! Funnily enough the strongest went to heaven  and the oldest are thriving. Well I took Eric’s  advice when I  had snails so I am throwing  myself to the mercy of the professionals brenda 

 

 

[MitchellMc]

Hi @brendawebster44,

Were you able to take a photo of these tiny things on the underside of the leaves? That would help identify the issue. 

The tiny holes appear somewhat like chew marks, and you could have had a passing caterpillar stop for lunch. You might like to monitor the plant and pick off any caterpillars that you see. No doubt you're an expert at this by now. Alternatively, you can spray the plants with Yates Nature's way.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[brendawebster44]

Hello Mitchell, I thought I had sent photos but will try again. Thankyou for your advice 

 

 

 

[EricL]

Hello @brendawebster44

Not to worry your pictures came through with no issues. Looking at that first photo it seems that you do have a bit of infestation. I suggest following @MitchellMc's advice and using Yates Nature's way. This should be effective enough to deal with those bugs. Please make sure to spray underneath all the leaves so that the spray gets on the entire plant.

Let me call on our experienced members @Noelle  and @Adam_W for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Noelle]

Hi @brendawebster44 

Good infestation of sap-suckers there!  They pierce the softer undersides of the leaves to get to the sap, and may cause sufficient damage for a hole to appear on the upper surface. They are not chomping on the leaves as such.

Spraying predominantly the under surface of the leaves will kill these pests - you may need to repeat the spray every few days until they've disappeared.

Thankfully, they are unlikely to kill your plants although vigor may be reduced if there is enough of them present.

[Adam_W]

Hi @brendawebster44 
Looks to me like that damage is being done by caterpillars of one sort or another. Or possible grasshoppers or katydids but you'd be more likley to see them.
Caterpillars are very good at hiding during daylight hours so you'd find them under leaves or towards the base of the plant. As they generally only appear in small numbers it's easy enough to physically remove them from a single plant. You can squish them or drop them in a container of soapy water.
If you can't find them and damage is still happening then you'd want to look at this product which unfortunately doesn't come as a ready-to-use.

All of that spotting under the leaves I don't believe is actually bugs. It looks more like fine material that has been kicked-up during watering or rain.

[brendawebster44]

Hi Eric , I don’t know what is going on I have never had a problem at all with my geraniums. I have sprayed them all under the leafs with Rose gun oil and it seems to be working. Thankyou brenda 🌺

[EricL]

Hello @brendawebster44

Just make sure to follow the instructions on the frequency of the spray. You don't want to over spray the plant. Just keep an eye out for the little monsters and manually remove them if you see them.

Eric

[brendawebster44]

Thankyou Noelle, I have been run off my feet and no time for freeloaders. I don’t want to kill them but they are so small I can’t pick them up to put them on my worst enemies plants haha. Or wait for until they are fully developed and at University.;I have however sprayed the living daylights on them underneath from the side and on top of every leaf. Thanks again and I hope I will be back soon to the group , I miss it, brenda 🌺

[MYC]

Oh I am glad to know about this Yates Nature Way to get rid of caterpillars.  Will get it to save all my geraniums.   So grateful to everyone this Workshop Community group. THANK YOU.