Aphids seem to find their way into every yard or on pecan trees. You may have heard of these small bugs if you have had a yard for a while. They are soft-bodied bugs that get their food by sucking fluids that are high in nutrients from plants.
The world is home to about 4,000 different kinds of aphids. Most of the time, low to moderate populations don’t hurt plants and don’t need to be managed.
If there are enough of them, they can really hurt plants, which can hurt flowers and food. When there are a lot of them, the leaves will curl, wilt, or turn yellow, which will stop the plant from growing.
Aphids spread quickly, so it’s important to get rid of them before they start growing. There are many generations that can happen in one season. But don’t worry too much about that; aphids are pests that move slowly and can be controlled with constant work.
When aphids are treated early, before they have a chance to breed, they are much easier to get rid of. Aphids regularly spread plant viruses from one plant to another, which kills crops like different types of citrus, potatoes, and even wheat.
This guide to getting rid of aphids has all the information you need to keep up the good work, without all the trouble! Keep reading to find out how to get rid of aphids in your home gardening the right way.
What Are Aphids?
Aphids are small, soft-bodied bugs that get their food by opening plants and sucking out their fluids. They can eat roots, leaves, and other soft plant parts because their mouths are long and thin.
They make honeydew, a sticky juice that ants are drawn to. One popular way to see if there are aphids is to look for an ant trail, which can help you figure out which plants may be infected.
Aphids have also been seen being protected by ants from animals that eat them. Some have even been caught herding them into tight groups to make collecting honeydew easier.
It’s too bad that honeydew also makes a great place for sooty mold to grow and spread. This sticky liquid will also cover cars and yard furniture that are under trees that have bugs on them.
In colder places, aphids spend the winter as eggs and come out in the spring as adults. In warmer places, they can be a problem all year.
Understanding the Impact of Yellow Aphids on Pecan Trees
If you grow nuts, you’ll often find yellow aphids on them. They might show up at any point in the summer, but the numbers tend to go through the roof in the late summer. Aphids become sexually mature in 5 days and can have 5 babies every day for up to 30 days. Things can quickly get out of hand with numbers.
Aphids are sucking bugs that get their food from the sap in leaves. This action takes nutrients away from the tree, which makes it weaker. Aphids usually don’t kill trees, but they can and do hurt nut crops that are still growing and the tree’s ability to store energy for next year’s nut crop.
Cutting down on the tree’s energy may make this year’s nut crop bigger nuts. By cutting back on winter stocks, flower production can be affected the following year, which could mean fewer nuts the following year.
Honeydew and Sooty Mold
There are two kinds of aphids: yellow and black. They hurt trees in the same way, and some places have more of them. Both types of bugs can live on pecan trees at the same time. Most of the time, one is more common than the other. Aphids are more interested in some types of pecans than others.
When Yellow Aphids attack pecan trees, they can feed on the trees directly. The other effect comes from honeydew, which is made when aphids eat. Aphids that eat plants make honeydew, a sugary juice that they then leave behind. Because it falls on the leaves, they get sticky and shiny with the sugary stuff, as you can see below.
Natural Predators
Honeybees are very interested in honeydew, especially when it’s dry outside and there isn’t much other juice available. Sooty mold grows on the honeydew on the leaves and feeds on it. This sooty mold keeps sunshine from reaching the leaves, which makes the leaves even less able to feed the tree. If there is a lot of dirt on a leaf, the tree may drop it.
Yellow There are many bugs that naturally eat aphids on pecan trees. Aphids are mostly eaten by ladybugs and lacewings, but many other insects also eat them or use them as food. Since predators need a lot of food, they always show up after the aphid population grows quickly.
When natural enemies of aphids get to an infestation and get rid of it, the honeydew and sooty mold stay behind to stop photosynthesis for the rest of the growing season.
Balancing Pest Control on Pecan Trees
It’s pretty easy to get rid of aphids. There are many popular bug sprays that can kill them. The problem causes damage to other things. Bees and other insects that eat aphids are usually killed by the poisons that are labeled to kill aphids.
Two goods, one with Flonicimid as the main ingredient, stop aphids from eating, leaving them hungry without hurting their enemies or honeybees that are eating honeydew.
There are a few other pecan pests that need stronger, broader-spectrum products to get rid of, but if we get rid of the aphids quickly, we can lower the number of predatory insects and honeybees in our orchards. We can use these other items because we know they won’t hurt our beneficial insects as much.
How To Identify Aphids on Pecan Trees
Aphids are 8 of an inch long and have soft, pear-shaped bodies with long legs and antennae. Depending on the species and what they eat, they can be green, yellow, brown, red, or black.
Adults usually don’t have wings, but some can grow them, especially when there are a lot of them. At the very tip of their heads are two antennae that look like whips. At the back of their bodies are two tube-like structures called cornicles that stick out backwards.
Life Cycle Of Aphids on Pecan Trees
In the spring, female aphids that haven’t got wings hatch from eggs that they laid over the winter and soon have a lot of female nymphs. They have nymphs without mating, and the nymphs grow quickly. In about 10 days, they become adults.
As they get bigger, they have many more babies in a week. This process is done many times, and each time the population grows very quickly.
Some of the females get wings as the colony grows and fly to other host plants to start new colonies.
In late summer and early fall, sexual forms (males and females) appear. These mate and lay eggs that will hatch in the winter. Every year, many generations touch each other.
To make babies, most aphids don’t need to mate (only the sexual types do), and they make live babies instead of eggs.
What Kind Of Damage Do Aphids Cause?
Aphids gather in groups and quickly have babies once they have taken over their target plant. Like other sap-sucking insects, aphids use their mouthparts to cut plant leaves and stems. This drains the plant of its sap, nutrients, and water.
Plant juices are eaten by both adults and kids. Based on the species, they can eat the plant’s leaves, twigs, buds, flowers, fruit, and even roots.
Aphids are especially interested in new growth. Some aphid species, like the green peach aphid, eat a wide range of plants, while others, like the rosy apple aphid, are very picky about the plants they eat.
Long-term damage is more likely to happen to plants that are younger. Different types of aphids release a toxin into the plant as they feed on it. This makes it grow more slowly and causes more leaf curl and discoloration. They not only feed on different parts of the plant, but they also make honeydew, a sticky, gooey juice.
Sooty mold is a fungus that can sometimes be helped along by honeydew. It makes twigs and leaves look black. They pass on viruses and diseases from one plant to another, which is not good.
Aphids that eat flowers or fruit can bend or change the shape of those things. Some types of aphids cause galls to form on roots or leaves.
Signs Of An Aphid Infestation
If you want to know if aphids have hurt your plant, look for leaves that are curled, going yellow, or out of shape. It is important to look at the undersides of leaves because that is where aphids often hide.
If there is a sticky substance on the plant’s leaves or stems, it means that aphids may have been eating on the plant’s sap. This can help you find an infestation if you’ve been looking.
A sweet juice that the bugs make is called “honeydew,” and other bugs, like ants, can collect it and eat it. This sticky stuff can be dropped by aphids that eat trees on roads, outdoor furniture, cars, and other things, so take a look around and see if you can find any of these signs.
If you do, make sure to look for aphids on the trees and plants nearby so you know which plants have an abundance before you take any action to get rid of them.
As a bonus, ants eat the honeydew that sucking insects make and will keep these bugs safe from their natural enemies. Putting Tanglefoot Pest Barrier on the rose stalks and other woody plants will help keep ants away.
How To Prevent Aphid Infestations on Pecan Trees
Even though it can be hard to keep aphids out of your yard, there are some things you can do to lessen their bad effects.
Putting row covers over young plants can help protect them. Before you plant, you can be cautious and look for nearby aphid populations and get rid of them.
It’s important not to water or feed too much, since aphids like plants with lots of nitrogen and soft new growth. When you fertilize, use ones that release minerals slowly.
That would save you a lot of time and money if you could start with plant types and varieties that don’t get aphids. But that’s not always possible. That’s good news; this guide will help you get rid of any aphid problems you may have.
How to Get Rid of Aphids on Pecan Trees
Getting rid of aphids at home doesn’t have to be hard. Here is what you need to do to easily get rid of aphids in your yard:
1. Prune Infested Leaves
First things first, pinch or prune off any leaves or other plant parts that are highly infested. This will help you keep the problem under control while you take the other steps listed here.
2. Hose Off Plants
Next, use a product like Bug Blaster to spray plants with a strong stream of water to get rid of pests.
3. Use Beneficial Insects
You can buy helpful insects like ladybugs, lacewings and lacewing larvae, lady beetles, and parasitic wasps. These insects are natural predators that are very good at getting rid of aphids.
Releases work best when the number of pests is low to medium. Use a natural poison that isn’t too harmful and doesn’t last long to get rid of aphids. Then, let predatory insects take over to keep them under control.
4. Plant Natural Aphid Repellents
Planting natural aphid repellents like marigold, dill, fennel, cilantro, onion, leeks, catnip, and chives is another great way to get rid of aphids in an organic way.
These plants will naturally keep these bugs away, so your yard will be free of aphids.
5. Use Diatomaceous Earth
For long-lasting defense, you might want to use 100% organic Diatomaceous Earth. DE kills by scoring the outer layer of an aphid as it crawls over the fine powder. It is made up of tiny fossilized aquatic creatures that look like broken glass under a microscope.
6. Use Aphid Traps
Aphid traps are a great way to not only find an issue but also get rid of it for good. Aphids are drawn to these yellow traps because they look like healthy plant leaves. They work really well. This bug glue works well and can last up to three months!
7. Use Horticultural Oils And Products
Horticultural oils are another great way to get rid of aphids. This is a one-of-a-kind mix of potassium soaps made from Indian Neem tree seed and other natural ingredients. You can use it inside or outside. It’s made to be a ready-to-use spray that kills most bug pests right away.
Horticultural oils should be used early in the season or late in the fall to kill eggs that have been stored over the winter. You can also use neem oil sprays, which are also great.