Expert: Long Island Gardener - 6/23/2007

Question
QUESTION: I have 6 hanging baskets of petunias & they dont; seem to be doing very well this year.They are not very full & do not seem to be blooming that profusely. I ahve also noticved tiny white insects on the leaves. they are not aphids & the insects don't fly. They almost look like very very tiny grasshoppers. I have been spraying with insecticidal soap but they are not disapperaing. Do you have any idea what they might be. I also noticed tghem on my rose shrub but I sprayed & they are no longer on the roses but they are still all over the petunias.

ANSWER: Petunias sound like something you have been growing for several seasons, so you're an old hand at this, and you know when there's a problem.  But I have to ask you, Linda, are these Petunias getting a full dose of Sun?  They need it more than anything else.

I suspect those bugs are contributing to a problem that was already giving the Petunias some trouble.

Bear in mind, every year's crop of Petunias is a different kind of hybrid.  These may just not have been a full-steam-ahead blooming Petunia type.  File that thought for the future.  When you see one you like, remember what it's called.

Let me continue with this line of questioning because I have to get it out of the way.

Did you (or anyone else) fertilize these Petunias?

Nitrogen fertilizer (the kind that comes out of Miracle Gro container) weakens Petunias and makes them grow lots of leaves, fewer flowers.  Any chance someone got to those Petunias with a bottle of Miracle Gro or something else?

Those little white insects sure sound like Aphids to me.  They don't fly, they're little, they're on the leaves.  Aphids aren't always little green monsters, you know.  They can be little black monsters, little brown monsters, even little white monsters.  Best thing to do:  Get yourself a container of Ladybugs.  Just stay away from the insect killer and wash the pots thoroughly to wash away the spray.  Ladybugs eat everything that moves.  They are the Terminators of the Garden.  They will attack anything that goes near your Roses (please re-ask that question by the way from your first post), and they will cure your Petunias in a few days.

But I do think your Petunias need more than to be de-bugged.  I think they need more light, less fertilizer, maybe a good pruning (cut them in half from the top to encourage branching).  If the soil they are growing in is some overpriced Miracle Gro Potting Soil, you should get them out of there right away, into a pot of plain Vanilla American soil from your garden.  The Miracle-Gro soil uses that Miracle Gro fertilizer to jack up the price of the bag of soil and make it fancy.  Your Petunias don't need fancy soil.  They need the plain Vanilla kind.  Sometimes, you get sick of gourmet food.  You want a nice big steak.  That's what your Petunias need.  Plus a nice Ladybug treatment to get rid of the nasty little bugs that are making them so unhappy on your porch.

I know, it sounds a little hard to believe.  Trust me, once you get those Ladybugs working in your garden, you'll be hooked.

Any questions?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: They are aphids - now there are a few larger green ones not just tiny white ones. to answer your questions - I did not grow these but purchased them. I've bought my flowers & plants from this place before & never had problems. However, this year I am having problems with the inpatients that I purchased here also. To answer your question the petunias get full sun all day - they are hanging on a pergola that has a Southern exposure - so light is not the problem. And yes, I did fertilize them with Miracle Grow - I didn't realize that I shouldn't do that. Thanks for the tip. I have been spraying the plants continuously & I am not getting rid of these little pests. I've noticed that some have died but in 2 days there seems to be a whole new crop. I am at my wits end. Lastly, where do I purchase ladybugs? I am also going to go back to the farm where I bought these. I have never had this problem before....
ANSWER: Most legitimate retailers will stand by their products and do what they can to keep their customers happy.  A repeat customer like you Linda should get the red carpet treatment if and when you return these plants and the unwanted booby prize.

In all fairness, I have to point out the Aphids are one of those Acts Of God that The Lord just throws at us sometimes.  It is entirely likely that your plants picked up these awful little buggies at your house!  They fly around just waiting for someone like you to bring home a big juicy plant for them.  At this time of year, the weather is perfect, plants are newly purchased, and their natural enemies are not yet prevalent.  The Aphids population grows quickly, increasing geometrically for several weeks before natural predators descend to dine.  The Texas Agricultural Extension Service has an insect expert on staff who has posted a cheat sheet on Aphids just for you:

http://entowww.tamu.edu/extension/bulletins/uc/uc-031.html

One note I have to make is that you should ignore, completely, their advice about insecticides, other than the point they make that different species of Aphids respond differently to different insecticides.  Remember, that's Texas that's writing that Aphids page, the most polluted state in the nation.  Just skip the insecticides altogether and go for the Ladybugs.

Where can you buy Ladybugs?

Hmmm.  Good question.  You won't find these at Home Depot or Lowes.  They're just not big profit items for them.  They have enough trouble keeping their Perennials and Annuals alive, you want them to keep Insects for resale?  I don't think it's going to happen in this lifetime.  But that does not mean you should not buy them.  A busy garden center would sell these.  Send me your Zipode and I'll see what I can find out.

Thanks for writing -- and please don't forget to rate me at the end of this.  I'm shooting for the AllExperts of the year list this year and if you can nominate me it will be one more step for mankind, one giant step for mankinder.  And if you send me that Zipcode I'll see what I can find out.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the info - it's just that I have never had such an infestation like this before - maybe because the weather has been cooler this year. As for the ladybugs - my zipcode is 11704. I have another question for you. Every year I plant impatiens in my wooden planters on the deck. And they always grow into such lush plants. This year they look awful. They are small, almost stunted with tiny leaves & no blooms. I did fertilize with Miracle Gro but I have every year & they also looked gorgeous. What could be the problem?

Answer
Impatiens are different from Petunias -- as you probably know.  Petunias don't set flowers if you give them too much Nitrogen.  They're annuals and have a different way of doing things from Impatiens, which are NOT annuals but we grow them that way.  Impatiens LIKE to be fertilized.  Not too much, but a little plant food here and there will really help them develop to their full potential.

Tiny leaves... no blooms... there is definitely a problem here.  Do you know what Spider Mites damage looks like?  Mottled leaves with tiny little pinpricks on them?  Undersides with tiny webs and teensy tiny little spidery looking mites underneath?  Got a magnifying glass?  See anything under there?

Zip 11704 -- Babylong?  I see you're right here on Long Island.  Why didn'tcha say so!

Hicks is selling Ladybugs and a lot of other things.  Get yourself up to Jericho Turnpike in Westbury this weekend and pick up a box of these things.  There are hundreds in a box, don't be freaked out by that.  Put them in the refrigerator when you get home, then at night, in the dark, with a flashlight, sprinkle them around your Impatiens, your Petunias, any Roses you have, all over your garden.  Right on the ground in the soil.  In the morning, they'll have crept up the side of the plants and they'll be eating all those nice juicy Aphids for breakfast.  The Aphids won't know what hit 'em.

Ditto Spidermites... if that's what's wrong.

Only possible problem is if your insecticide is still sitting on the leaves.  The Ladybugs will die.  I see no other way to do this.  It's certainly worth a try.

Let me know how it goes.