Aphids

Aphids (greenfly), whitefly, mealy bugs, plant hoppers and scale insects suck the sap of roses and other plants. Ants can be included here because many species 'farm' aphids, encouraging the damage done to our plants and protecting the aphids from their natural predators.

Sap is the plant´s food, nutrient and water circulation fluid. When aphids or other sap sucking insects suck sap from a plant, the plant is weakened.

Aphids

Aphids are perhaps the number one garden insect pest. They transmit diseases while sucking the sap of our plants. They tend to attack the newest growth. As soon as new buds appear in spring be on the look out for the arrival of these insects.

Because aphids attack the new buds, the resulting leaves and flowers may never open properly; remaining puckered and curled. Most damaging of all, aphids can transmit serious virus and fungal diseases from one plant to another. A particularly bad aphid infestation often leaves a sticky residue of leaking sap on the plant that will grow a sooty mould, an unattractive fungal growth. Sooty mould reduces the plant´s ability to photosynthesise.

How to get rid of aphids and keep them away

1. Prevention is better than cure - Protect your roses, ornamentals and other susceptible plants with a systemic insecticide such as NO Insects or Disease Spectrum Powder or Liquid Concentrate before they become infested. Spectrum products protect from fungal disease as well as penetrating the plant and making the sap lethal to sap sucking insects.
2. If your plants already have an infestation you can squash them between your fingers but this might be difficult on more than a few buds. Use Spectrum or a contact insecticide such as NO Insects Maldison or NO Insects Carbaryl to spray the affected parts of the plants. Make sure the undersides of leaves and inside curled leaves are treated.
3. Continually protect your plants with Spectrum Powder or Liquid. The powder product has a longer effect and is more broadly protective to your plants. the liquid Spectrum is more convenient to use and will give good protection against aphids.

Whitefly

Whitefly are small usually pale insects that will attack soft plant tissues of plants such as tomatoes.

How to get rid of whitefly and keep them away.

Pest whitefly can be difficult to control. There are some species in New Zealand that have become resistant to certain insecticides however it is still good practise to spray your roses and other susceptible non crop plants with a systemic insecticide such as NO Insects Spectrum. This will reduce the risk of infestation.

1. Prevention is better than cure - Protect your roses, ornamentals and other susceptible plants with a systemic insecticide such as NO Insects or Disease Spectrum Powder or Liquid Concentrate before they become infested. Spectrum products protect from fungal disease as well as penetrating the plant and making the sap lethal to sap sucking insects.
2. Kiwicare's BioGro Certified NO Insects Spraying Oil works to control whitefly and scale insects in a physical manner. This oil blocks the spiracles (breathing holes) of insects suffocating them and it also makes it difficult for insects such as whitefly to hold onto plant surfaces.
3. Spray your plants regularly with NO Insects spraying oil to ensure good protection. Infestations can build up very quickly.

Other Damaging Sap Suckers

The above treatments will also work well for the control of other sap sucking insects including scale insects, mealy bugs and leaf hoppers.

Scale insects live most of their lives as immobile adults under a protective coating, sucking the sap from stalks, leaves and stems. Hard scale have a shell like coating and can be difficult to control. Soft scale are usually found on the leaves and stalks of plants. White wax scale insect is common and is found as large patches of white wax like substance on stems and leaves. The insects live below this protective wax coating where they suck the sap of the plant. The larval scale insect is known as a crawler. The crawlers move to find new feeding sites where they settle down to take up the adult sedentary lifestyle.

The crawler stage is the most vulnerable as they not protected by the waxy coating. Spraying crawlers with NO Insects Spraying Oil will give good control.

Mealy bugs are tiny insects covered with a pale 'mealy' powder like coating. The bugs feed by sucking on the plant sap. Mealybugs excrete a sticky substance called honeydew which ants like to feed on. The honeydew also provides a perfect medium for sooty mould growth. Mild temperatures and high humidity are perfect conditions for mealybugs to breed but prolonged hot weather reduces numbers. Damaging infestations can occur on citrus trees, daphne, and other ornamental plants. Orchids and ferns, especially in greenhouse, can also become infested. Mealybugs will attack bulbs in storage and the roots of some plants.

Leaf hoppers are usually green, yellow or brown and their sap-sucking feeding often causes leaf discolouration. They attack a range of plants and like other sap suckers transmit virus diseases. Young leafhopper nymphs tend to have tufted ‘tails’. Some species of adults fold their wings close into their bodies but others have outspread wings that make them look like small moths or butterflies. All hop away quickly when disturbed.