Bugs on my lettuce!

9 years ago

Uh oh! I went out to trim some leaf lettuce for our first salad of the season when I found some creepy crawlies :-( They're purple and many different sizes. My guess based on how many sizes they are and the fact that the leaves are pretty close together is aphids. What do you all think, and how can I get rid of them? Preferably without chemicals since we're eating the lettuce.

Background info: Some of the lettuce overwintered and all of it is under bug netting because of my current squirrel problem. Therefore not much of a chance for beneficial bugs to take care of these pests.

Featured Answer

digdirt2

9 years ago

Or if you don't want to hose the plants you can just harvest the leaves and wash them well under the faucet indoors.

Dave

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Comments (9)

Liz Gross (5a, WI)
9 years ago
Spray them down with insecticidal soap?
Peter (6b SE NY)
9 years ago
Looks like aphids to me. Give them a spritz of water to knock them off or spray with insecticidal soap as Liz suggested.
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Chris (6a NY)
9 years ago
Aphid attack! That's all I do, spray them with water. I've become a sniper with the jet stream :-) Let's hope you get some help from the beneficials.
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
9 years ago
Wow, it seems very early for Aphids! I haven't seen any lady bugs so they won't be any help anytime soon. Yeah just spray them down a few times.
Sunflowers
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for your help everyone! I'll try to spray them with a hose, but because the lettuce plants are so tightly packed together (I planted them with the cut and come again thought in mind), I'm concerned that they'll just get knocked down into the base of the plants. But I'll try it anyway!

Since I haven't seen many ladybugs yet, would it be a terrible idea to buy some live ladybugs and release them under the row cover, keep them there for a few days to eat the aphids, then open the row cover and let them go?
rgreen48
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
"Since I haven't seen many ladybugs yet, would it be a terrible idea to
buy some live ladybugs and release them under the row cover, keep them
there for a few days to eat the aphids, then open the row cover and let
them go?"

Each person is going to do what seems right, but I personally find it ineffective to buy bugs for a personal veggie garden.

I would just spray them with water once or twice a day, but that's just me.
Sunflowers
Original Author
9 years ago
Aphids give me the heebie jeebies, to be honest. If spraying with a hose doesn't work, I'll likely try opening up the row cover to give access to beneficial insects, or keeping the row cover on and treating with insecticidal soap.

Or I might just say "screw it" and order a few hundred ladybugs for $6 to see what happens.
digdirt2
9 years ago
Boy I'd sure hate to waste all that good lettuce just because of a few aphids. They are the most begin garden pest there is and the easiest to control so how will you handle a really serious pest problem that is bound to arise? You need to get over your heebie-jeebies if you are going to garden. Bugs and gardening go together.

Dave