woolly aphids

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=woolly+aphids+&t=ffcm&iar=images&iax=1&ia=images

Wait so is that a different pest altogether? How can I be sure which one I have? Maybe I'll break out my daughter's microscope and have some fun…

I get wooly aphids here on pines from time to time. I've never done anything about them and the trees have not seemed to show any adverse effects. Try blasting with a strong stream of water if they bother you.

dont need a micro to see them ... find the biggest fattest one you can find.. and poke it.... it will walk away .. lol ... dont confuse the last spot it sat and left detritus ...

do NOT KILL YOUR PLANTS WITH TOO MUCH LOVE ...

ignore them.. unless the population goes wild ... and water is the usual safe easy treatment for aphids ...

ken

Ok so I tried to poke a bunch of the fattest ones and they just seemed to disintegrate into wispy sticky nothing... definitely nobody was walking. Should I still follow the same water-blasting protocol? I'm a touch nervous to spray it hard enough with water to knock all the white off because the tree doesn't seem strong or established enough. I feel like I might blow some of the needles right off it- it's only about a foot and a half tall.

Also it's very humid here already, not sure if that factors into anything...

Hey Nicole , how is your front yard project coming along

time for some pics

ron

Ron! Oh my goodness I don't know how I missed this message, all the way from mid-May!? The front is coming, slowwwwwly but surely- though I don't think it'll photograph well yet in the least. Still way too much free space/mulch/brick/house and not enough tree! I will be sure to get some pics on here soon anyway though, tickled that you've even remembered! I do have some new additions I'm quite excited about but they're just such tiny babies still that unless it's a close up of just those plants, it's all just still a little underwhelming. Enough changes have taken place though, that my excitement level is steady growing!!!

its getting dark out there now so I'll quickly post a couple of the ones I took in spring, during that special time of fresh buds : )

Ok here goes ; )

Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Fernspray Gold’ (I'm going to try to get all tree names right!)... bought as a teeny tiny bonsai starter back in 2010 I think- one of the only plants I brought with me to this house when we moved 4 years ago. Developed a leader shortly after the move, I kind of like it. Pinks in front.

Acer palmatum dissectum 'Red Dragon', in front of a Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Green Arrow’ that a buck rubbed autumn before last... someone here might remember helping me figure out why the middle portion was dead! As suggested I decided to keep it, after cutting off the 3/4 that was dead. I don't know what kind of tree it looks like now but it's still interesting to me, and I don't have enough other stuff out there yet to justify ripping it out anyway. Ah well. A bright yellow barberry gifted by my mom behind the maple. Still want to grab some big rocks for around some of these guys.

Picea pungens, 'Globosa' from westernevergreen in my first online conifer order, in spring of 2015. So exciting to see them all getting a little bigger; seeing the new buds in spring are one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. Right up there with watching the kids sleep and smelling the dog's paws, that level of good.

Next are the other 2 from that order, Pinus parviflora 'Adcock's Dwarf' and Pinus parviflora 'Goldilocks'. These things are all obviously still very small but I've loved watching them, especially this spring.

Then I have some decent growth on the Picea abies 'Pendula' that I also bought 2 years ago, from a nursery here. And this spring we splurged on a nice sized Picea pungens 'The Blues'... (I went a tad crazy this spring with big deal favorites).

Then of course I have the curly thing that was the subject of this post-- I can't remember now exactly what variety it is, have to find the tag in the garage.

Next I have my two most exciting plant purchases ever, the Tom Thumb and Kohout's Icebreaker I mentioned initially, which part of me thought I should wait until I had more space filled to buy, since they are so tiny and will remain that way for such a long time... but the other part of me thought I kind of have to get them early if I want to see any growth whatsoever! These two are my second online order, from coniferkingdom. At first I felt a little bit sick spending so much on such tiny little babies but then they gave me a free Picea omoriko 'Pendula Bruns' on top of it and while I have no idea where I'm ever going to put him, it made it all OK from there on out. And then when they arrived, I was so pleasantly surprised with the size of the Tom Thumb, though the trunk itself is pretty skinny.

We've got a couple teeny tiny maples out there too, sprinkled in some. It's all still a little pitiful looking from the street but once things grow enough to sort of disguise gas/electric boxes and rainspouts and such, I think (hope) it's going to be really something. : )

thanks for asking Ron... feels good to be remembered!!

-Nicole

Pine Bark Adelgids

I use Bonide 609 at the rate of 1.5 teaspoons per gallon as a spray per the label.

Dax

Thanks Dax, I think I'll try that! It's still all over it and the humidity is only going to get worse here, doubt that'll help the situation. Anyway I'll give it a shot, thank you.

Nicole

You're welcome, Nicole.

Follow whatever the safe temperatures listed on the label state. I always spray fungicides and insecticides when the temperatures are at or below 70F. I always know that's safe.

Dax