Bug infestation on plants last year

[Reno_eNVy]

So I've looked around and can't find a specific answer to what I'm pondering.

Last year our hop plants got quite a bad infestation. Tiny red/orange, white, yellow, and black insects, almost entirely on the undersides of the leaves. We tried conventional sprays but that didn't work.

With the first bines popping up through the soil I was wondering:

Should I transplant them to new soil? Or is there a treatment where I can keep them in the same soil but not have to worry about the leaf pests?


Specifics:
- 2x Brewer's Gold, three years old
- In very large containers
- Soil should still be good nutrient-wise, and I have compost to supplement


Any suggestions?

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Sounds like aphids maybe? Was there any webbing (hopefully not, that would mean spider mites)? There should be some mild pesticide you could use early on. I'd try not to treat it once it burrs. I think Ortho bug b gone would work ok.

 

[Beergnomes]

So I've looked around and can't find a specific answer to what I'm pondering.

Last year our hop plants got quite a bad infestation. Tiny red/orange, white, yellow, and black insects, almost entirely on the undersides of the leaves. We tried conventional sprays but that didn't work.

With the first bines popping up through the soil I was wondering:

Should I transplant them to new soil? Or is there a treatment where I can keep them in the same soil but not have to worry about the leaf pests?


Specifics:
- 2x Brewer's Gold, three years old
- In very large containers
- Soil should still be good nutrient-wise, and I have compost to supplement


Any suggestions?

I do organic gardening and intersperse marigolds throughout the garden as pest control that way I'm not harming dwindling bee populations. I did get an infestation of scales once on a star magnolia, admittedly not the same infestation as yours but, I used a natural pesticide containing neem oil and got great results. If you do have aphids buy lady bugs (yes you can buy helpful garden insects) as they eat aphids. Some people also buy mantises. Honestly for me the marigolds work wonders but I hate pesticides and avoid them at all costs. I would also google some pictures of mites and aphids so you can better pinpoint the offenders. Good luck.:fro:

 

[Reno_eNVy]

No webbing, don't think there were spider mites.

We got way too many lady bugs than we needed (nursery only sold one amount) and they seems to only eat some of the pests. They wouldn't touch the majority of them.

Also worth noting that we tried neem oil. But by that time the undersides of the leaves were covered in little xylem suckers.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Neem oil will work ok for killing aphids. You need to make up a dilute solution and add a couple drops of liquid dish soap (just follow the directions on the neem oil bottle). The oil clogs up the tiny orifices that the aphids breathe through and suffocates them. You could also use vegetable oil to accomplish the same thing. You'll likely have to treat more than once though since you'll only be killing insects present on the day of application. The antifeedant properties of neem don't work well on aphids, so the oil part of the neem is the only thing really helping you. You can research some other pesticides too like the bug b gone. It's safe for fruit and vegetable crops. Sevin should work too. The hardest part is treating all of the undersides of the leaves (which is where you need it). I have a big problem with spider mites, and a lesser one with aphids. The aphids don't really bother me. They're not in numbers big enough to devastate around here. I always see a few of them leaving my hop cones when I dry them, but it doesn't affect the quality so I don't even try to control them. If you've got leaves where the whole underside is covered with them, then you need to do something about it.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

All I use is Neem oil around once a month. Works great as a repellant for critters also. Kind of smells like garlic.

 

[JBOGAN]

+1 to the neem oil,that stuff will destroy a aphid colony within a day or two.My problem last year was japanese beetles flocking to my hops so this year i am hitting all my soil with beneficial nematodes to kill the grubs before they have a chance.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

Thanks for the advice everybody! I think I'm just going to have to keep vigilant on the plants this year. One of the big problems with 2013 was I was working out of town for nearly the whole year. I only really got to tend to them once every couple weeks... and that's if I wasn't too busy tending to other things at home.

 

[Setesh]

+1 to the neem oil,that stuff will destroy a aphid colony within a day or two.My problem last year was japanese beetles flocking to my hops so this year i am hitting all my soil with beneficial nematodes to kill the grubs before they have a chance.

Ugh, the friggin Japanese beetles! They are REALLY bad around our current house and I finally just gave up. We are moving later this year and I'm hoping to start fresh at the new place.

 

[Reno_eNVy]

So should I forego the transplant and just keep up with the pest control? Would using new soil really help that much? I'd really rather not stress them and just let them grow. One plant already has a dozen bines poking out and the other just broke ground today.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

So should I forego the transplant and just keep up with the pest control? Would using new soil really help that much? I'd really rather not stress them and just let them grow. One plant already has a dozen bines poking out and the other just broke ground today.

Aphids (if that's your pest) don't over winter in soil. So, transplanting won't help you any. From what I've read, they over winter in the bark of certain trees. They especially like fruit trees I guess. I have a large sweet cherry tree near my hops and I suspect that's where mine are coming from.

 

[WayFrae]

Once upon a time I had spider mites and aphids when I hypothetically grew hops's cousin. I used a dish soap and cayenne pepper mixture that I sprayed on the plants, let it sit for 20 minutes, and rinsed well. I treated the plants like this twice a day for about 3 days to a week and it solved the problem. It was even during the early stages of flowering and I had no ill effects. Just be sure to rinse very well and you should be fine!

Remember this was all hypothetical

 

[Beergnomes]

+1 to the neem oil,that stuff will destroy a aphid colony within a day or two.My problem last year was japanese beetles flocking to my hops so this year i am hitting all my soil with beneficial nematodes to kill the grubs before they have a chance.

We treat our soil with milky spore, kills Japanese beetles in grub stage and once it's been done spring and fall for two seasons the milky spore will colonies on its own and you're golden... plus, those Japanese beetle grubs destroy your lawn and attract moles that feed on them so we LOVE milky spore.

 

[mdennytoo]

That was my problem last year. I kept going out of town so I only hit my mites with neem oil twice. It didn't work. This year, I guess I will try to spray them off with a sprayer every day and then neem oil once a week, twice a week, everyday? 3 years now, my hops get to about 5 feet and then they get sucked dry and I get like two ounces of wet hop in October. It has been a real bumber.