Help Identifying White Stippling on 2nd Year Cascades

[thomascbucher]

Hello,

Im in southern Wisconsin and I am noticing some white stippling on my cascade plant. Its a 2nd year and was transplanted in the fall to its current location.

It came up pretty early with 30+ shoots which are now trimmed back to 6. It seems to be growing well despite the really cold weather lately (50 degree highs and 37 degree lows last week), luckilly we have avoided hard frosts.

See link for images- any idea whats going on? Could it just be a result of the weather? It did not have this problem last year so I wouldn't think it would be a stunt virus, but I am not sure. It also seems too early for aphids which I had pretty bad for a couple weeks last year before I put down some organic pesticides and neem oil.


http://imgur.com/a/dOEZp

 

[BentBrewer]

I'd say thrips. Look at the undersides with a good loupe and see if you either see little black spots (poop) or little clear/white insects running about.

Chemical control would be something like Imidacloprid. Organic control would be green lacewings, ladybugs, etc.
If you go organic, you'll need lots of insects to control them. I'd suggest weekly shipments from Arbico. That's where I got my lacewings last year.

Edit: Oh yeah. A nectar source for the adults keeps them around. I've been planting white alyssum around my tomatos the past couple years, and have dramatically cut down on the thrip damage. Basically, it's non-existent.