Honeysuckle Pest Problems
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Honeysuckle is an old-fashioned garden plant. It can be grown as a hedge or shrub but is most commonly grown as a vine. Luckily, honeysuckle is a tough plant and the pests that are attracted to it are easy to manage. Greedy scale, potato aphid and caterpillars are the most common pests found on honeysuckle plants.
Honeysuckle is an old-fashioned garden plant. It can be grown as a hedge or shrub but is most commonly grown as a vine. Luckily, honeysuckle is a tough plant and the pests that are attracted to it are easy to manage.
Types
Greedy scale, potato aphid and caterpillars are the most common pests found on honeysuckle plants. While greedy scale won't harm the honeysuckle, it is unattractive. Aphids suck the juices out of the leaves and leave behind a sticky residue that will host various types of fungus. Caterpillars have voracious appetites and can defoliate your honeysuckle.
- Greedy scale, potato aphid and caterpillars are the most common pests found on honeysuckle plants.
- Aphids suck the juices out of the leaves and leave behind a sticky residue that will host various types of fungus.
Identification
Aphids are tiny green, brown, red, black or white insects, generally found in clusters on the honeysuckle's foliage. Greedy scale, an armoured scale, doesn't really look like a bug, but will appear as a white, brown or red bump on the foliage. Caterpillars, wormlike insects, readily feed on honeysuckle foliage, leaving holes and even skeletonising the leaves.
Prevention/Solution
Proper watering and fertilisation goes a long way toward discouraging insect infestations. Aphids can generally be washed off the honeysuckle with a strong blast from a hose. Insecticidal soap or horticultural oils will also control them and the greedy scale as well. Caterpillar control consists of cutting away the infested leaves and removing the eggs from the branches.
- Proper watering and fertilisation goes a long way toward discouraging insect infestations.
- Aphids can generally be washed off the honeysuckle with a strong blast from a hose.
References
Writer Bio
Based in the American Southwest, Bridget Kelly has been writing about gardening and real estate since 2005. Her articles have appeared at Trulia.com, SFGate.com, GardenGuides.com, RE/MAX.com, MarketLeader.com, RealEstate.com, USAToday.com and in "Chicago Agent" magazine, to name a few. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English with a concentration in creative writing.