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mindysuewho

Help! Coral Honeysuckle has bugs!

mindysuewho
14 years ago

Our coral honeysuckle has been blooming beautifully until today when I noticed white bugs on some of the leaves and on some of the blooms. The flowers and leaves are starting to shrivel up. I have no idea what kind of bugs they are and hate to use an insecticide since it is visited by hummingbirds. Any ideas? Thanks.

Comments (10)

  • rob_a
    14 years ago

    I also have Coral Honeysuckle. Your post worried me, and I went out to check mine. It's ok, no bugs.
    I think I have read that Honeysuckle is suseptible to aphids. And I'm like you, what do you treat it with and not harm the hummers? Hopefully, someone in the forum has an answer.
    Rob
    PS Coral Honeysuckle is my hummers favorite blooming plant.

  • penny1947
    14 years ago

    Coral honeysuckle is a favorite with aphids also. I have been battling them this spring. I am removing all the buds that have been affected and spraying with neem oil soap solution but you can also use a jest stream of water. Just make sure to cover all parts of the vine.

    Penny

  • penny1947
    14 years ago

    I just came in from blasting mine with water. There weren't as many flowers buds affected so possibly the neem soap spray helped but I reached as many budding clustings as I could and used the jet stream and spray all the clusters

    Penny

  • gatorinfla
    14 years ago

    I'm no treehugger, but if I can find something that will solve a pest problem without pesticides, I'm all over it.
    Ladybugs love aphids like I like M&Ms. Seriously.
    Ask at your local nursery, you can buy then in pint containers. No more aphid problem.

  • steve1young
    14 years ago

    I've also been spraying a heck of a lot of aphids off my Coral Honeysuckle buds. One thing I've found that helps is to remove the leaves that surround the young buds. That way the aphids have less room to hide and it makes it easier to blast them away with the hose. Best of luck!

  • hummersteve
    14 years ago

    I too have had aphids on my coral honeysuckle this spring and I dont like to use insecticide or neem oil as some have said both will affect the plant. Instead I use a homemade citrus oil spray, first I blast all the aphids I can see with a jet stream from a water bottle then I make the citrus mix and spray the entire plant leaves and buds and the aphids will all die and drop off in a day or two. Here is a couple of shots of my plant now. I just use the yellow outside of lemons not the white part.

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    {{gwi:986033}}

    Here is a link that might be useful: citrus spray

  • steve1young
    14 years ago

    Thank you, Steve!

  • hummersteve
    14 years ago

    I still have some aphids in which I blast off every couple of days when I see them. BTW I usually make a quart of the citrus spray when I use it and spray the entire plant. Eggs still continue to hatch. So this fall when it goes dormant Im going to cut the plant back severely all side branches and leaves will be gone to within a couple ft of the crown , the only way to get rid of all the eggs for next year. I know of other people who have done this and they say they have no aphids. Ive had them for three years in a row so its time for action. Also people who have done this say their plant becomes much fuller too.

  • naisy
    10 years ago

    My honeysuckle has thick layers of dark green bugs, presumably aphids, though have not seen this type before. They were not there a week ago. I have sprayed the all over with soapy water, but seems citrus blend is the way to go. I have pictures if I can load them here.

  • hummersteve
    9 years ago

    Dont know that Ive ever seen white aphids, when I get aphids usually a gray color. White bugs will nearly always be whitefly and they multply like crazy. Neem or a light horticultural spray or any oil spray mix which will smother them whether it be aphid , spider mite, or white fly.

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