Daisy - similar chrysanthemums , Chrysanthemumspp . , aka mamma , are herbaceous perennial . Most are suit to cultivation in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 9 .
They choose full sun , average two to three feet marvelous , and get along in various colors , including green , lavender , pink , purple , crimson , rust , lily-white , and yellow .
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Photo Credit: William M. Ciesla, Forest Health Management International, Bugwood.org.
Ourguide to growing chrysanthemumsdiscusses finish in the home garden .
It is also worth note that sometypes of chrysanthemumscontain pyrethrins , natural insecticidal compounds that deter some pest while appeal other beneficial insects .
you may interpret benefits of mums in the gardenin our guide .
Photo Credit: William M. Ciesla, Forest Health Management International, Bugwood.org.
This article introduces 13 case of pests known to raven upon chrysanthemums . record on and learn how to recognize and manage them .
Here ’s our lineup :
13 Common Chrysanthemum Pests
The following undesirable louse may chit-chat the chrysanthemum in your outside living outer space to shelter , first mate , and eat their young , induce hurt in the process .
Each entry highlight physical trait , potential damage , and remedy measure .
Let ’s jump right on in !
1. Aphids
Chrysanthemum aphid , Macrosiphoniella sanborni , are sapsucking pest that feed primarily on terminal flower bud and immature leaf .
adult are bright and dark brown , either winged or wingless . Young nymphs are brick Bolshevik and wingless .
A unique feature of the species is that there are no male person , and the female person reproduce asexually .
They are often toter of chrysanthemum vein mottle virus and chrysanthemum computer virus B , for which no curative measures exist .
The greenish peach aphid , Myzus persicae , melon / cotton aphid , Aphis gossypii , and root aphids , Pemphigusspecies , are additional species that may feed in upon plant .
Aphid color vary and include fateful , dark-green , crimson , blank , yellow .
Signs of plague let in louse stacked one upon the other , milky flake from shed skins , and sticky waste product secretions called “ honeydew . ” There may also besooty mould , as it grows readily on honeydew melon .
Aphids may not do enough harm to impair bloom , but big infestations can stimulate leaf anomaly like curl and yellowing , damage shoot , and scrubby ontogenesis .
Spray affected plants unwaveringly with a hose to shift the pests or treat them with an insecticidal soap for the most negligible impact on beneficial pollinators .
Bonide ® Insecticidal Soap
Bonide ® Insecticidal Soap isavailable from Arbico Organics . Note that it may harm aquatic invertebrate .
This product is safe to use indoors and outdoors and comes in 12- and 32 - ounce quick - to - nebulizer nursing bottle .
Neem oil is another organic alternative .
Bonide ® Neem Oil
It is an in effect fungicide , insecticide , and miticide . And while it ’s secure for indoor and outdoor use , it may adversely move good pollinators .
Bonide ® Neem Oil isavailable from Arbico Organics .
pick out a quick - to - role dry quart or gal , or a pint of dressed ore .
Please see ourguide to aphidsfor more selective information on managing these pests .
2. Beetles
There are numerous type of beetles with eating habits that damage stem , shoots , roots , farewell , flowers , and bud .
The ones most probable to adversely affect chrysanthemums are :
Beetles have a difficult shell and two sets of wings . The first are firm and stationary , and the 2nd afford flight .
Wilting and leaf with holes chewed through them may mean the presence of unwanted beetles .
Handpicking and put down beetles into sudsy water , and using trap and lures , are effective eradication methods when started early .
Cucumber Beetle Trap and Lure
Cucumber beetle trap and tempt areavailable from Arbico Organics .
Each packet contains two traps and two come-on . quick to use , this product consist of yellow mucilaginous ambuscade and pheromone bait .
3. Caterpillars
Some of the same caterpillars that play havoc on crops may also prey upon chrysanthemums , including :
Cabbage looper moths are mottled browned and the larvae are green with lily-white stripes . They make petite holes in leaf undersides .
Corn earworm moths are gray - brown . In the larval leg , they may be pitch-dark , dark-green - brown , maroon , tan , or pink , with dark stripes along their backs and yellow - spotted head teacher . They are known for leaving lots of “ frass ” or dark body waste behind when they feed on flora tissue .
European corn whiskey stone drill moths are xanthous - brown . The larvae are cream to gray with diminutive brown circles along their body . Their feeding disfigures buds , blossom , and stem .
full-grown cutworm moths are brown or disgraceful with black , brownish , gray , or blank markings .
Cutworm larvae vary wide and may be black , brownish , grayish , pink , or tan , glossy or smooth , and make out or striped . A singular characteristic is that the larvae curl into a “ coke ” shape when disturbed . They jaw down young shoots or masticate pickle in leaves .
Adult leafroller moth are dark dark-brown . The larvae are green or brown with black or brown head . They roll leave together , join them with silken threads , live inside the cavity , and feed on the foliage .
4. Foliar Nematodes
Foliar nematodes , Aphelenchoidesspecies , are microscopical , insect - similar works sponger .
Those most likely to pretend chrysanthemums areAphelenchoides ritzema - bosi . They are difficult to detect and impossible to eradicate .
Foliar nematode cause ontogeny anomalies and distinct patches of brown with straight edges along leaf veins .
This touched tissue pop off and falls away , leave apparent holes behind . In advanced plague , the harm extends beyond the foliage , and flowers fail to blossom .
Dig up and discard regard plants in the trash .
5. Fungus Gnats
Fungus gnat , Bradysiaspecies , are more probable to feign an too blotto potted plant than one with proper drainage or those originate in the ground .
Their larvae are often present in pot soil at the time of leverage . The adults are grayish - dark fly , and the larvae are white or gauzy with a black head .
Fungus gnat larvae provender on stem and may carry pathogens that causedamping off , a disease that causes the sudden death of seedlings .
They are merely a nuisance around mature works with well - developed radical system because the adult flies oscillate around affected plants .
To plow , hit and replace the top inch or two of pot stain , and sprinkle food - gradediatomaceous earthover the top . This lifelike pesticide is a desiccant and deterrent derive from the skeletons of aquatic organism .
localize chicken muggy traps near plants is also an effective way to snare adults and eradicate an infestation .
Let the potting soil ironic completely before watering again to deprive the gnats of the wet they thrive in .
Yellow Insect sand trap
set the trap closelipped to plants to becharm wing adult fungus gnats . Note that there is a risk of catch beneficial insects , too .
Yellow insect traps areavailable from Arbico Organics .
opt from packages of five , 10 , 25 , 50 or 100 .
You ’ll findmore on fungus gnat in our guidebook .
6. Lace Bugs
Chrysanthemum lacing bugs , Corythucha marmorata , are sapsucking insects with flattened , stretch , pale jaundiced to exculpated bodies .
They course voraciously on the bottom of leave , impairing photosynthesis and leading to foliar decline .
Signs of their presence are visible on the upper side of the leafage in the pattern of yellowing , and an accumulation of brown excrement and readable skin fragments .
other insecticidal scoop or horticultural neem rock oil treatment may thwart an all - out infestation .
Ourguide to lace bugshas more details .
7. Leaf Miners
Leaf mineworker , in the main the chrysanthemum folio mineworker , Chromatomyia syngenesiae , as well as the American snaky leaf mineworker , Liriomyza trifolii , and pea leaf miner , L. huidobrensis , are potential culprit .
The adult chrysanthemum leaf miner is a Asa Gray to black rainfly . Its pick - colorise larvae burrow through the foliage , leave unsightly , off-white , winding trail .
But with any type of leaf mineworker infestation , the trails they leave behind are the revealing sign , rather than spot the pests themselves .
Neem oil is an effective treatment . Products containing spinosad , a naturally derived pesticide from soil bacteria , are effective but potentially mortal to bees and other good louse .
Ourguide to managing folio minershas more information .
8. Mealybugs
Mexican mealybugs , Phenacoccus gossypii , are sapsucker that feed on plant life juices , causing chrysanthemum leaf to be deformed , stunt , and wilted .
Honeydew excretions promote sooty mould proliferation .
Adult females are oval , gray to white , and wooly look . Males are tan and winged . Larvae are xanthous .
even treatments with insecticidal soap help to wangle infestation .
See ourguide to mealybugsfor more selective information .
9. Midges
The white larvae of chrysanthemum gall midges , Rhopalomyia chrysanthemi(syn . Diarthronomyia chrysamthemi ) andD. hypogaea , burrow into the foliage to feed .
Their disruption of plant tissue cause strobile - like galls , leafage deformities , and stunting .
pornographic flies are small , like fungus gnats , with reddish to orangish - yellow bodies .
get rid of feign foliage . Pesticides are ineffective .
10. Mites
If mites are a problem , they are probable cyclamen mites , Steneotarsonemus pallidus , and/or two - spotted spider mites , Tetranychus urticae , sapsuckers that feed on plant succus .
Cyclamen purpurascens mites are pinkish - orange spider - like arachnid not seeable to the naked centre . They stunt and wither chrysanthemum flower and foliage .
Two - make out spider mites are near - microscopic spiderlike arachnids that present on the underside of the leaves .
They look like rounded , glossy spiders and may be gray , unripe , or yellow , with two dismal spots . former - time of year females may be pinkish or orangish .
Two - spottedspider mitescause pale Elvis stippling that merge and cause foliar discoloration . leafage undersides may be web - covered .
Although the tinge are concentrated to see , their casting - off skin , excrement , and webbing make a dense , rocky , readily seeable coating on the chrysanthemum foliage .
Treat mites by aiming a watercourse of piddle at affected areas and keep up up with applications of a miticide , like insecticidal soap or horticultural petroleum , as needed .
11. Thrips
thripid are wing sapsuckers that disfigure foliage by feeding on it , causing it to appear dotted , streaked , or silvery .
Black excrement is another telltale sign of infestation . Advanced infestations can cause scrawny growth .
Most nymphs and adults are black , browned , lily-white , or yellow , and some have spots , depending on the species .
Those that may pose the sterling threat are chrysanthemum thrips , Thrips nigropilosus , and greenhouse thripid , Heliothrips haemorrhoidalis .
A strong spray with the hose , followed by software program of horticultural oil , may be all you need to combat these pestilence .
See ourguide to thripsfor elaborated direction information .
12. Other True Bugs
Heteroptera , aka the “ dead on target bugs , ” is a suborder of insect with specific characteristics , including sucking mouthpart to ware industrial plant or beast tissue paper , a season head undersurface call a “ gula , ” and overlap forewings .
They may leap or fly , and their people of colour depart widely .
Heteroptera is a unequaled suborder within the larger Hemiptera club of reliable bugs . However , not all true bugs within the broader order have mouthpart used to suck animal or flora tissue and a indurate head underside .
The Hemiptera order includescicadasand grasshoppers , as well as several other pestilence also described here – aphid and whitefly as well as lace bugs , the latter of which also belong to the Heteroptera suborder .
Additional Heteroptera on-key hemipteron not described elsewhere in this guide that are most likely to touch chrysanthemum are :
These insects draw juice from foliage , leaving it discolor , stippled , and covered in excretion .
Spittlebugs have a unique characteristic : they egest a bubbly , spit - like wasteland , take a shit them easy to identify .
harm caused to chrysanthemum by these pestis is unsightly rather than deadly , and insecticidal soap or horticultural oil is usually all you need to treat affected works .
13. Whiteflies
Whiteflies are whitish - white sapsucking flies that do n’t aviate farseeing distances but rather arise into the air en masse shot when galvanise , like a puff of powder .
They hatch on the undersides of leave , where they begin to feed and leave honeydew behind , rendering plant vulnerable to sooty mold .
Those most likely to affect chrysanthemums are greenhouse whiteflies , Trialeurodes vaproariorum .
They may be present on flora at the time of purchase if they have been grown in aninfested nursery .
Whitefly feeding indemnification leafage , turning it yellow and stunt growth . novel leaf are most susceptible .
Use a firm hose spray to wash them off foliage and follow up within applications of insecticidal Georgia home boy as needed .
See ourguide to whitefliesfor more entropy .
Magnificent Mums
Now that you ’re familiar with 13 types of pests , you ’re quick to inspect your plants daily and take quick action if you observe their presence .
It may be helpful to have a magnifying chalk to examine foliation and the insects that visit it to ward off accidental damage tobeneficial pollinators .
If you remove pest - damage flora , call back to throw away of it in the ice rather than the compost heap .
At season ’s end , prune the dried stems down to a elevation of three inches above the jacket , where the root and root fulfil . remove the debris to avoid nurse destructive pests and pathogen .
With vigilant pesterer management , chrysanthemums render a magnificent tardy - season display .
If you found this clause instructive and want toread more about chrysanthemum maintenance , we recommend the pursual :
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About
Nan Schiller
