Hi Denise, congrats first. Those buds look really cool. Second, I hope you get rid of those nasty buggers without too many buds dropping. Thank goodness I don't have problems with aphids even the ones are out side(knock on wood).
Good luck hunting!!!

I can totally sympathize. I grow completely outside in Houston and I am battling with them summer and winter. They are the bane of the insect world as far as I am concerned

Dawn

Sorry about the Aphids Denise :o( I HATE bugs!! Knock on wood, mine's been under control so far.(Probably can't take the extreme FL heat and humidity right Jan? I'm sure you will have them under control in no time.

Oh, I hear you about the old eyes thing...I have to wear my progressives if I want to see those little in the a***s too. Better yet I need to buy a good magnifying glass,lol...

On a better note...Congrats on your bloom!! I have this hoya and I am so looking forward to its really pretty blooms. this one I think is the one that looks like ice cream sherbert(if my memory is right)? In the meantime, I will just admire yours from afar! Please post pics when they open.

Denise, that does suck, :( I just have to ask, is it that little worm looking, brown, pointed thing slightly to the left of the peduncle stem thing, or whatever it is? I've never seen em before and want to know what to look for in the future. Hopefully (finger crossed) I will never see one in real life.

Your plants are so lucky to have you in charge of their care, otherwise they'd be gonners.

PS, is alcohol the best remedy for them?

Denise, would a little dish soap in the water sprayer help or would that hurt the blossoms too? I ask because that is the first thing I thought of, and what I'm using right now to knock down the fungus gnats in between drenches with bT.

Debi,

They're those little yellow bugs - I must have a good camera 'cuz you can see the little buggers' legs! They're pretty miniscule, but you can see them all over the pedicels in the upper part of the flower. I'm not sure what the little brown thing is - I'll have to go see if I can see that with my bare eyes! As for alcohol, it's ok to use on leaves, but don't use it on buds or they drop!!

I'll have to give the soap thing a try. I can't think of any reason soap would hurt the buds...

Denise in Omaha

I get those yellow/orange aphids on my H. linearis any time I put the plant outside. I have only ever seen them on H. linearis and on nothing else in the yard - at all, so I don't know where they come from and why they like H. linearis so much.

A little Ivory or Dove dish soap in a spray bottle of water should kill them on contact. You could even add just a bit of alcohol to the mix and I would think the buds would be OK, and not damaged by the treatment.

I think I read that none of the systemic insecticides go into the flower buds so treating with a systemic won't do anything to keep the sh!ts at bay.

Good luck, it's never fun to find bugs of any kind, although, aphids are one of the easier bugs to control.
Mike

Mike,

Yes, it's true that systemics don't go into the flower buds, which is probably why that's the first place they go! Around here, I start seeing them on those vining weeds that get the big fat seed pods in fall that open and spread the seeds everywhere - I can't remember what they're called... But when I start seeing them on those, I bring the few Hoyas I put out inside because they're always next...

Denise in Omaha