Help identifying a bug that killed my seedling, and ways to treat
Adelaide (Z8b Canada)
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Hi! I am hoping someone here can help me identify the bug that potentially have killed my gem squash seedling and help me prevent it from happening to my other seedling :(
I transplanted 2 seedlings a week ago. It was a cool day and has been pretty mild for the past week. On Saturday, we had a sunny afternoon, but probably only around 22-24 C? So nothing too scorching. I noticed one of the seedlings started becoming soft in the stem, so I watered it a bit thinking it's a water issue. But it never really recovered and became completely yellow by yesterday, so I decided to pull it out today to see what's wrong. I noticed maybe 3 of these black little bugs inside the stem of the seedling just below the soil line, and there was a hole through the stem.
I have a second gem squash seedling that is doing OK so far, but I really don't want this to happen to it as they were gifts from a friend and I wouldn't be able to restart this. I would appreciate anyone who can identify this bug and maybe help provide treatments for this! Thank you!
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
3 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (10)"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." I think that came out wrong. I was not hinting at anything you said. I was setting up for what I was about to say. My hammer is corn meal, which in the organic world is recognized as a fungal disease preventer and cure. The nail is your yellow grass. When I see the yellow grass, I assume it is a fungal problem. I can see where that could easily be misinterpreted. Sorry. YES, you have to wait until late summer to reseed. Why? Well you don't have to but if you want good results, wait. Seeding now will give you a yard full of crabgrass right away and later on, any grass that did germinate will die from the heat allowing the crabgrass to fully take over. If you want to fix that for the future, you could seed in some Kentucky bluegrass in the late summer. It will spread to fill in weak spots where fescues do not spread....See MorePlease Help Identify What's Plaguing Seedlings
Comments (5)Hey all, I'm still not sure what the diagnosis is/was. I did remove the affected leaves before our trip and watered well. The lights were on a timer for 16 hours a day while we were gone and the plants look healthier now that we're back. Maybe I should go on vacation more often lol. Susan, thanks for the reply. You could be correct, I just don't know. But I wouldn't think fish emulsion at half strength would burn them. I did not have a chance to try the miracle grow before I left in case it was that they weren't getting enough nutrients. Now that we're back I've repotted most of them today and will try miracle grow or something of that nature next to see how they respond. Again this is my first attempt at this so maybe I am wrong, but they do seem small to me for 8 week old plants. Of course letting them dry out too much set them back I'm sure. They also were moved out into the greenhouse a couple of days ago and they also seem "perkier" in the cooler temps since doing so. Again as a first timer I'm not sure if this was a smart thing to do or not but I need to make room on the indoor light rack for some ornamental seeds. I've observed daytime winter temps in there up to 85 and nighttime usually stays 40-50 with the wood stove on below freezing nights. The sunlight does concern me though so I'll have to monitor them.....I have not yet set up any supplemental lighting out there and this time of year the daylight may not be sufficient to keep them growing well....See MoreHELP! microscopic bugs on my ws seedling!
Comments (8)Impossible to be sure without seeing them, Alice, but from what you've described my first guess would be red spider mites--and, yes, they DO squish red! They're fairly common in Illinois--far less so out here as far as I know, and I've been lucky enough to never get them on anything out here---I just get the plain old "average" non-red mites! If you have a very strong magnifying glass--or, better yet, a "loop," check them out to see what you can see. (But, just a warning, if you do have a loop what you're gonna see will be downright creepy!) If they are mites, I'd use just plain old Palmolive (green) dishwashing soap in water. Have never used neem oil on anything, spraying any kind of oil on plant foliage just scares me! If you're gonna keep using the stuff with the neem oil in it, be absolutely sure there's no sun at all shining on them when you do it--and at least until they're totally dry. Hard to tell how spraying small seedlings with ANYTHING will work, I'd say it depends on just how small they are. If they have at least a couple true leaves by now you'll probably be ok. Even with just soap water I'd keep them totally out of the sun until they're completely dry. And if it is mites that you have, you'll probably need to keep "treating" them a couple times a week for a while to get rid of ALL of them. Carefully check anything that was near them. Mites seem to "prefer" just about ANYTHING that gets close enough for them to get onto! Good Luck, Skybird Here is a link that might be useful: Red spider mites!...See MoreHelp identifying and treating this weed
Comments (6)are these bits of new growth emanating from that stump? That last picture makes me wonder if it's not really a weed, as we typically classify them, but the roots of an old tree making a last ditch effort to come up. Take a piece and run it to a local nursery to see what what they say. The leaves are actually quite attractive. But there are two ways to knock it a manageable level. Pull like your trees depend on it, maybe even dig into the roots a bit, or chemical kill one at a time. Round-up as a spot treatment should help a lot. The foaming spray cans do a pretty good job of keeping it from overspraying. It's pretty safe as long as it doesn't get on the leaves of the plants you want. It doesn't travel through the soil much either. So if you don't' want to pull, then spray those little suckers on a calm morning, and they should die off in a few days. Then get a pre-emergent to keep new ones from popping up. Here is a link that might be useful: Weed Identification...See MoreAdelaide (Z8b Canada)
3 years agoAdelaide (Z8b Canada)
3 years ago- Adelaide (Z8b Canada) thanked daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
Adelaide (Z8b Canada)
3 years ago- Adelaide (Z8b Canada) thanked daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
Adelaide (Z8b Canada)
3 years agofloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
3 years agodaninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoAdelaide (Z8b Canada) thanked daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)Adelaide (Z8b Canada)
3 years agoAdelaide (Z8b Canada)
3 years ago
Vicky Renee
3 years agoVicky Renee
3 years ago
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Adelaide (Z8b Canada)Original Author