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- Q.Treatment For Scale Insects - I have a holly bush with a large infestation of scale insects causing yellow & sooty leaves! Do you have ...
- Q.How To Stop Insects From Decimating Our Plants. - Is there anything we can apply on the ground surrounding our plants to stop them from destroying the leaves? I ...
- Q.Do Predatory Mites Eat Chiggers? - Do predatory mites eat chiggers?
- Q.What About Bugs In No Till Gardening - I keep seeing articles about no-till gardening, your article of June 30 being the most recent. In that article, it ...
Asked by
Claire stinton on
May 30, 2025
B912BZQ.Treatment For Scale Insects
I have a holly bush with a large infestation of scale insects causing yellow & sooty leaves! Do you have a product to treat this?
Answered by
BushDoctor on
May 30, 2025
Certified ExpertA.I'm sorry, but we do not sell anything. We only offer gardening advice. However, I can recommend using neem oil. Even better is the extract, azadirachtin. It is completely natural from the neem tree. There are some things to know, though. The adults are what you see most- and that's what you are seeing now. They seal themselves to your plants, so you have to break that seal, first. Wash, spray, or wipe off everything that you can. This will unstick them from the leaves allowing you to reach the babies and the eggs underneath them. You can, then, spray what is left with neem oil or azadirachtin.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/insects/control-plant-scale.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/insects/control-plant-scale.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/pesticides/azadirachtin-vs-neem-oil.htm
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- Asked by
Anonymous on
June 6, 2025Q.How To Stop Insects From Decimating Our Plants.
Is there anything we can apply on the ground surrounding our plants to stop them from destroying the leaves? I have marigolds planted all around my vegetable garden, but the nearby plants get eaten!
- Answered by
GKH_Susan on
June 6, 2025
Certified ExpertA.Row covers will help. Here are more ideas:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/vegetable-garden-pests.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/row-covers-for-garden-plants.htm
Was this answer useful?00 - Asked by
Lisa G on
June 22, 2025
Dallas, TXQ.Do Predatory Mites Eat Chiggers?
Do predatory mites eat chiggers?
- Answered by
BushDoctor on
June 23, 2025
Certified ExpertA.Predatory mites do not typically eat chiggers. Although both are part of the mite family, they occupy very different ecological niches. Predatory mites—such as Phytoseiulus persimilis or Neoseiulus californicus—primarily target soft-bodied pest insects like spider mites, thrips, or aphids. Chiggers, on the other hand, are larval-stage parasitic mites from the Trombiculidae family, and they don't generally cross paths with the types of predatory mites used in gardens.
Chiggers tend to live in grassy or wooded outdoor areas and feed on vertebrate hosts (like humans or pets) by injecting enzymes into the skin. Predatory mites prefer plant surfaces or soil, where they hunt much smaller prey. So even if both are present in the same general environment, predatory mites don’t recognize chiggers as food.
If chiggers are your concern, you’re better off reducing tall grasses, keeping edges trimmed, and using sulfur-based repellents or diatomaceous earth to create inhospitable conditions—rather than relying on predatory mites.
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/insects/chigger-bugs-in-garden.htm
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Anonymous on
July 2, 2025Q.What About Bugs In No Till Gardening
I keep seeing articles about no-till gardening, your article of June 30 being the most recent. In that article, it said the method was begun in Connecticut, which has notably harsh winters. I have read an article elsewhere in which the writer had tried this method only to find that in the second year there were so many insects, her entire crop of vegetables was eaten before it could be picked. I live in zone 9, and we have winters that barely drop below freezing. Insects are a constant problem here, with mosquitos even in January. How can no-till gardening be used in a manner that doesn't increase the insect population exponentially? I would love to use this method, but not if I'll simultaneously create an ideal breeding ground for insects.
- Answered by
GKH_Susan on
July 4, 2025
Certified ExpertA.Tilling the soil can kill some bugs or larvae that live in the soil, but if you have a problem with grubs in the soil, you can use milky spore to reduce them. If you want to try the no-till method, go ahead and try it. The birds should eat a lot of bugs. You also can watch your vegetables for eggs on leaves and remove them.
Here is more:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/gardening-pros-cons/tilling-advantages-vs-no-till-advantages
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/ruth-stout-method-no-till-gardening
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/pests/pesticides/what-is-milky-spore.htm
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