Identifing Common Pests

[Paradoxic]

There are a number of different insects that can infest Salvia divinorum. If they are not controlled they can cause severe harm to your plant. Its best to start fighting pests from the start of your grow, even before you have pests. To do this you can use neem (Read more about using neem here).

However, if you already have a pest problem here is a list you can use to identify and control the pests:

Whiteflies
Chances are you will first notice these when you brush into or move your plant and you see a bunch of tiny white insects fly out. Whiteflies weaken Salvia and usually hang out and lay eggs on the undersides of the leaves. An easy way to control them is to buy some sticky traps. You should get yellow ones because whiteflies are attracted to yellow.

Here is an example of a whitefly infestation and a close up of the fly:

Left image by Schizo-psykick


Aphids
Aphids cluster at the growing tips(newly forming leaf sets) of Salvia divinorum. If you look closely you can see small green insects on growing tips and undersides of leaves. An easy way to spot an infestation is curled young leaves. Ladybugs are an excellent biocontrol if you are growing in an enclosed enviroment such as a humidity tent. Also you can use the organic pesticide discussed here.

Here is an example of an aphid infestation:

Image by Schizo-psykick
 

Spider Mites
You can notice spider mites when you see small yellow dots appearing on the surface of leaves. The undersides of the leaves will have small tan, black, or green dots. Phytoseiulus persimilis is a good biocontrol for spider mites as they will not harm Salvia divinorum.

Here are examples of what spider mites look like on the underside of a leaf, close-up, and in their web general:

Left two images by Schizo-psykick


Scale
They can be first seen as small shell-like insects on the undersides of leaves. In more severe infestation you may see clusters of small black dots (can come in a variety of colors) on the stems and leaves. A good way to control them is using the organic pesticide discussed here.


Snails
If you are growing outdoors snails can sometimes be an issue. They come to your plants at night and can eat a lot of leaves. You can use thin copper sheeting or tape and put it around your plant(s). Make sure it is shiny and the snails won't cross it.


Fungus Gnats
Black flying insects that breed in the soil. They are especially common in humid environments where the soil doesn't dry out much. Read more about them here.

Here is a picture of the lavae that came to the surface after using rubbing alcohol and flushing with lots of water:



Thrips
The initial sign is very small yellow spots on the leaf surface. Later black or brown spots on the leaf surface develop along with a shiny, metallic-looking sheet covering the leaf surface. However, not all kinds of thrips will create this metallic sheet. A good biological control for thrips is to buy some Predator Nematodes. If the infestation is severe you may try using an organic pesticide that can be sprayed on the leaves. Read about how to make and use one kind here

Here is an example of a thrips infestation:

Image by Schizo-psykick

[Paradoxic]

Check it out, I updated this article with some sweet images. Courtesy of schizo's great pest control page for Salvia divinorum:
http://www.goatrance.de/goacidia/salvia/en-gallery-problems.html

Tell me what you guys think.

[Sea Mac]

VERY Useful!

Genius +

[Paradoxic]

Thank you, I had been searching Google vigorously for something and never came up with a single image. I was sifting through some of my affiliate links the other day and came across that great page by Schizo, with all the pictures I needed.

The only one left to get is scale (snails can be left alone, if you cant identify one of those you're doomed in identifying pests). Scale is quite easy to notice, but a picture would be cool just to keep the page consistent.

[tcamdg]

spider mite sequestered from my plants (note: spider mites came come in all kinds of different colors...white, with two spots, etc.). i plan to control spider mites using feed/horticultural (i.e., not pool) grade diatomaceous earth:


fungus gnat larvae that came to the surface after efforts to kill the spider mites with rubbing alcohol and flushing with lots of water. i plan to control these with Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis, which can be obtained in a variety of forms. if you've ever seen "Mosquito Dunks(R)," B. thuringiensis ssp. israelensis is the active ingredient:

[Paradoxic]

Yep, some sweet pictures. I added the close-up spider mite image to the article. You can definitely see why they call them spider mites; those antennas make it look like it has 8 legs. And what the hell, here's some more Genius+

[tcamdg]

believe it or not, those are actually legs, but mites do frequently use them like antennae. mites are indeed arachnids, in the order "Acarina" (hence "acaricides" to kill mites) same as ticks, and thus have 8 legs. see the following link, it's actually pretty interesting:

Many mites use their first pair of legs like antennae, feeling in front as they walk along. Leg hairs have diverse purpose: some sense touch; others pick up odors; not uncommonly, some hairs have light-sensing cells which allow the mite to distinguish light from dark. http://www.safe2use.com/pests/scabies/mites/about.htm

EDIT: i'm learning more about pests than i ever wanted to know...

[Paradoxic]

Oh really, thats quite interesting, lol. I always thought the word mite implied insect...cool. I just realized, it seems like kind of a grey area in differentiating a leg from an antenna in some cases. I mean they both have touch sensors. Do you know exactly what makes them different, is it just automatically called a leg if they use it to hold some of their weight?

[tcamdg]

the way i understand it, antennae are designed and used exclusively for sensation, whereas legs are largely for locomotion. legs also seem to be pretty consistent with regards to their basic structure (femur, trochanter, coxa, tibia and tarus), whereas antennae can have varying structure.

[tcamdg]

i'm not sure how common these are, but judging from their size, i'm guessing a lot of people have them and just don't realize it.

cyclamen mites

[MstryShovel]

ive got a new pest, i just noticed on my catnip, the leaves have alredy been pruned off but i would like to know what it would be.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

I found a white fly on my one of my Salvias and got a nice close up picture of it. I also noticed some eggs/larvae (?) on the underside of one of my leaves...





JARG

[Sea Mac]

ive got a new pest, i just noticed on my catnip, the leaves have alredy been pruned off but i would like to know what it would be.

Just offhand I'd say that looks like Slug/Snail damage ...

They weave a mad, random looking, track of damage. Caterpillars are more likely to just eat holes.

[3rdCoast]

What would cause this? Various spots that once looked like too much light (yellow spots)  but turned  black. The plants leaves are also curling under.

[JustAnotherRegularGuy]

I don't think that is caused from pests, but rather from stress on the plant from some environmental factor. It is pretty typical for new plants to show signs like that.

JARG