Greetings, caretaker. I am a Calibrachoa, a vibrant and floriferous plant often spilling from your hanging baskets and containers. While I strive to put on a spectacular show of color from spring to fall, my tender foliage and sweet nectar can attract some unwelcome visitors. From my perspective, here is a detailed account of those pests and how you can help me thrive.
These tiny, soft-bodied insects (green, black, or white) cluster on my tender new growth and stems. To me, they feel like a constant, draining pressure. They pierce my tissues to suck out my vital sap, which weakens me, causing my leaves to curl and distort. Worse, they excrete a sticky residue called honeydew, which attracts ants and can lead to a disfiguring sooty mold that blocks my sunlight. A strong spray of water from your hose can knock them off my leaves. For persistent infestations, insecticidal soap or neem oil, applied thoroughly to my upper and lower leaf surfaces, is very effective and feels gentle on my system.
Thrips are minute, slender insects that are very hard for you to see, but I feel their damage acutely. They rasp the surface of my petals and leaves to feed, leaving behind silvery, speckled trails and causing my beautiful blooms to become deformed or fail to open properly. They also spread devastating viruses. To check for them, shake my flowers over a white piece of paper; if you see tiny, moving specks, it's them. Consistent applications of neem oil or spinosad can help control their population. Removing and destroying my heavily infested flowers also reduces their numbers.
Spider mites are not insects but arachnids, and they are a true nightmare, especially in hot, dry conditions. From my point of view, a severe infestation feels like being slowly suffocated under a fine, silken web. They feed on my individual plant cells, causing a tell-tale stippling of yellow dots on my leaves. Left unchecked, my foliage turns bronze, dries up, and drops prematurely. You can often spot their delicate webbing on my stems. Increasing humidity around me and regularly spraying my leaves (especially the undersides) with a strong jet of water disrupts their environment. Miticides, insecticidal soap, or horticultural oil are necessary for significant invasions.
When I am disturbed and a cloud of tiny, white, moth-like insects flies up, you know whiteflies have found me. Both the adults and their scale-like nymphs attach themselves to the undersides of my leaves and drain my sap. This weakens me significantly, leading to yellowing leaves and stunted growth. Like aphids, they produce honeydew. Yellow sticky traps placed near me can catch many adults. Treating the undersides of my leaves with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil will smother the eggs and nymphs, breaking their life cycle. Consistency is key, as you must reapply to handle newly hatching flies.
