Are these mites on my cukes? (photo)

In my Fall/Winter garden here in S. Florida I have these yellowish bugs on my cukes. Are these mites and what do you recommend that I use. 



I cut off the leaves that were badly infested and I sprayed the others with rubbing alcohol (70%), and rinsed them off with water after about 30 minutes. In the past I've had very persistent mites (if that's what these are) that don't seem to be fazed by Neem Oil or other similar sprays.   

Looks like whiteflies to me. Yellow bugs could be aphids.
Have you tried contacting you extension service ag agent?

No. There's a nursery that's a lot closer that I normally go to for these questions. But I thought I'd run it by the forum first.

The folks at the extension service are a wonderful resource.

http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/map/

Aphids don't actually eat the leaves, but suck sap from them, if I recall correctly. So if these are eating actual holes in your leaves, maybe they're not aphids. Kinda look like them to me, but your pic is too fuzzy to really tell. All I see is general shapes and a while color. FWIW, the aphids I've seen have mostly been white. I can't tell if those black spots are poo or rot or holes.

My 2 cents. My aphids are generally green. They do look like white flies but I can't really tell.

aphids<~~~click




whiteflies<~~~click



leaf mites

Then they're aphids. In that case I'll use my Dawn detergent spray.

sanderson wrote:My 2 cents.  My aphids are generally green.  They do look like white flies but I can't really tell.

I've read that aphids come in almost any color.  Mine are identical to the photo that camprn posted.

camprn wrote:aphids<~~~click




whiteflies<~~~click



leaf mites

I'm quite familiar with that white fly and what that looks like. We have a huge white fly problem here, and I control them in my garden with a neem oil spray. The aphids I have appeared so quickly! I almost have to inspect the leaves every day.

dstack wrote:

camprn wrote:aphids<~~~click




whiteflies<~~~click



leaf mites

I'm quite familiar with that white fly and what that looks like. We have a huge white fly problem here, and I control them in my garden with a neem oil spray. The aphids I have appeared so quickly! I almost have to inspect the leaves every day.

Posting photos of all the insects mentioned in this thread, as well as informational links, was for the benefit of all the readers of the SFG Forum. I am glad you have identified your current pest. Good luck with getting rid of the infestation.

Let us know how the soap works for you DStack.

Pox wrote:Let us know how the soap works for you DStack.

Yesterday when I got home from work I inspected the leaves. Most of the bugs have turned black from having dried up from the alcohol, but the leaves didn't look damaged. Thank goodness! I'm assuming those bugs are all dead. But then there was a small number that still had color, and may still be alive. I REALLY need to buy a magnifying glass to get a better look!

Two consecutive nights of spraying rubbing alcohol might be harsh on the leaves, so last night I used my Triple Action Plus (suppose to kill insects, fungus and mites, and it has neem oil -- It's what I use to control the white fly, and it does pretty well!) I may use my detergent water tonight. I like doing a rotation of various sprays assuming some of the aphids might be strong enough to resist one spray, but not the other.

I also like to switch off between that Triple Action and another neem oil that has that "triple action" claim. Since both previous attempts to grow cukes I've battled a fungus, I'm counting on neem to protect them from a fungus outbreak before it happens. 

If this sounds like overkill, this is Florida!  I grew up in Southern California where gardening was a breeze compared to this! LOL 

DStack, never had the luxury of trying my hand at this in So. Cal. only here in S. Fla, and yes the bugs have been my biggest challenge.  I waited this year to plant the cukes for that reason, hoping having them mature in the cooler weather might help.  We'll see.  I should know within a month or so based on my limited past experience.  I'm going to be more vigilant than ever this year and try and address issues before they get out of hand as you are doing here.

How's everything else coming?

Pox wrote:DStack, never had the luxury of trying my hand at this in So. Cal. only here in S. Fla, and yes the bugs have been my biggest challenge.  I waited this year to plant the cukes for that reason, hoping having them mature in the cooler weather might help.  We'll see.  I should know within a month or so based on my limited past experience.  I'm going to be more vigilant than ever this year and try and address issues before they get out of hand as you are doing here.

How's everything else coming?

I agree that the downside of having a Fall garden too early might be that will be more bugs. I bought a magnifying glass on the way home with a light on it. I saw those same bugs in smaller numbers on my zucchini leaves as well. The zucchini is doing quite well in spite. I harvested my second zucchini last night and I'll have another in a couple of days. 

Then I have Seminole Squash/Pumpkin vines that have just about reached the top of my lattice, and have little flowers starting to develop. I started rosemary from seed, as well as tarragon, fennel and three varieties of basil.  Actually everything in my boxes was started from seed, but I was a little surprise how easily the rosemary started. 

So that's how things are in a nutshell.

Just a note on tarragon -- the seed sold is usually Russian tarragon, which is supposedly nothing near as good as French tarragon, which is propagated from root cuttings.

Marc Iverson wrote:Just a note on tarragon -- the seed sold is usually Russian tarragon, which is supposedly nothing near as good as French tarragon, which is propagated from root cuttings.

Thanks for that Marc!  That's good to know! Yes, it is Russian tarragon that I have and I didn't know better. Do you know if the Russian variety has the same pest repellent qualities? That's one reason I'm growing it.

I couldn't tell you because my germination rate in peat pots(Jiffy pellets) was so ridiculously poor that I only got two plants out of many attempted, and they for whatever reason died out quick.

I love the idea of companion planting, and that's one reason I planted tarragon too, particularly by my eggplant, which I read it was an especially good partner for. The eggplant got holes in some leaves, big ones, but it didn't seem to slow the plant down much, and most leaves didn't have holes. I'm not sure if it was the Russian tarragon or not; I also had two marigolds planted quite close by and a basil not far away.

The area otherwise was populated mostly by cherry tomatoes, which because of their toxic nightshade nature tend to repel many pests. In my case, even hornworms, oddly enough, though anything bigger than a cherry plant was ravaged both late spring and early fall.

So there's kind of lame anecdote for you. I don't know why my germination rate was so poor, but frankly my germination in jiffy pots in general was poor this season. I'm not sure what, if anything, you can take out of all of that. Sorry!

I have a germination challenge like that with my spinach. So I have a seed starter soil that I use in biodegradable egg cartons for those germination rate challenges. I finally have a substantial amount of spinach coming up.

Most of the plants that I planted for companion planting such as onion, tarragon, rosemary, etc. are growing so slow and are too immature to repell anything. Our Lowe's is suppose to get their annual supply of onion bulbs in some time in November. So I look forward to incorporating those in with the other onions.

My cukes are doing what they have done in the past.  They are taking off, looking great, growing rapidly and beginning to flower.  But some leaves are now starting to look eaten.  Holes thru out.  But no sign of any pests at all that I can tell.  I'm going to hit them with Neem and see if that helps at all.

That's so frustrating! I'd love to find an effective home remedy repellent. As far as companion planting I've got both mint and marigolds with the cuke but don't seem to make a noticeable difference. A master gardener recommended a book called "Natural Solutions to Things That Bug You". I'll give some of the auther's suggestions and if they work I'll let you know.

Please do.  If they work and you think the book is worth the time and money, I'll go get a copy.  Thanks.

Yes, it has a LOT of great info. I'm a bit skeptical of home remedy claims, so it was hard for me to believe when I read that I could use a biodegradable dish detergent (I.E. Dawn) water to kill roaches. But it WORKED for me! Some roaches seem to have a stronger tolerance than others, but eventually the soapy water does them in. I bought the Kindle version of the book for about $10.

I found that mint didn't do anything as far as keeping away pests, either. I had three mint plants right next to each other, and the peppermints especially were very fragrant. I got bugs, snails, beetles, lizards, gophers, and even a snake anyway.

I'll still grow mint anyway, for my original purpose -- putting leaves into coffee and tea and chewing them occasionally.