These are popping up on lots of my plants. Always on the tops of leaves, tops of buds, petals, etc. They kind of look like a drop of paint, or wax. They scrape off easy with my fingernail.
Pretty certain that it's not a wilt or fungus since it scrapes off. I don't think the spots are alive...they look a little like poop but are stuck on to the leaves rather than loose pellets. Any ideas?
Thanks. I've been looking pretty hard, both day and in the evenings. I haven't seen anything, I will try taking a look at night. If they're wood eating, what are they doing on plants? I do have wood borders, not quite boxes but 2x6 borders.
Try putting a clear bag over it at night with a lamp on . Usually the light will attract the insects. Holes in the leaf are signs of a slug or other insect eating the leafs. Clean off the remnants left behind with a Q-Tip dipped in alcohol.
Or use a granular systemic to sprinkle on the top soil. Each time the plant is watered it Will retain and absorb the systemic to eliminate soil insects or flying insects that feed on the plant.
I’m so busy... “I don’t know if I found a rope or lost a horse.”
I went out this evening and found the culprit. Flies. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them. So many that it sounded like a swarm of bees. They look and sound like houseflies. Some plants are completely covered. What kind of flies are they? Can I nuke them with soap or something?
My phone takes lousy pictures in twilight, this is the best I could do.
Name: Big Bill Livonia Michigan (Zone 6a) If you need to relax, grow plants!!
There is another possibility. Juices from the plant, honeydew, turns black due to a fungus. The flies are there to lap up the sugar laden substance. Those appear to be house flies and they do not eat plants. Their mouthparts essentially are similar to sponges. They lick or lap up their food.
Orchid lecturer, teacher and judge. Retired Wildlife Biologist. Supervisor of a nature preserve up until I retired.
