Which Pests Attack Spinach & How to Manage Organically!
Luckily, spinach doesn’t attract many pests and those that it does get are fairly easy to manage!
Luckily, spinach doesn’t attract many pests and those that it does get are fairly easy to manage!
Leaf-footed bugs are approximately 1 inch long, some with a white zigzag pattern on their wings. They have long legs similar to a cricket with an oval shaped body. They are recognizable by their hind legs which look leaf-like. They have piercing mouthparts which probe into plants to suck their juices. This can cause discoloration and damage to the plants.
Scales are super tiny insects that suck the sap from your plants weakening or killing your plant. They secrete a covering over their tiny body that resemble scales.
Grasshoppers can consume an obscene amount of 1/2 their body weight in a day! This can account for a lot of damage fast if you have an infestation. Grasshoppers are brown in color with wings, large legs, and antennae.
Mealybugs are a small, white, soft-bodied insect typically found in the garden in warmer climates. Mealybugs will feed on plants by sucking sap out of them causing the leaves to yellow and curl. You may notice the plant getting sticky from the honeydew and this will attract ants as well. This blog post talks about how you can manage mealybugs in your garden with our free From Seed to Spoon mobile app!
The Colorado potato beetle is one of the major pests that can affect your crops. Adults are round beetles with orange/yellow and black stripes on their wings. Their head is orange with black spots. If left unchecked, they can destroy your plants in no time!
Leaf miners that affect vegetables refers to a small gray-yellow fly. These flies lay tiny white eggs that turn into green maggots. These maggots can destroy the leaves of the plants in your garden.
Mexican bean beetles look very similar to ladybugs. They have a tan back with black dots, and the younger ones do not have any spots. If left unchecked, they can destroy foliage and pods.
Flea beetles are the extremely tiny insects that jump when disturbed. Even though these beetles are super small, they can quickly move through the leaves of plants, destroying the foliage in its path and spreading diseases.
Leafhoppers are tiny insects that suck sap from your plants while spreading pathogens.