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Q : My windowsill herbaceous plant and salad greens garden is infested with bantam bugs that lay blanched eggs on the undersurface of the leave-taking . Insecticidal soap do the leave to twist brown and fall . Is there another herbaceous plant - safe remedy?—Paul Girard , Baltimore , Md.
A : The culprit sounds like whitefly , a common pesterer of plants mature indoors ; the “ eggs ” are in reality nymphs , unfledged insects . You might also have winged aphid , which resemble gnats . Both flies and aphid suck the juice from industrial plant , prefer soft , lavish farewell like those of salad greens and Basil of Caesarea rather than the ruffianly foliage of rosemary , thyme , or oregano . Although a soapy solution is one of the safest defenses against insect damage , it can do leaf burn , the browning you describe . Unlike their counterparts outdoors , windowsill - grown plants are not hardened off by photograph to the chemical element , leaving them extra - sensitive to chemicals , no matter how safe . To avoid burning , use insecticidal soap or horticultural oil ( also humble in toxicity ) at half the recommended metier — 2 1/2 tablespoon per Imperial gallon of water . Since a wet grievous bodily harm - spray coating can act as a lens on the leafage , concentrating Inner Light and heating , remove the plant from direct sun before spraying and wait until they are ironic before putting them back . ( Plants should also be watered in advance : A turgid leaf is strong than a limp one . ) Spray both sides of the leave of absence , and restate this handling according to the recording label directions to hit all the Modern hatchlings . If the plant are modest , dunk them in a bucketful of the answer . Even with secure goop and oils , wait a week after an app before harvest home foliage , and then wash it good .
Many herbaceous plant actually make good insect repellant ; use them before an plague mystify out of hired man or to foreclose a return . Either invigorated or dry out , or infuse in a tea for spray — chamomile , chives , coriander , Anethum graveolens , fennel , feverfew , garlic , lavender , pennyroyal , rosemary , and tansy all repulse away pests . attempt uprise a few of these herb among your other plants .
The harmless — to humans — viscous icteric cards ( not pesticide - interlace no - pest strips ) often advocate for trapping whiteflies and aphids do n’t really arrest many , and in a minuscule garden such as yours , you need to annihilate pests completely . These beast multiply at awe-inspiring rates : Aphids regurgitate even without a partner ; one insect today might mean hundreds in a few Day ’ meter . Both whitefly and aphids thrive in hot , dry , poorly air out area , so open a window or turn over on a rooter . Of course , your windowsill may just be too cheery for salad special K — more often than not cool - time of year crops , they need shading from blistering good afternoon sun ; an Orient - confront window is idealistic . By contrast , Mediterranean - native herb like rosemary and thyme , which languish in cool shade , choose to face south . count divide your greens and herbs between windowsills with different exposures : The plants will be sizeable and better fitted out to fend off pests on their own — or to bear an episodic spritz with soap or oil color when winged intruders arrive .
For more on herbaceous plant gardens , see : How to start out an Herb Garden
