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I've got these white patches of gunky stuff on my eggplants ...and it's also on my dwarf, containered, meyer lemon tree. And they're NOT even close to each other. When I've picked some up with my fingers...it's sticky...and the bugs jump. I wish I could get a picture of the bugs themselves but they are so small and that jumping thing makes it impossible to catch a picture. I've treated the ones on my lemon tree with cotton swab and alcohol...and then bottle spray washed with heavily diluted Castile soap.
I've been googling trying to figure out what this is --- I don't have much success with the search feature on this website...I get all sorts of results that don't seem related to my 'keyword'. ??? Not sure what's up with that...???
Jannz2,
Only because I rushed home yesterday, mixed together a coupla good squeezes of LEMON Ajax detergent and 3 capfuls of LISTERINE MOUTHWASH in half a 5-gallon bucket of warm water, got an old dishrag and HAND WASHED each and every one of my Beatrice EGGPLANT leaves! I held each leaf in one hand and drizzled and gently washed the sudsy concoction over the top AND bottom of each leaf. I also checked the leaf-stem intersections, cause those mealybugs like to burrow down into those tight crevasses outta reach. But, once I drizzled some sudsy Ajax down in there, they came loose easily. I washed a small section of the leaves at a time and used my hose on a strong (but not hard) spray blast to rinse thoroughly between each section. Then I moved on to another section, till the whole plant was washed clean.
Then, I got my handtruck and MOVED my eggplant (it's in a 5-gallon eBucket...) completly across the yard to a DRYER, sunnier location. I have found in these past 2 years of my gardening experience, that mealybugs tend to thrive in damp, moist, humid environments, and tend to shrink back when they're in a drier location with good air circulation and that good old sunshine hits them.
We shall see... I'll be following this post.
This eggplant is in an entirely different place in the yard, on the fenceline, in full sunshine. No mealybugs of any kind. It is a Black Beauty variety. I put Beatrice nearby (but not too close!!!) so she could see how well her Black Beauty sister is doing and encourage her to shake off the mealybugs!
What's that? Listerine? Oh, it does for the plant just what most mouthwashes do inside your mouth -- fights off bacteria and germs...it's never hurt anything I've used it on.
Mix together in 2 gallons of HOT water, 2 capfuls of LEMON AJAX, 2 large caps of Miouthwash, and 1/2 cup Bleach, to wash off your garden containers at the end of the season (I actually buy the HUGE bottles of mouthwash from the $1 store). The smell is almost intoxicating. I could just stand over the bucket and breathe (make sure you're doing this with adequate AIR circulation)! Makes this chore especially pleasant. Rinse your containers with hot water and sit them out to dry. Nice and clean, and minty fresh! Store your containers away in large trash bags to keep the buggies out, and they're ready when you need to reach for one in a hurry!
Thanks Liannenc. It looks larger than it is. About 6". I picked 3 more like it for dinner Saturday. Sauteed with onions,bell peppers, & garlic. Tossed in some raw shrimp and cooked it on down. Paprika, Mrs. Dash, Season All, and Cayenne pepper. Spooned over rice. Delish! Girl go grow yourself 1 eggplant in a 5-gallon bucket! Linda
How many eggplants will one plant yield on average? When I read your answer, I realized I could grill or roast it then freeze it-- I'm buying a grilled eggplant and zucchini mix at Trader Joe's and it would be a lot yummier if I could make something similar myself!!
Glad to know what this varmint is. Never have them on my veggies but they wrap up my tiger lilies every year. Hi Gym Girl hope your okra is up and growing.
Liannenc,
I have one Black Beauty eggplant that has 6 or 7 eggplants growing, PLUS, there are about 4-5 blooms about to become more eggplants!
The ones left aren't as big as the one in my pic, which is more elongated. These next ones are more round, like little 4"-5"canon balls. Too cute! You could still slice them up and get a nice mess of frozen, roasted/grilled eggplant to pull out of the freezer when YOU feel like eating some!
