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Crawlies on my lupin.

GiraffesillyGiraffesilly Posts: 14
in Problem solving
What on earth are these?! They're everywhere!

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Posts

  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Nasty big fat grey lupin aphids :s
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • PurplerainPurplerain Posts: 1,053
    They are big aphids that often congregate in their hundreds on older lupins. I pull mine out every two years for this very reason. They are horrible and if your plant is in its third year or older I would pull it out as they destroy the plant. I didn't find hosing them off helped.
    SW Scotland
  • GiraffesillyGiraffesilly Posts: 14
    Urgh! They're huge!!
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    They only prey on lupins but apparently ladybirds don’t eat them. I go out every day and knock them off the plant, I find it quite good fun to be honest. Hold the flower in one hand then knock the stem and behold a little rain of aphids! My lupins grow next to a path so they fall on the slabs and I squish them underfoot. Funny thing is there is another clump about 6 feet away no aphids at all! 
  • Mary370Mary370 Posts: 2,003
    They devoured my lupins last year.......
  • BloodyNoraBloodyNora Posts: 78
    Yep mine devoured too this year though one has pushed up a small flower stalk in a sign of victory. Guess I'll be pulling mine out
  • strelitzia32strelitzia32 Posts: 758
    I knock them off with the hose pistol, pretending I'm john John Wayne.

    They are a nightmare but like others, I have a lupin in a bed infested, and a lupin in a pot 6 inches away that's absolutely clear. I like lupins though, so I'll live with it....
  • Janie BJanie B Posts: 963
    Yep, I had these little critters last year, but this year, so far, lupins seem aphid-free...
    Lincolnshire
  • owd potterowd potter Posts: 979
    Don't give up hope.
    I had massive infestation of them last year, twice daily round with pressure sprayer full of soapy water, little effect really, they kept coming back. Caused all the leaves to wither and the flower spires to look pathetic.
    But, the plants have bounced back this year and look lush again, and no sign of the grey horrors as yet...
    there, I've hexed mesel now. 
    Just another day at the plant...
  • strelitzia32strelitzia32 Posts: 758
    Where can I buy one of these "hex mesel" plants? They sound stunning  ;)
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