Little white moths

[Wackybacky]

So I have just discovered little white moths on one of my plants. I say moths but they’re a small winged bug, maybe 3mm across. And there would be a few hundred on a plant.

Is this an adequate description to identify them and should I be worried?

Thanks for your help.

 

[JennyLeez]

Well thats different. They usually attack my veggies but never my tobacco plants. Aphids are all I have to deal with which is easy. I spray with detergent and water.
You could try that.
I will be interested to see what the experienced members come up with

Cheers

 

[FmGrowit]

From your description, I'd say they are Aphids or Whiteflies. Without a picture, it's anyone's guess.

Whiteflies

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Ooh, I had something like that on my Virginia creeper, which didn't attack my tobacco. Very difficult to kill. Malathion was the only thing that worked but I wouldn't want to use that on anything I smoke.

 

[GreenDragon]

If you are trying to avoid most insecticides, soapy water will do the trick, but you have to spray every day (under the leaves) for about 5 days to knock these guys back. If you have any tobacco stems or leaves you can soak those overnight in some vodka with a tsp of baking soda overnight to extract the nicotine, and use that to make your soapy water. The nicotine is a natural insecticide - it really helps. My wife loves to use it in her veggie garden.

 

[Wackybacky]

They look like the photo of white flys. I’ll try some soapy water. Thank you.

 

[Wackybacky]

So I’ve dutifully sprayed the plants for a 6 days and the bugs are almost gone. But the little buggers have left marks on my beautiful leaves!

Now I assume the marked areas can be treated the same as the rest of the lead? Or should I trim them off after colour curing?

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

You will have to decide. It really depends on how damaged. Discoloration and small spots don't have much impact. If humidity is high while curing or leaves are not given enough space while curing, damaged areas can be the source of rot or mold. So if it's really bad, it's better to remove it before even curing. If it's not so bad, you might as well decide after it's all done, cured and aged, and you actually smoke it.

 

[Wackybacky]

Some leaves have these dark spots

But the worst leaves are on the shady side and look like this.

Is this a mold?

Thanks for your help
Greg

 

[FmGrowit]

There is no way to repair the leaves once they are damaged. The lower picture looks like a low stalk position. That's just what those leaves do. The top picture looks like the leaf is bruised, probably from an animal or person walking through the the tobacco patch.

 

[Wackybacky]

Thanks for the reply.

The second leaf is from low on the shady side.

 

[burge]

Mold is harry and will rub off generally speaking. The bottom part looks like its breaking down due to lack of moisture. Looks normal.