White foam on plants?
Posted on June 7th, 2009 by Phuong
spittle bug foam on lavender
If you’ve noticed frothy white foam on your plants around this time of year, it’s a sure sign of spittle bugs. Spittle bug nymphs hide (and feed) under the foam for protection.
We’ve spotted some on lavender and rosemary in our garden in recent weeks. Don’t worry. They’re not pretty to look at and the bugs do suck some plant sap, but they’re not particularly harmful to your plants.
How do you get rid of it? You can hose the foam (and nymphs) off with a strong spray from your garden hose, or hand pick the nymphs and destroy them. Or you can leave them alone, since they tend to disappear in a few weeks. You tend to see spittlebugs in the Northwest around May and June.
Filed under:Seattle Landscape Maintenance | Permalink |
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Posted by christine sutherland
June 22, 2012 @ 6:09 am
Excellent information, thank you. I wondered what this was and now I know with very little effort this information was great
Posted by Henrietta
August 1, 2012 @ 2:54 pm
Thanks so much for your helpful comment! Just started noticing these little white foamy things today, but have seen them in the past, just not as much as was on there today. They look like tiny little worms. I guess they can remain as long as they don’t eat anything. Would anyone know why my Lavendar is turning a brown color near the bottom of the plant but still blooming some. I went on vacation recently and before I left it had started to look this way and when I came back and recently it looks worse. Thanks for any help! Also, to mention, it has been pretty dry recently and I didn’t exactly know how much water the Lavendar needed, as I was told that it could be maintained as my Rosemary throughout summer with little water. I’m not sure if I over watered it, and then underwatered it. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks a lot! Have a blessed day!