I have these tiny, probably only a few millimeters across, black bugs on my plants. They are smaller than aphids, maybe half to a third their size. I didn't even notice them until one moved. They are making my leaves look dead or are really killing them. They seem to prefer soft leaves to thicker tougher ones, like on Morning Glories, Dahlias, Passion Flower, and strangely on my Azalea. They make these tiny yellow/clearish spots on the leaves and eventually the spost cover the whole leaf either killing it or making it look dead. If anyone knows what these things are and how to get rid of them, I would be very happy. I don't have a pic at this time, but I will post one tomorrow.
Here are the pictures! Upon closer inspection it appears that they are killing the leaves. Little Black Bugs ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden ) This next one is the closest picture I could get because they are so small. Tiny Black Bugs ( photo / image / picture from FlowerFreak22's Garden )
It looks as though you have thrips (thunderflies) there. These are a threat to plant health as they feed on the leaves and flowers but don't actually kill the plants just leave them looking sick and ugly. They are at their worst during the months of June through to September.
After a small Google search, it looks like your right Eileen. These little guys have spread themselves throughout my poor little porch garden. I try to brush them off whenever I can, but it doesn't seem to help. My plants must be very tasty. Should I just let them do their thing or is there a good way to get rid of them without using a strong toxic pesticide?
As thrips don't actually kill the plants I don't use anything to get rid of them but I simply remove the damaged leaves. Once the damage is done to the leaf it won't recover anyway. You could try a pesticide but the ones that will be most affective and kill thrips will also kill any beneficial insects on your plants. My plants always come back again the next year with no lasting side effects from these pests.
'Tis the season for ladybug larvae to be on the prowl for these things, which they eat (along with aphids and other small plant pests.) If you can find those out in the yard, import them to your affected plants, they'll get a natural cleaning! I'm a huge of fan of letting nature take its' course in most cases, but that doesn't mean you can't help things along in such ways. I put house plants outside for summer and they get some weird maladies, but rarely does anything more than slightly noticeable happen, which is almost always offset by the overall increased growth. But the plants you mentioned are all hardy perennials, except the MG's, and being in pots could be the begging of their struggles. Do have ground space for some of these? Not that these things can't be grown in pots, it's just harder. Morning glory leaves are never something I worry about, they are always attacked by pests but still plenty of flowers. As a true annual, it's destined to die soon anyway. True annuals are always a gamble. This year, my Dahlias were defoliated by armyworms. Frustrating but that's OK, they're growing back and will be fine next year. Azaleas - don't think it's possible to kill one in the south, but I'd put it in a pot if I wanted to try. I never worry about them, but they're in the ground. Passion vine is host plant to some butterfly caterpillars. I have this vine specifically so it can be eaten by them. In order for beneficial predators to show up, pests need to be present. Usually things will balance themselves, but monitoring things helps you step in if necessary. I'd rather just wait for a better year for most things than poison the environment I've created to attract butterflies, hummingbirds, which might also be poisoned. Not to mention the anoles who work so hard to eat every little bug on the planet!
