Question

Boston Ivy problem  

Boston Ivy problem   We have a Boston Ivy that we have had for ten years or more. It is kept trimmed all the time to avoid it spreading everywhere. It's on a brick wall on one side of our garage and has flourished from year to year and looks beautiful.
This year we have noticed holes in the leaves and little white drops of some sort that is attaching to the backs of the leaves, which are also being chewed up a lot. We have also spotted very tiny bugs as you can see in one of the photos.
We definitely don't want to lose this plant and would like to know what the problem is and how to treat it.
Hope you can help.Thanks.

Answer
Dear Michelle, It seems that you possibly have two different problems here, but not to worry, we can fix both of them, and we can even do it organically.  Ok, the first picture where you showed the back of the leaf and it looks like there is a bug or something stuck to it.  I think this is whitefly or it could be scale.  If it is whitefly, you should see small white flies around the foliage when you shake the leaves.  Scale just mostly sits there.  To get rid of this you should spray with a lightweight horticultural or biorganic oil.  Since this is concentrated mostly on the backs of the leaves you will have to try to spray the underside of the leaves, not an easy task when you have ivy lying against a wall, but do the best you can.  Wait a day, and then spray the entire ivy with Spinosad, which should kill anything that eats on it.  In another week spray with Spinosad again, and then see how the plant looks.  The leaves shouldn't be getting much more damage.  When things come to chew on the leaves, the Spinosad should kill them pretty quickly.  Now just check on the whitefly or scale (both have an unmoving phase which remains attached to foliage).  If this is still present, then spray the underside mainly of leaves with the oil product again, perhaps several times about a week apart.  If you have grasshoppers or something else that makes the big holes in the leaves you might see them from time to time and then just spray with the Spinosad again.  This should get rid of the other problem.  Be sure to let me know if it doesn't. but I am very confident that a few organic sprays will solve your problem.  Be sure not to spray when bees are active in the area.  By the way, your ivy sounds beautiful. Good luck, Melissa