98°F
weather icon Windy

Sharpshooter’s egg masses benefit fuzzy

Question: I check all my plants weekly for possible problems. I noticed what appears to be some kind of white fuzzy things on my pear tree’s leaves. I didn’t want to mess with them in case they were from beneficial insects. I’ve searched online but can’t seem to find anything. Have you ever seen them before?

Yes, I have seen these white, fuzzy, cottony things on all sorts of plants, including herbs, citrus and vegetables.

These are not good guys, but they are also not terribly bad, either. You can wipe them off or spray with soap and water. I have posted pictures of this before on my blog, but I will repost it again. These are probably the egg masses of the sharpshooter insect.

Bob Morris is a professor emeritus in horticulture with the University of Nevada and can be reached at extremehort@aol.com. Visit his blog at
xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
The sun sets on my days as RJ’s gardening columnist

Thanks to everyone who has supported my journey into journalism by reading my gardening column over the years and contributing questions.

What’s ailing my mature pine trees?

When native pine trees are grown on their own they will develop taproots or sinker roots for stability and to secure enough water.

Gaining control over this annual weed is not easy to do

To make sure it doesn’t return you have to interrupt the seed-to-flowering-plant cycle at least for a couple of years and fill the voids with something competitive.

Why did my bird of paradise plants quit blooming?

They were in bloom when we planted them five or six years ago, and they bloomed the following year as well. But they have not bloomed again.

MORE STORIES