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Protected from predators and the risk of dehydration inside its moist ball of bubbles, the juvenile yellow-green froghopper (or spittle bug) is busy sucking plant sap. It's quite harmless unless it's attacking the shoot tips, which can result in distorted growth. The adult frogho...

.rosemary, lavender, sage, Russian sage, thymelate-summer, autumnAdvice on growing herbsTaking rosemary cuttingsDealing with cuckoo spit on herbsPicking herbsAdvice on growing medicinal herbsVideo demonstration of planting herbs in a window boxVideo advice on how

In mid-spring, 2mm-long, greenish-brown, adult bay suckers emerge from overwintering. They feed on young bay leaves, turning them yellow and making the edges thicken and curl. The females then lay eggs under the curling edges and the new, young grey

with the biological control Steinernema carpcapse.With heavy infestations, use an insecticide based on pyrethrum (only use once a season on crops).brassicas and nasturtiumsearly spring to autumnCommon problems when growing vegetables

hot spells and provide shading. Promptly pick off any split tomatoes before they start to rot.tomatoessummer to autumnCommon problems affecting tomatoesTomato leaf mouldTomato blightTomato frost damageBlossom end rot

Poor early-summer weather, with a prolonged cold spell, and few insects results in poor pollination. This means courgettes fail to develop, and they quickly rot on the plant. However, this is only a temporary problem, and once the weather starts

Pea and bean weevils are a nuisance but rarely a major problem on the veg patch. The larvae live in the soil and feed on the root nodules. Then when the adults emerge in June and July, they climb up the plants and eat the edges of the leaves

to feed. After 2-3 weeks, the larvae pupate inside the leaves and emerge as adults. The damage is mostly cosmetic but where many leaves are affected, the plant may be weakened or die. Different species of leaf miner fly affect specific plants.A maze

The fungus that causes this problem spreads rapidly in the warm, humid conditions of a greenhouse. It usually becomes apparent on the lowest tomato leaves from early or midsummer, which develop yellow blotches on the upper leaf surface. The leaves

Turn over a leaf and you'll see 2mm long white flies. With a life cycle of just three weeks, whitefly breed very fast. Both adults and offspring are sap feeders and a severe attack will weaken a plant. They excrete the sticky excess, called honeydew