Plant Doctor Archive

Controlling passion vine hopper

IS there a spray you can make up to control "fluffy bums" in their adult stage?

FLUFFY BUMS are the nymphs (young stage) of the passion vine hopper. The adult looks like a small moth with almost transparent wings. Both adults and young passion vine hoppers suck sap from a wide range of plants and can form quite large colonies in late summer. They hop or fly into the air when disturbed.

I don't know of a home-made spray that is particularly effective at deterring them. Unlike soft bodied insects, they're probably not very susceptible to soap solutions or fatty acid sprays. So the least harmful products that should control them are those containing pyrethrum, like Garlic & Pyrethrum, and Nature's Way Pyrethrum.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.