A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening small greenish flying things on cucumber plants

Just came in from checking on cukes and was swarmed with little light green flying things from the leaves. Can anyone tell me what they are and how to treat them?

Already have a couple of cukes on the vine and don't want to lose them.

I am in the Texas Panhandle and zone 6 or 7 I think. Pretty new at this.

Thankss.

Those little green flying things are aphids.They'll swarm your plants if you give them too much nitrogen.Wash them off the leaves with water.

They could be aphids, but they could be a few other things as well. When you say "little"-- how little do you mean? Also, check under some leaves to see if there very small (about the size of a pin head of smaller) eggs of any color.

I'd also describe a couple beneficial insects as "little light green" so if you can provide any more information, that'd be great.

Aphids? I'm glad you knew that one, enrique, I didn't...
That is a good idea, to simply wash them off. If the leaves start getting severely damaged, 2 things you can get for cheap at Wal-Mart or most nurseries, one is sold as 3-in-1 spray, it is strictly Neem oil, an excellent natural pesticide/miticide/fungicide, and the other product is Insecticidal Soap. Don't spray during the heat of the day with anything, it can more or less cook the plants.

Thanks Guys,
I don't think they are aphids, I know what those are, these are approximately
1/8" long, slender bodies, and sort of hop-fly. they are mostly under the leaves, doesn't appear to be any damage ~~~~yet. And don't find anything that looks like eggs. They are now also on my squash plants.

So if I just wash them off with a spray of water, won't they just come back?
I will look into one of the suggestions from peppereater.

Thanks again,

Why thank you.
Insects are funny, almost any disruption to their "lifestyle" can put an end to them.
Knocking them off with water may be all you need to do. Fact is, since we don't know exactly what we're dealing with, they could be preying on more harmful insects.
I have so many things happen to tomatoes through the growing season that I simply ignore anything that doesn't look entirely lethal.
There will always be something eating something or attaching to something, but it is good to know what is what. Stinkbugs are terribly damaging to the fruit of tomatoes, for instance, and you may see only one or 2 any given day.
Not to get clear off topic, but I wouldn't worry until real physical damage begins to show.