HERB - A Confession: Comfrey Infestation

[Gaylin Walli]

My friends,

I have a terrible confession to make. In the many years
that I've been growing herbs and plants for my gardens
and containers, I've never once had any problem with
pests of any kind.

Scary, isn't it?

As a result, I've been terribly lax in learning anything
more than basic information about pests and pest
control. Soapy water, plucking pests off leaves, and
ritual plant sacrifice are the extent of my knowledge
in this regard.

Now I find that my first infestation in 15 years
has be baffled, without books on the subject, and in
need of advice. I'd very much like to save my comfrey
plant from extinction, but I'm not sure I'm treating
it correctly. It's a lovely little plant. The first
time that I've ever grown it. And I feel sort of obligated
to help it out of this crisis.

The culprit is a small, green, inchworm-like critter
less than one quarter of an inch long. It is not fuzzy
and has two small black spot at one end. It is about
the same thickness as a thin teriaki skewer. It plucks
easily off the leaves and does not appear to leave any
sticky residue on the plant.

I spotted them yesterday evening on my plant when I noticed
a few leaves had started yellowing. I originally thought that
a few spikey parts were twigs blown into the container
from the wind, but they were parts of the plant that had
been utterly eaten away by the pest. Other leaves had
clear trails on them and a few were only partially eaten,
and those were clearly housing one of the pests who was
systematically working its way up and down the leaf until
it was gone.

I've isolated that plant from the others on my limited and
meager stoop area. Will plucking the critters from the
leaves and spraying the plant with soapy water be enough or
must I turn to more drastic measures? Is soapy water the
right treatment or is there something better (and preferably
not involving chemical pesticides)? Will the pest likely
infest other plants on my stoop (thymes, scented geraniums,
pennyroyal, oregano, sweet woodruff)?

Any advice would be graciously accepted. Education in the
matter would be lovingly appreciated.

Humbly,

jasmine the foolish
jasmine at infoengine.com or g.walli at infoengine.com
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