Something is eating the leaves of my Stephanotis this is a young cutting and has been growing beautifully and now looks a mess . I have found the odd white ball about the size of a pinhead. I have sprayed with a commercial type pest spray but to no avail HELP!!
Hi Louie, welcome to GardenStew, If you can post a picture we may have a better understanding of the problem. Jerry
My first thought when you said "white" was maybe mealy bug, but they are a sucking parasite, not a chewing one. Are slugs a problem in your area? They are notorious for destroying a plant with out ever seeing the pest. Place crushed eggshells on the surface of the pot to help deter them, if that is the issue. Slugs will leave a shiny trail on the plant stem, sometimes it is not very noticeable. Is this potted? pick up the pot and check the underside of it for and pests, too. drop them in a soapy bath if you find any. Spray the plant with soapy water, too. http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1889804.htm
It may be the caterpillar of a butterfly. I don't know what butterflies are in your area... They are usually well camouflaged to blend into the plants' appearance.
Louie, first welcome to the Stew. I have found that if you want to post photos you may need an app to make the photo megs smaller. I finally found photgene and like it. Once you have an app you can downsize the photo, save it to your camera roll, then download from your camera roll on the iPad. At least that is what I have to do on mine. It sure beats having to download onto the computer and then resize and upload.
