What's eating my nicotiana alata 'perfume deep purple'?

Flowering tobacco 'Perfume Deep Purple' is particularly prone to aphids, which colonise the sticky stems and foliage in large numbers. Thrips damage petals with silvery streaking. Tobacco hornworm caterpillars (Manduca sexta) can rapidly defoliate plants. Slugs attack seedlings. Whitefly is also a common problem, especially in warm, sheltered gardens.

Dense colonies stuck to sticky stems and leaf undersides; wilting shoots and sooty mould. Spray with insecticidal soap or neem oil; water jets help but sticky foliage limits effectiveness; encourage predators.

Large caterpillars consuming entire leaves rapidly; stems stripped bare with frass below. Handpick large caterpillars (check undersides of leaves); apply Bt spray to foliage; natural parasitic wasps provide good control.

Silvery-white streaking on petals; distorted flowers; tiny insects visible on blooms. Remove heavily affected flowers; use blue sticky traps; spinosad spray on foliage and blooms.

Clouds of tiny white insects rising from foliage when disturbed; honeydew and sooty mould on leaves. Yellow sticky traps; insecticidal soap spray to undersides of leaves; introduce Encarsia formosa in protected situations.