What's eating my osteospermum 'akila daisy white'?

Osteospermum 'Akila Daisy White' faces the same pest pressures as other African daisy cultivars. Aphids are the primary threat, colonising lush new growth rapidly in spring and early summer. Whitefly and spider mites can build up in warm sheltered beds or containers. Caterpillars occasionally chew petals, reducing the ornamental value of the white blooms.

Tight clusters on shoot tips and bud stems; sticky honeydew residue, distorted leaves, and ant activity. Spray with insecticidal soap or neem oil; blast with water jets; encourage beneficial insects such as ladybirds and parasitic wasps.

Yellowing leaves; clouds of tiny white-winged insects disturbed from leaf undersides; sticky sooty mould. Apply insecticidal soap to leaf undersides; use yellow sticky traps; in containers, move plants to improve air circulation.

Pale stippling and silvery bronzing of leaves; fine webbing under leaves in hot, dry conditions. Water plants consistently; increase humidity around containers; apply horticultural oil or insecticidal soap in the evening.