Foamy things on stems of plants?

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OK, a lot of the plants in my garden right now have these little balls of foam that look like wads of spit on the stems. If I spray the hose on them, it blasts them off, but they're back within a day. What the heck are they? Are they insect-related? They're driving me nuts.

-- Jan (bookworm@jetcity.com), June 14, 2000

Answers

I know this one! Spittle bugs. They're sucking insects but they don't really do any damage. You just wash 'em off. I don't think there is any way to get rid of them forever without resorting to serious poison, but when I've had them, they've always gone away after a few weeks.

-- Beth (beth@xeney.com), June 14, 2000.

Thanks! They were spittle bugs. I sprayed 'em off every couple days or so, and you were right, after a few weeks they went away. My columbines have since turned brown and died, but I don't think the spittlebugs had anything to do with that.

-- Jan (bookworm@jetcity.com), July 19, 2000.

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