Thinning milkweek & bugs

[dichatham]

Good morning,
I have had milkweed for about 6 years now. The original area becomes very packed with stems. Then it seems mid-August some of the interior stems start to dry up and die.

Should I be thinning my milkweed as it comes up?

My second problem is that I get these little black bugs--very very tiny. They come every year and are on the underside of the leaves. They cause the leaves to curl up and be warped looking.

Can I spray then with something? Would insecticidal soap be OK?

Thanks much,
Diane
Baltimore, MD

[dandjtaylor]

Diane

Sounds like (1) you need to divide your milkweeds come this fall and (2) aphids are the black bugs.

(1) Late this sumer or early fall, divide your MW's by taking a good shovel and splitting the crown in half, digging up one half, and moving it somewhere else. You must do this, though, with a month or so before freezing so the roots can "take".

(2) the aphids are harmless, but you can squish them with a gloved hand, hose them with a good jet of water, "soap" them, or just leave them. I leave them and nothing negative happens because I am always harvesting leaves for the caterpillars that I raise and new ones grow in.

You can read many online articles on both topics above.

Good luck

Dwayne
Waystation #2638

[dichatham]

Dwayne,
Thanks for the advise about thinning. I do that with other perrennials (sp?) but didn't think to do that with the milkweed. I have sprayed soap on the aphids--don't know that it did much though. Thanks for your help.
Diane
Waystation #911