How To Get Rid Of Aphids On Christmas Tree? Explained

Aphids can infest your Christmas like little grinches, stealing away your Christmas cheer. Here is how to get rid of aphids on Christmas trees.

Christmas is the season to be jolly, but it can become a nightmare if you find your precious tree infested with bugs. While artificial trees are safe, the real ones often end up carrying pests to your home.

Aphids are one of the most common pests in the US, and it’s not hard to find them on fraser firs and white pine trees.

While they are harmless to humans, these pests can cause your conifer’s leaves to yellow and decay pretty quickly. It will leave a lifeless-looking tree when you decorate it.

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In this blog, we will talk about how to save your Christmas tree from these tiny little grinches.

Cinara Aphids – Christmas Tree Infesting Bugs

While there are numerous aphid species out there, the Cinara Aphid is particularly notorious for infesting conifer trees.

Cinara aphids can thrive even in freezing temperatures, which is why conifers are so vulnerable to them.

Besides the damage they cause to Christmas trees, these pests accumulate in huge numbers, and their sheer presence can be a nuisance.

Size and appearance

The Cinara aphid is one of the biggest species of aphids and can grow up to one-quarter of an inch in length. They have dark bodies, usually ranging from brown to black. Some Cinara aphids may also have white spots on the rear part of their abdomen.

Lifecycle

Cinara aphids hatch from black eggs, usually laid on the conifer needles. Just like other aphid species, they grow into adults rather fast. This allows them to reproduce quickly, multiplying in numbers and causing major infestations.

Where Are They Found?

These aphids tend to infest conifer plants in cold regions, which is how they earned the moniker ‘giant conifer aphid.’

These pests live in huge colonies comprising hundreds of aphids, often causing panic among unsuspecting humans, mistaking them for ticks.

In nature, they prefer to infest trees along the wooded field edges. Although they mostly infest the lower branches and the trunk of the tree in the fall, the pests spread to the upper whorl of the branches in spring.

What Damage Can Aphids Do To Your Christmas Tree?

In case you’re familiar with aphids, you probably know what a menace they can be to the trees they infest.

Aphids suck plant sap from the leaves, and doing this in such large numbers can severely damage the tree.

Aphids feeding on a Christmas tree will cause the leaves to become yellow and wither, eventually defoliating or even killing the tree.

These aphids also secrete honeydew, a sticky, sugary substance that results in the growth of a sooty mold. All in all, these bugs can completely ruin your Christmas.

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How To Get Rid Of Aphids on Your Christmas Tree?

The best way to keep your Christmas tree free of aphids is to make sure it didn’t contain any in the first place.

When buying a Christmas tree, inspect it carefully with a flashlight and look for aphids.

You should also shake the plant and pound the stump on the ground. This will cause aphids hiding in the nooks and crannies to fall out.

If you somehow still end up having aphids in your Christmas tree, you can vacuum them off the plant or use natural insecticides to eliminate them.

If indoors, don’t squash the aphids near a carpet because they will leave behind horrible stains when crushed.

Other Bugs Found on Christmas Trees

Aphids aren’t the only pests that live in Christmas trees. You may find various other types of bugs on your Christmas tree as well.

Let’s talk about the most common ones and how to stop them from infesting your Christmas tree or your home:

Praying mantises

Occasionally, praying mantises lay their egg cases in Christmas trees. Each egg case might contain hundreds of mantis eggs.

These eggs would hatch in the warmth of your home. Even a single praying mantis egg case can cause a large-scale infestation.

Spiders

If you notice a lot of spider webs on your Christmas tree, it means the tree likely has spiders living on it.

While you can easily eliminate spiders with a handheld vacuum cleaner, be careful about the poisonous ones.

In case you are dealing with a venomous spider or a spider species that you are unfamiliar with, make sure you don’t touch it.

Adelgids

Adelgids are identifiable by the wool-like wax on their bodies, which allows them to camouflage very well amidst fake cotton snow or artificial snow spray.

They usually stay near the needle bases or the buds of a Christmas tree and look like a little dusting of snow.

Pine needle scale

These tiny red bugs can cause severe damage to your Christmas tree, resulting in issues like stunting, wilting, withering, and even the death of the tree.

Pine needle scales hatch from tiny eggs that resemble white specs on the plant. Getting rid of these scale insects is very difficult.

You may use vinegar, soap, or neem oil spray to keep the scale population in control until you’re done with the tree.

Bark beetles

Bark beetles are another common pest found on conifers. These bugs can be black, brown, or red, with a shape and size similar to a grain of rice.

Different species of bark beetles attack different parts of a tree but usually prefer moist wood on stressed trees.

Psocids

These are relatively harmless insects that only feed on mold growing on the trees. Psocids won’t damage your trees or bite you.

However, a large presence of these pests can be annoying. Also known as booklice and bark lice, these winged bugs have gray or brown bodies and are attracted to high humidity.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get rid of bugs on my Christmas tree?

It’s not advisable to use chemical insecticides on your Christmas tree, especially if children are going to come in contact with it.

You can shake up the tree and vacuum it to remove the tree pests. If the infestation is severe, you can use insecticidal soap.

Can you spray for aphids on the Christmas tree?

Using a hose to spray your Christmas tree with a jet of water is a great way to free it from an aphid infestation.

It’s also a much safer alternative to using bug sprays since the latter is usually toxic and highly flammable.

Do aphids live in Christmas trees?

Giant Conifer Aphids, also known as Cinara aphids, live in conifer trees. These include freshly harvested Christmas trees too.

Although aphids hibernate in winter, they can get active when placed in a warm indoor environment when you bring your Christmas tree inside to decorate it.

Should I spray water on my Christmas tree?

Yes, spraying water on your Christmas tree is one of the easiest ways to rid it of aphids and other tree pests.

It also helps keep the tree from drying and prevents it from losing too many needles. However, make sure all the Christmas tree lights are turned off and unplugged when you spray water.

Wrap up

When you get a Douglas fir, Fraser Fir, white pine, or any other conifer from a tree farm this holiday season, make sure you aren’t taking home a pest-infested tree.

Even if you end up with a tree that has aphids on it, you now know how to deal with them. Thank you for reading, and have a Merry Christmas!