Growing Borage, also Burrage, Bugloss

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04 Jan 24 Linda (United Kingdom - warm/temperate climate)
Something is nibbling my overwintering borage! Some tiny insect is invading it. What might it be and how do I stop it, please?
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19 Jan 24 Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 5a Temperate Warm Summer climate)
It's probably aphids --- you didn't give a description -- but aphids LOVE borage. Additionally, ANTS enslave aphids, placing them on borage. Ants can tear the wings off of aphids. A recent study has shown that ants can use semiochemicals to stop the aphids from developing wings and to impede their ability to walk away. Ants farm aphids because they produce honeydew, a sugar-rich material that fulfills the nutritional requirement of ants. Your best course of action is to: Support the plant with one hand, and use a blast of water from a watering hose to wash the aphids off the plants. You need to take action immediately as the aphids are feeding on your plants. If the aphids are on a fruit/veggie bearing plant their feeding impedes the ability of the plant to produce nice fruits since its energies are being used to battle the aphids (or their energy is being sucked up by the aphids). Your aphid situation will MOST LIKELY GET WORSE is you ignore it... they multiple pretty quickly.
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