Insect damage you may miss

[Joe Dupre']

I've got a cutting I rooted from a friend's pomegranate a couple of years ago. It grew like gangbusters last year. This year it seemed to slow way down and the leaves didn't look good. Looking at it with a magnifying glass ( I heartily recommend one), I found a half dozen of these "cocoons" with bugs inside. I'm pretty sure they have been eating any tiny sprouts as soon as they emerge, thus robbing the tree of energy. They are very difficult to see because they seem to be made up of bark and leaf fragments. This makes several times I've found other insects that were the cause of a slow growing tree. Aphids have caused me trouble also. Very hard to see without a magnifying glass.

 

[Joe Dupre']

If you have trees that just "should" be growing better, but are just limping along, put them on your turntable and REALLY look closely at them. It's surprising how tiny insects can eat the minute shoots as they emerge, and you would never see them until you look more closely.

 

[waydeo]

That looks like a tent Caterpillar cocoon. I've seen them on my cypress trees .
Turn table and magnifying glass is a good idea.