What are the little black dots that are on my sunflower leaf?

Question

They look like pepper and when I look closer, I can see bugs that are about 1/4 of an inch long. The bugs don't move much. What are they and how do I get rid of them?

Answer 1

They are probably aphids, use a small amount of dish soap in a spray bottle almost full of water, shake and spray plant where the bugs are. It won't harm your sunflower.  I've used this on many plants and it never hurts the plant in any way and the bugs are usually gone or dead the next day, if not repeat the application.  

Answer 2

Without seeing the bug and seeing if they are doing any damage, the question is hard to answer but, I can suggest three things. Take a sample leaf with the bugs on it  sealed in a baggie (you don't want them getting loose in someone else's garden) to a garden center and let a pro tell you what kind of bug it is and if they are harmful. You can take the baggie to a library and see if the library has the "Plant Encyclopedia" by Ortho and you can diagnose it yourself.  A good all purpose and normally harmless solution to bug problems in the garden is a home made spray mixture of liquid dish soap, hot peppers and tobacco. Soak some tobacco, a few ounces of liquid dish soap and some crushed jalopeno/habanero peppers in a jug of warm water for a couple of days, shaking it up once in a while. when you are ready to use it strain it into a sprayer and get after it. Be careful not to get it in your eyes and make sure you strain it to prevent clogging your sprayer.                                                                      btw, the liquid dish soap alone mixed with warm water makes a pretty decent bug spray - you just have to use it often and for sure after it has been washed off by rain.

A second by the way (btw) I was a garden center manager for 15 years. The soap suffocates bugs and also makes sprays stick to the plants. You just have to use it often. You can pick up a little can of any kind of tobacco from a tobacco store or get a couple of cigarettes from anyone you know who still smokes. The nicotine in the tobacco is a natural pesticide and most bugs don't care for hot pepper juice!

Answer 3

Rolly-Polys are little oval shapes dark gray to black bugs that you will see if you lift up any container in a garden area. .  They eat everything in site-especially the fresh greens! You have to spray or use a dusting insecticide to rid your garden of them.  It probably would not have helped if you waited longer.

When I transplant to the outdoors, I put about 5 layers of newspaper under the plant to protect it.  

Answer 4

It is very difficult to say for sure what they are, but given the time of year and that they are on your sunflowers, my guess would be that they could be a pupating form of either thrips (any one of multiple species, depending on where you live) or flea beetles).