Several of my dark-leaved upright (and semi-upright) sedums have been wilting and falling over (and looking ready to die). I finally took a close look (with a lighted magnifying glass) and discovered multitudes of tiny whitish oval pests over most of the plants, but especially around the developing flowers. What are these, and what can I do? Googling doesn't seem to find any sedum pests. How can I prevent these from spreading to other sedums? The paler sedums haven't been affected (yet?). What about the sedum ground covers? They look okay.

Thanks in advance ... Helen Thursh

Hi Helen, We usually see more fungal diseases on sedum than in other pests. nothing says they can have only one problem at a time. when you describe wilting and falling over I would suspect stem rot. with this wet year that wouldnt surprise me. without a picture Im guessing some kind of caterpillar. BT products sold as Dipel or thuricide woudl take care of it. We can see maggots when rotting plant tissue is involved. in which case the Bt would not help. generally these will be on rotting plants only and will not effect the other healthy plants. otherwise send a pix and perhaps I can help further. good luck, sandy