Hibiscus: Finally have pics of my nemesis...can anybody ID?, 1 by ppocket

ppocket wrote:
READERS; I MISTAKENLY POSTED ON TWO DIFFERENT THREADS W/ THIS TOPIC. (MEANT FOR THEM TO BE TOGETHER - AARGH...) SO IF YOU CARE TO LOOK, THERE SHOULD BE A SECOND THREAD AND PICTURE IN MY NAME NEARBY. MANY THANKS, AND APOLOGIES FOR MY NEWBIE ERROR...
Here are some pretty poor quality pics of what I've been battling on the stems of my standards. My current thinking is that they had insect damage and then a fungus (?) or disease secondarily. The stems (bark) are pretty badly ravaged all the way up to the top of the braids, but not beyond. The foliage is still extremely healthy, and filling in more all the time. I've treated them w/ Bayer systemic fungicide/insecticide (contains Imidacloprid and Tebuconazole), washed roots, sanitized and repotted, sprayed wounds/cankers w/ topical fungicide. They are in Pro-mix w/perlite, sand and earthworm casts. I give them an organic Hib. fertilizer and Superthrive, keeping the soil as dry as possible between waterings. Fungus gnats were abundant initially - now they are nearly gone, but an annoying handful persist.

I'm not sure whether these extensive wounds are getting worse/bigger, but I'm fairly certain that they're not getting any better. I don't know the correct terminology, but the damage is mostly limited to the outer layers. Where it's affected you can see the fibrous strands left from the outer layer(s). There are no obvious holes, per se; it looks as if someone's taken a file and scraped off the bark. In other spots, better seen in pic #2, the bark is sort of lifted away or sloughing off. No sign of any insects on or near all of this damage, at least as far as I can see.
See next post, please...

This message was edited Jul 16, 2006 2:21 PM