Hibiscus: Barry Schlueter, 1 by DavidFranzman

DavidFranzman wrote:
Good Morning all.

Barry it's great to see you on this forum. I'm posting a pic of my 10+ year old Georgia's Pearl for you. What a great plant. I wanted to thank you Barry for incouraging others that their first line of defense against sucking insects (aphids, white fly and mites) should be water....forcefully spraying your plants with water. Plants like it and it keeps the critters away. I have a lot of hibiscus at my home and I haven't used a pesticide (except for ant stakes) for a decade. My backyard is a small sanctuary for several species of birds and I want to keep it that way.

I have noticed that many over the counter pesticides say they kill this or that...particularly spider mites when in fact they don't. The only thing you end up killing are beneficials. Miticides are very expensive and not available to the general public. The best thing you can do is spray them off with water.

For those who don't know him, Barry is in my opinion, the finest hybridizer of exotic hibiscus in the country. He is the papa for varieties such as Jason Blue, Georgia's Pearl, Climax, Susan Schlueter to name just a few...a very few. Keep up the good work Barry. You have fans all over the world.

David