Tropicals & Tender Perennials: potato bush, 1 by Clare_CA

Clare_CA wrote:
Crimsontsavo, mine has a pretty bad whitefly and spider mite infestation right now so it wouldn't be wise of me to share them with you at this time;-) The plant is too large and to tall to treat for these insects so I just wait until it looks unsightly, then I cut it back to the main trunk. TopTropicals has it if you are in a hurry: http://www.toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?u...

Thanks, Shirley. This blooms on new growth so feel free to prune away. It responds well to pruning.

Lisa, yes, we actually have two on the property, and both are trees in full sun. Both have trunks about three and a half inches wide. They lose their leaves in the wintertime and look bare.

frogsrus, you couldn't be more right about hibiscus. We had a huge double pink hibiscus tree on this property, which was probably a 30-year-old tree. The first summer we were here, it looked like there was cotton hanging from every leaf. It was disgusting. The air was so thick with them that sometimes it looked like it was snowing. We tore that tree out just for that reason, but there are still several more hibiscus trees on the property. I just hose behind every leaf when I water and when I have time, but they are a huge problem here, and they create problems for the farmers here as well. For some reason, whiteflies are especially drawn to the hibiscus and to the Solanum.