Problem with Tropical Hibiscus

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Grantman31 West Palm Beach, FL Jun 22, 2010

I posted this in the hibiscus forum, but they don't get much traffic; thus:
Hello everyone. A month back I bought 3 tropical hibiscus plants from a nursery in Florida. They are the varieties "Tahitian Princess", "Climax", and "City Slicker". Anyways, I haven't been able to get a single bloom to open since I got them. I immediately transplanted them from their small pot to a larger one, and chalked up the lack of blooms surviving to transplant shock. Well, some of the blooms yellow and die-off when they're small; others get larger before they die. Upon further inspection, I peeled back the green pedals to look inside the bloom itself, and found small white worms eating their way through the blooms, killing them before they have the chance to get large enough to open. Also, something is eating the leaves themselves. Can anyone identify what type of pest this is and know of a good remedy? Pictures come out way too blurry and the worms are so small, it's difficult describing them further. Any help would be appreciated!

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amorecuore Ft Lauderdale, FL(Zone 10a) Jun 22, 2010

Sounds like "Thrips" to me. It's a small insect that lays eggs in the flower buds causing the buds to usually turn yellow and then fall off prior to opening. The eggs then hatch from the buds laying on the ground and the new born thrips mature and work their way onto the plant buds to lay eggs.

You should treat the plant with an insecticide that claims to kill thrips. Better yet, male sure the insecticide contains a chemical called "Acephate". First remove all the buds laying on the ground, discolored buds on the plant, and toss them out. These buds most likely have thrips/thrip eggs. Second is to spray the plant with your insecticide. It's usually best to spray again a week later to kill any eggs that may have hatched during that week. Make sure you keep removing any buds that fall off. Make sure you spray the plant early in the day or in the evening do you don't burn the foliage. Thrips are a very common pest in South Florida during the summer. I usually don't have any problems with them from about Oct-April, but May - Sept can be problematic. If all goes well you should notice much less yellowing and bud drop during the two weeks of treatment. Unfortunately I usually have to treat my plants 2 or 3 times every summer for thrips.

Jon

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Grantman31 West Palm Beach, FL Jun 24, 2010

Thanks for the awesome response, Jon. I went and picked up some insecticide (organic type) that claims to kill, amongst many others, thrips and their eggs, larvae, etc. I will treat according to your instruction and I appreciate your swift response!

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