If you look at the leaf behind the flower you will see it is full of holes. Now all the leaves are like that except I can't find a single worm on it. Anyone know what this is?
Datura worm???
Morgan, I dont know about Austin but with the rain we've had, I have a new crop of hungry snails. They are such a pest. Not much Ive found that they wont eat. It does look like eggs were laid and the larvae ate some and then left the plant.
Grasshoppers have been doing a number on leaves around here, chewing on leaves.
Up close damage
I've had bad snails, huge grasshoppers & every other "bad" bug this year.
what are the white dots on the leaf to the right below your hand? Are those white flies or eggs of some kind?
They are not white flies.....they don't move. If they are eggs of some sort, they are microscopic. I can't SEE anything. Is this indicative of Datura? AND....we have already sprayed it with BT......twice!
Whatever the white spots are, they are not normal. I think something laid eggs on your plant. The bt may have killed whatever it was. You might take that leaf with the white dots on it and place it in a jar with fabric over it and watch it to see what hatches out. I guess it could be some type of fungus or bacteria but that would not make holes in the leaves like you have.
That's a good idea.
I have that same purple datura, Morgan, and there has only been two things that bother it.. One is grasshoppers, and the other is that big, fat, green worm with a horn like what gets on your tomato vines. Just got one of these off this morning. The grasshoppers make holes, but the worms eat all the leaf-just devour everything.
Datura is a hosting plant for the Tomato Hornworm.
I have a few plants in my back yard as a distraction for the moth of the Tomato Hornworm.
I rather them eating my Daturas, instead than my tomato and eggplant plants.
The Tomato Hornworms become Hummingbird Moths if you just put them onto something that you don't mind them eating.
I looked for any worms.......and tomato worms are not easily missed.
Do you think grasshoppers???
I dont think tomato hornworms become hummingbird moths. They become the 5 spotted brown hawkmoth, Manduca quinquemaculata. The hummingbird moth caterpillar looks similar but the family and species of the moth are different. It is Hemaris thysbe.
I've always known them as Hummingbird moths that feed on my Moon Vine at night; they move like hummingbirds anyway.
Yes, the Manduca quinquemaculata. We need Dale here!
Morgan, my purple datura blooms are so beautiful, but the white part is seldom really white. It's got a beige/tan tint to it. It's just a little off-white, but the pure white against the purple is so much more striking. Any suggestions how I might get that consistently?
sybram - I really have no idea. I bought the two I have because my neighbor had Daturas and I thought the bloom was gorgeous. Hers are white. So the next time I was at a nursery (I'm there often) I picked up two plants from what they had. Turned out to both be like the pic I posted. I have another one that I have grown from seeds someone gave me, and the leaves are a bit different.....but no blooms yet.