Some observations and some questions from a beginner..

Hi to all frinds !..i am just a beginner with gardening and there are always so much to ask...
My experience in gardening is just one year old , so pls forgive if i will mostly ask and perhaps may help if i can..
Notice pls that i live in Athens , Greece which means (if i am not wrong) that my plants live in number 9 hardiness zone..and the climate is a mediterranean one of course..
I have many times used Google to help me , but here i hope to find more specific answers to my wonderings..

so , let me go straight to my first questions..

1)..what's happening with this boukambilea leaves as seen in the following foto?...is that happening from just the wind or may be any insect or anything else and how can i prevent it?


This message was edited Sep 4, 2012 1:29 AM

Hi VTr , that is a tropical plant because I am originally from the Caribbean area and it grows well there .You should look up the topic of tropical plants you might get some information , it also grows well in California

I'm not sure exactly what's causing your problem, but it doesn't look like anything I'd worry about too much at this point since it looks like it's just a few leaves and overall the plant looks very healthy to me. In real life plants rarely look perfect so I wouldn't worry about this too much unless it looks like it's spreading and getting worse.

so , it seems that i must not worry , just keep on watching it anyway thanks for your interesting cytf and ecrane3
now someth else's perhaps not so important either ..

2)..why that little lantana growing near the boukambilea plant above , has stopped blooming all suddenly ? on the contrary you can see at the following pics that others same lantanas continue blooming .. (in fact i think i may know why but i would like to know your opinions)
..sorry for pics arent so clear , the were taken at night..



This message was edited Sep 5, 2012 7:35 PM

It appears to be setting seed...they generally stop blooming when that happens...you can prune it back by about 1/3 and it should start blooming again on the new growth.

Thanks "themoonhowl" for your advice . i will tell you something i have in my mind that perhaps is the reason and i would like your opinion...i have three lantanas same age near one another that they all bloom this summer and generrally look very healthy...one day lately i left infront of one of them a big bag of soil , as it was too heavy to lift it little further...this bag was finally moved two weeks later , but the plant had already stopped blooming...i think that the bag kept this plant in some shade and i guessed the reason is that the plant was accidently kept away from the sun and so stopped blooming...is that a wrong suggestion for a new garden-observer?

It would need to be a very large bag to block out that much sun, but perhaps it is possible. Can you take a more detailed photo, closer up of the leaves and stems?

yes themoonhowl i will post a closer look tomorrow , but since then take a look at another plant near with it's leaves eaten?

and another pic of the same plant..

This time of year here, in zone 9a, the damage is usually from caterpillars and grasshoppers. Have you seen anything on the plants? Despite the damage the plant looks healthy.

yes i have mostly seen grasshopers ..is there any way to prevent them from the plant?

Depending on the number of insects, some folks cover the plants with netting to keep the pests away. If the number seen is just a few, I pretty much ignore them providing they are not destroying a plant...a few nibbles here and there won't hurt much.

a few links with info for you.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/Grasshopper-Control-Kill-Grasshoppers.aspx

http://www.weekendgardener.net/garden-pests/grasshoppers-040804.htm

http://www.arbico-organics.com/product/semaspore-organic-grasshopper-control/pest-solver-guide-grasshoppers-crickets

This is anecdotal info from a forum...
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/okgard/msg061103012953.html

themoonhowl , here is a closer view of the first plant as you asked for it. Thanks for the links above!



This message was edited Sep 8, 2012 8:16 PM

You are welcome. The plant in the pic above seems to be healthy short of a little insect/environmental wear and tear.

does that means i should take some action?

If that is the lantana from your first post, I would trim back the seed heads and let it go...it doesn't look overly stressed or sick.

no i meant if i must take any action for the first plant (boukambilea) leaves

Sorry, I confused which plant we were talking about. i see no need for any action unless you see pests or new damage on the boukambilea. It looks healthy and seems to have new growth.