My brugs are really growing well this year....but the green leaves have holes all over them, all sizes and shapes. Really getting chewed up by something. I couldnt find any insects. I don't have any flowers yet. Last week I sprayed with Bonide Eight insect control. Most of the Brugs are in containers. Anything I can Do?
Meems
Holey Brugs!!!!
Could be those green caterpillars, very hard to see. Spray with Bt.
I had slugs and no trails were left. So I put pellets down and found them. I would go out at night with a flash light just to see if you can catch anything having a moonlight dinner.
Let us know how you do Meemsdream.
We have earwigs here. look like scorpions, they sit right in the middle of the top eating any buds that might show up. I dusted powder right in the middle of each brug, have not seen any bites since, until the rain washes that off.
They love rainy weather, come out at night and you can see them in early mornings.
I have several brugs with holes munched in the beautiful leaves. When the cats first started, I sprayed with BT and they quit. Hopefully they went to caterpillar heaven. However, now it is starting again. I have to get out late in the evening when it has cooled off and spray again. I also found a small slug under one of the small pots of ears. I hate to think about dealing with them.
Hibiscus, what kind of powder??? I have earwigs up the ying-yang..........holes all over in my brug leaves. :>(
Sevin works on earwigs.
There is something called a capsid bug that eats holes in the leaves. They are tiny, and their larva is green almost impossible to see with out close inspection.
Hibiscus I am wondering what kind of powder too. I am going to check with the flashlight tonite. When you get holes like that is it always some kind of an insect? I have two Brugs in my back garden but they havent been touched. The earwigs have invaded us to but I couldn't see any near the brugs.
Meems
I use Sevin powder, at base of plant on the dirt and also LIGHTLY sprinkle it in center,it will burn your leaves if sun gets to the thick powder, so keep it light, I shake the plant to get rid of most.
You can see earwigs, they are large, about 1" long/prong up over back, like a scorpion, mostly still in there, early in morning.
I've got to look up capsid bugs. I can never find the hornworms on the brugs. Can find them on the tomatoes. Maybe they aren't what is doing the damage.
I just stripped all mine cause the leaves looked so terrible........
Meems, I use sevin dust on the brugs with the holey leaves. It is amazing that one small little bug, in my case , caterpiller, could eat that much leaf. I have had earwigs on my plants too. Hibiscus is so right, they do love it when we have lots of rain.
We do have earwigs but I never see them near the plants........think they hide when they see me coming? LOL I have had them for years in the house to basement mostly and they are nasty little critters. Those pinchers are lethal if they get ya. Have any of you used the Bonide prod? Do they eat the flowers too? I am soooo proud of my BRUGS, they are of course my fav flower and this is my first year to really have any colored ones. The war is on!
Meems
Look really close in the middle, if a leaf is folded at all, they are in there, just waiting to chomp on a bud if it starts to grow. I have dust on mine now, it hasn't rained in 3-4 days, so it is doing a great job, they are look good.
I started to pinch one in the middle of my brug and it threw that pincher up over its' back and stuck me in the finger, did it ever bleed!
Ouch .... Hibiscus... Do you cut the leaves off that have holes in them?
Meems
Sometimes, just for looks.
I have several on my deck and have noticed that one will get all eaten while the other (right beside it) doesn't get touched. They are all seedlings from March, April, May.
Ihughes, I guess they dont taste very good LOL! But serious, it always amazes me that some hybrids are not touched by any pests and others have more holes than swiss cheese. Here its Rothkirch, Desiree, Tiara or HG which are heavy infested with spider mites and its neighbors doesnt have any. Caterpillars love Maya and its the only pest bothering Maya.