Saw the first of the dreaded grasshopper happily munching on a brug this evening.....and so it begins. I wonder what these plants are poisonous to..certainly isnt any of the many predatory chewing critters around.
AAARRRGGGG....GRASSHOPPERS...
*LOL* ain't that the truth... the baby lubbers have been here in NW Florida for about a month now... My brugs are beginning to look like swiss cheese.
I would certainly agree!!! I'm in south Arky and I have NEVER had a plant that the critters loved this much and, like you, I cannot imagine where the poison goes, surely not to bug control, ya know??!!
The poisons in the brugmansias don't harm the insects because their nervous system and metabolism are different from mammals.
The grasshoppers have been here a month too, but aren't doing as much damage as the green cats. The mockingbirds found the bugs though and are making a big dent in their population. I guess they can peck a few tomatoes and papayas as payment!
MzM, some of mine look like swiss cheese also.
Mine don't have any bugs, YET!! Right now I'm fighting the winds. My leaves are shredded and some have holes in them from twigs flying through them. Makes me sick, but they do come back later with new leaves and that is after the stormy season.
The snails, slugs and cats are in full force here, Shirley.
I'm crossing my fingers that we don't have a buggy year, but I don't think I'll be that lucky. Not a mite at all last year and just a few cats. I must have been holding my mouth right.
It looks like it's going to be a bad year for insects here. Earwigs are everywhere, potato beetles eating my tomatoes, beetles eating my bean plants and rabbits eating my corn stalks. LOL I can't win.
Oh yes, the wind is tearing mine up, too, Brugie. I have been trying to move the ones in pots to a more sheltered area but the ones in the ground just have to tough it out. This has been an incredible year for weather extremes, it seems, and summer has just started..
Mine just look terrible after all the winds we have had. I'm ready for everything to die down and see some incredible blooms. We had horrible storms all afternoon yesterday, but luckily it passed to the north of us and we missed all the hail. Some hail was 5" in diameter, which is larger than a softball! Ugh....that would be ugly!
Looking to the west...
Brinda....beautiful photo!
Beautiful pic, Brinda.
I think I have every brug eating bug known to man! I've never seen so much bug damage and the grasshoppers are back in full force. I'm going to buy some stuff my nursery sells to get rid of them. They eat it and die and the ones that didn't eat the killer, eat the poisoned grasshoppers and then they too die! Sounds gross, but hey, you do what you have to, I guess :) Gretchen
That's right, Gretchen, get hard hearted with them. LOL I have so many swiss cheese leaves on the cutting I set under the edge of the red tip Photinas so they sun wouldn't bake them. Looks like I traded the witch for the devil. LOL
Oh Ada -- I can relate! I have tried so hard to be completely organic with the brugs, like everything else, but I could not control the bugs, and they were eating me out of house and home!!! I finally broke down and dosed them all with Bayer All in One Systemic for Roses and Flowers about 3 weeks ago, and I can honestly tell a big difference! I'll have to do it every six weeks, though and its expensive when you have to treat 70+ plants (about $1.00 per plant. Guess that's n ot so bad now that I think about it). And its a pain in the can, as I mix it individually for each plant to get the proper dosage. Anyway, I'm thinking about trying what Kell uses -- Bayer Systemic for Trees, as it lasts an entire year. Guess I'll make that decision when the time comes to re-dose them.
Best of luck, Gretchen. I've purchased some of the Bayer and have put it on some of mine. I'll have to buy more if I put it on all of them.
We have black grasshoppers with red on them. I was able to kill off most when young. I saw an adult yesterday, time for a hand granade. Or me and my size 8s. My husband says I am cruel. One evening after he has said this one to many times he better keep one eye open as he sleeps. I will know cruel when I place alot of leaves of all sorts and 100's of the bugs that eat them. Now that is cruel.