I had some Messengers left over. Do I understand it is no longer good, after nearly a week?? Even if it isn't I cannot stand to waste it, so I would like to use it on some of our field plants. Do you think that would be okay, or might it damage them? Is there any possible way of keeping left over Messengers??? Maybe the frig??
Cutting Edge technology can help your plants..
Susan - so glad it is working well and you are seeing results. I noticed the best results after 2 or more applications (the cumulative effect). It is making me sad to think my plants only have a month to go before frost looms near and they look so GOOD now - as though they are at their peak.
Kell - wow am I surprised to hear you are experiencing a reaction to Messenger in yourself. You must be really sensitive! I agree that you should put something over your nose and mouth when you spray if it seems to affect you. I would be interested to know if anyone has ever reported an allergic reaction to Messenger. Maybe you could email the company and ask.
SherryLike - The leftover you have - is it already mixed with water? If so, the Harpin Proteins will have completely deteriorated by now so using it will have no effect (at least that is my understanding) - it won't harm anything either - at this point it is just water. Now - if the left over is still in the packet (powder form) - you can keep that for quite a while as long as you seal the package very well and keep it dry and away from light, heat and humidity.
Diane Krny
I had heard someone say once they were skeptical about using on brugs because they thought it made the leaves turn yellow and fall off, but also they had tried something else that was new too at same time, I just wanted to say it's been 2 weeks now and I am impressed to say that none of my leaves turned yellow nor fell off, in fact, I have buds coming onto the Brugs like wild now, and I haven't done anything differently EXCEPT apply the Messenger. Hope that helps someone. I am new with brugs, but I am so very impressed with this product.
Thanks, Diane!!! Next time I'll mix smaller batches, as well as get a sprayer, I nearly wore my hands out last time....
I am also a brug newbie, but I have been lurking around DG for months. I have tried ALL the the different potions and cures suggested. Messengers is the first product that I could see working and it happened almost over night. I admit that I do not have a green thumb, but with the help of this forum maybe I will not kill anymore plants.
Wish I'd ordered the .12 pkts. rather than the bigger .25, have to use only 1/2 pkt for gallon or so. Hope the unused portion keeps well in closed pkt. Having DH use his big sprayer for gallon of spray. He is f-a-s-t!! I am trying to get the pokey brugs to bloom before frost, so I can toss, if they aren't anything special. Ha!
I sprayed my brugs and other plants with Messenger on 9/1...I can notice a difference in the green leaves on most of the plants. Also some of my plants have buds, which I discovered today. I plan to spray again in another week and to use the 1/2 package still have from the first package. It is tightly sealed & should be good.
Welcome BoFo. I'm sure glad you are finding good information from this forum. Hope you will show us pictures of your brugs soon too.
I'm a believer after just one treatment. The new growth looks absolutely wonderful, all the (good) leaves seem to have such a healthy glow and I'm seeing new buds on brugs that I didn't think I'd ever see.
I had a lemon tree that has sat all summer barely growing an inch, it is now covered in new growth.
Can't wait to see my brugs this fall now!
Hey! It already is fall.
I will be spraying this evening, hoping to see all these great things happening before our winter.
All - I am so glad to hear some of you say you are seeing positive results of your own with Messenger -- so few products in this world ever live up to the hype in the advertisements - but this one really does. One thing I know for sure - I have never seen my annuals looking so good so late in the season. So come on guys...post some pictures!
Diane Krny
Have any of you tried it on house plants yet? I am very curious to see how it works for them.
I have so many and so many types of house plants from vines to trees, from ferns to bog plants in my little pond all in my sunroom. Then there are the standard everyday house plants most people have too.
I will probably 'Messenger' the house plants first. I am anxious to see how well my citrus trees do.
Would love to know if anyone has used it for house plants yet.
Welcome BOFO!!! Glad you have joined us here on Dave's. Please do not lurk anymore. We won't bite, well at least not that hard!! LOL We would love to see all your pretty brug pictures. I bet you have some great ones. Kiss kiss!
Hey, BoFo!! Where is Troup TX located??? I'm in your zone, 8a, and I'm glad you have joined DG!!!
Ok, wanted to report in since my first spray on August 31. Brugs....not much change really . The very young rooted cuttings do seem to be growing pretty good though and I have a couple of buds on the larger ones but nothing spectacular. BUT remember I said I sprayed the african violet? This poor plant was just about to go to the trash BEFORE but NOW it is FULL of buds and some blooms already open. The leaves are still standing erect and it's actually one of the best looking african violets I've ever seen! ALL I've done different than before is use the messenger. I'm SOLD! I think maybe with my second spray on the brugs, I'll see more improvement there. Sandra
We sprayed our outdoor plants with a gallon of Messenger today. Can't wait to see if we have any difference in this hot humid climate, before Ivan gets here.
I have used it on indoor plants, and I did notice a difference within days, just didn't take any photos!! Also my seedling brugs are very green and perky, my 2 large )3 and 4 foot) brugs now have buds, so I am definitely sold on this product!!
Yes winter is just around the corner from us, fall has hit already, leaves are dropping from the trees, and with any amount of luck, I will get to see a brug bloom thanks to this Messenger product!! LOL
Judithl, I am thinking of all you southerners who have to worry over the newest Ivan!! thoughts and prayers with all of you down that way!!
~Laurrie
Hello All;
Sorry for the absence, but I’ve been traveling at the Garden Writers Association national convention and was unable to get much time online. Talk about an interesting time! Lot’s of people out there starting to experience Messenger first hand, and it’s exciting to hear their stories!
I see several questions/comments and I’ll try to answer best I can.
To kell:
To the best of my knowledge, we’ve never had a report of sensitivity to Messenger sprays before, and it has been sprayed in large scale agricultural applications for more than 5 years. The MSDS for Messenger classifies it as a non-irritant, with no known incidents of hyper-sensitivity. With that said, we are all individually unique, and it’s impossible to rule out the possibility that you could have some previously unknown hyper-sensitivity. We just have never heard of that before.
If you want to try Messenger again, you mighty try spraying a small amount of Messenger and ensure that you are not breathing the spray mist directly to see if you experience a similar reaction. Messenger isn’t volatile, so there isn’t any volatile compound that you could inhale, only the fine spray mist. If it’s windy, you are hypersensitive, and you are directly breathing the spray mist, then you may want to take other precautions. Another possibility is that maybe something else caused your reaction (mold, dust, pollen, etc) that was coincidental with your Messenger spray.
To SherryLike:
That KRNYSGRL is the best tech adviser we have! I'm thinking of asking her to change her name to MessengerGuru ; )
Good and accurate advice on using up product once it’s mixed…use it within 4 hours for best results. It might last longer in solution under the right conditions, but it depends on a whole bunch of water quality variables so the best advice is to only mix up what you need at any one time and go give your plants a treat.
Please don’t ever let mixed up product go to waste…be creative…you can spray virtually any plant in your landscape or in your house. Soil drenching a container or two is a good use of leftover material (although it’s not the most EFFICIENT way to apply Messenger) compared to throwing it away! Do you have some lawn that isn’t growing well, maybe in some shade? Use your leftover Messenger on your lawn and let us know what you see. We’re looking for feedback on turf.
To picturelady:
You will be fine with your tightly sealed packet of Messenger. You took precautions to protect the powder from air and moisture once the packet was opened, and it should be perfectly fine for at least 3 weeks (that would cover 2 applications)
Many thanks to all for your comments. We love to see people discovering the wonders that Messenger seems to unlock in the garden.
Best wishes,
Jeff
Thanks, Jeff!! I was just in the garden taking photos. The plants in these two photos, as well as all my other brugs, have had both Messengers & Mighty Plant within the last couple of weeks. Sorry I don't have before pics, I had to replace my reader card in my digital. The first brug, is a short tree, living in a pot and is not named. It was covered in leaves before the Messengers was applied, with no buds that I noticed. After the Messengers, it got tons of buds and within the past few days, since it started blooming, the leaves fell off. I guess, if I can't have it all, I'd rather have blooms...the leaves didn't have bugs, and it's bloomed all summer. The Messengers and Mighty Plants is the only thing I've done differently. Have any of you had anything like this????
Oooops, I forgot the photo with the last post, sorry about that!!
This is Poor Butterfly, I've seen no bugs, but it looked like it's leaves were all chewed off. I only have two brugs that have serious problems, Butterfly & Whiskers. The holes in the leaves of the other brugs are from limbs and small sticks thrown by a tree and they shoot the brugs like darts, and the wind has also torn some leaves. If you think Butterfly looks bad now, you should have seen it before the Messengers & Mighty Plants, it was totally nude; however, Butterfly started out nicely and bloomed at least twice (the plant was very small when it bloomed) before what ever it was got it. Almost immediately after I applied the Messengers, Butterfly started putting on new growth, which is wrinkled, but otherwise, it appears healthy and doing much better than before the application. I cannot imagine why Butterfly had this problem - it is the only plant in that garden that has 'caught' it and all of the brugs have all had the same treatment. I'm going to use the Messengers again, later this week...
I believe that curled under growth is caused by broad mites Sherry. You can't see them.
Thanks, Kell!!! I just sprayed them with Avid, will that do it, and should I spray them again?? I might be dreaming this but it seems like I read recently that Rosebella has broad mites, ya think?? Well, I have a beautiful, very healthy, with zero bugs, Rosebella (thanks, Ada!), living in the next hole down from Butterfly and the Rosebella is so perfect that I fully expect her, one of these days, to say 'thanks, Sherry', truly she is almost human...
Is that, Rosebella, the same as Rosabelle, Sherry?
I think no one brug has broad mites in everyone's yard, but a Rosabelle may have had them in someone's yard.
Avid did not work for me, but that is not to say it won't for you! Another symptom is all the leaves fall off in late stage attack. The growth tips are bare.
Oooops, Kell, it looks like I cannot read my own writing, I wrote it Rosebella on the tag, I'm sure it must be Rosebelle. Truth is, my writing is fine, it's my eyes that are the problem and I've gotten in a terrible habit of not using my magnifying glass, so I guess and, as with Rosebelle, I'm often wrong.
All but a few leaves had dropped off and new growth is coming on strong. Is there something in particular which will take care of broad mites??? And, do you spray more than once?? For plants that are supposed to be so deadly poisonous, I would think the brugs would kill the bugs, which must be really tough little suckers.
Sherry, that's Rosabelle with an A
Good golly, thankfully, you showed up, sweet Ada, to lead me through this - apparently I have a brand new condition, 'letter spaced dyslexia', in addition to my poor eyesight!!!
Looks like my, oh so healthy brug, will require a new tag!!! Thanks all, and please forgive...
WAHoo!! Hey guys - this afternoon I found the first ever bloom on my Passiflora! And YES, absolutely, I'm convinced 3 applications of Messenger are responsible. I bought this cutting off ebay in March - yes, MARCH and the picture on the left shows you how SSLLOOWWLY it has grown for me as this represents 7 months growth. That vine is only about 16-17 inches long now (it was about 5 inches when I got it). No amount of begging, whispering sweet nothings, full sun exposure or fertilizer could coax much growth and certainly not a bloom. Then came Messenger to the rescue.. I first noticed buds about 2 weeks after the first application (I have been spraying Messenger in about 2-3 week intervels). Today I literally jumped up and down with excitement when I saw this flower. I love it! Now I want to buy some of the more dramatic bloom colors like red and try them next year. Any of you grow northern gardeners grow these? I'm not even sure variety this is - -I think it's the most common one, though. Can anyone tell me if I can expect actual fruit off this?
I at times call it Rosebelle in error, Sherry. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a different brug. There are so many now, hard to keep track of them all.
Sherry, we all have these problems and it gets worse with age. LOL
Diane, that is gorgeous!...Congratulations.
I bought the Messenger and plan to try it, but like anything else, it needs to be done when you have two identical plants or two or more of something so part can be sprayed and part not. I will do this next spring so I can actually see if there is a difference. My question is.....without using Messenger in a test plot, so to speak, we have nothing to compare the plants sprayed with it. So, do we know it makes our plants grow or would they have had this growth anyway? Since this is an expensive venture for a large scale gardener, I have to hold my opinion on this product until I can see what it really does. I did use a gallon of it, three weeks ago, and I cannot see that anything made a growth spurt, but I'm nearing the end of the growing season. This is why I decided I had to wait and see.
Brugie, I was thinking of this also.
My growing season out of doors is almost over. Everything is getting ready for winter and I don't want to encourage upper growth when this is happening.
I do plan to use it in my sunroom on my houseplants. I have more than one of almost everything from trees and vines and flowers and foliage plants. This winter is my time for messenger.
I want to try it on some seedlings this winter, myself. I sure hope it does everything it says it will. Good luck with your plants this winter. I don't know about you, but I'm sure not looking forward to the cold again.
krnysgirl, it looks like p. edulis, the common purple passion fruit. there are several varieties of it too.. some red, one is yellow, etc. it is usually self-fertile.
I have been following this thread since I saw a link to it at the hosta forum. This sounds like great stuff so I ordered some. BingsBell- "Everything is getting ready for winter and I don't want to encourage upper growth..." I live in Michigan and had the same concern about using the product now so I emailed the company. This is part of the reply I received - "This is actually a great time to apply Messenger, in that a lot of your plants are gearing up for winter storage in the roots. Messenger can be sprayed until first frost, and can encourage your plants to better prepare for the winter." I sprayed today, just my newer plants that went in the ground in the last few weeks. I will also be using it on my seedlings this winter. But I'm really excited about trying it out in the spring!
I did my second round of Messanger on Sep 12, I should have time for one more round. I do have some nice new growth on some of my sickly brugs. Maybe it will help with the stresses of winter.
Jeff, for those new people to this thread, is there a chance of another special offer going to happen anytime soon? I know there are alot of newer people now watching this thread.
Thanks
Yep, I am one of them. I have added this thread to my watch list.
GardenKat......Thanks for the info on spraying now. This product is soooo new to me and I guess I really don't fully understand how it works.
It sounds so unbelievable yet we have people here who see differences and even show us through pictures that it DOES WORK!
I guess I will spray today....oooooo...How exciting!