Laura -- they look good! You're going to be a great brug mama!
Beginning Brugmaniac
Thanks Guys. It helps to hear people say "Me too" and "It's ok" :) Now if the weather would just warm back up so I can get these critters outside and start worrying about hardening them off properly! LOL
ooops !
This message was edited Apr 26, 2005 6:21 PM
Jazz, Thoser are not spidermites are they ?
;'(
Well..actually I posted that question on another thread. It sounds like spider mites have webs that are flush to the leaves not out between or spanning the gaps but I could be wrong and need someone more experienced that I to say. Anyone?
Are those webs??? Jeanette
Looks like the Scooterbug has some webs!
Jazz, when spider mites get to the worst point...with no treatment of insecticide, they web will expand out all over the place leaving webs under the leaf, over the leaf, and basically all over the plant like you see in the pic above of Scooters. I am sorry I can even attest to this lol...but it's happened to me just like that above. The leaves will soon drop off but there is light at the end of the tunnel....the leaves will come back!!! Good as new..so don't fret, the plant will still live :)
Julie
jnette, that was just a heads-up for Jazz
I wasnt sure thats why I asked. As you well know you cant let those lil buggerz get a hold .
Making the photo larger still didnt tell for sure.
Its up to Jazz to chek them out in person.
Better safe than sorry.
I am so glad I brought all my plants in the house last night. We've had real nice weather (almost 80) for about 3 days, and the lows were in the upper 40's - so I took advantage of it. I look at Weather.com every morning and every night and there was a wind advisory - so they all went back in the house last night. This morning I got up and sure enough - it is very windy out there, and much colder. It's sunny, but 35 mph winds aren't good for my brugs - beats them up badly. The wind is supposed to go away around 2 this afternoon and if it does, I'll bring them out for awhile, but they will be coming in at night for at least a week because the lows are going to be like 31 - yuck. It was so summery there for a little while. Weather.com is one of a gardener's best friends. :-)
Well.. I still don't know. There were no webs actually laying ON the leaves but there were plenty of tiny brownish critters inside the webs. I couldn't tell if they were victims or inhabitants but I decided to take no chances and took all the plants one by one to the sink and hosed them off with the sprayer. (used very warm water) Haven't looked at them again yet today but will in a bit
Well, I'm probably responsible for that Jazz... I have been fighting them all winter and thought I had the babies free of them before shipping. So sorry if those critters came from me :(
I don't know.. They were only on the one cutting even though they all all very close together. And I looked the plants over tonight and they look just as green and healthy as they always have. Don't mites leave spots or wilty plants or something?
At least try hosing off those webs.
I did
oh good! They really don't look like the kind of webbing I had when I had spider mites. They look more like environmental damage to me. And those mites better not come back this year, because I'm armed and dangerous! :-)
lol Karrie! Me too!
Well. Whether they were or weren't I think I do have them. See tiny little dark things on the underside of the leaves. I have a pair or reading glasses somewhere.. gonna go dig them out and see if I can tell
Hmmmmm - the spider mites I had weren't visible to the naked eye. You had to use a magnifying glass to see them.
I can usually see them with my glasses on, but can feel their presence by what they leave on the backs of the leaves. Speckled and yellowing leaves is always a dead giveaway and says they have been there for quite a while.
urg, arg - brings back such unpleasant memories, lol!
ok.. no speckled or dying leaves.. yay
If they are from me, and I fear they are.......they are tiny little red specs on the underside of the leaves, and as Brugie mentioned, the underside of the leaves will have a gritty feel. Laura, I am so sorry I sent you bugs! You can wash them off under a soft spray of water and gentle rubbing between your thumb and forefinger. The best way to kill the little suckers is to drown them and wash them down the drain. My personal opinion. Everyone has their own remedies for this, and obviously if I sent them to you, I'm not doing a good job of managing them.... I sure hope you get rid of them without too much hassle!
Gretchen, I've heard of much worse. I've heard of people finding bugs and eggs in so-called dry seed packets. Some of them alive! ewwwwwww! I try not to send anything like that, but dread the day someone tells me I accidentally did.
You shared something very wonderful with someone. And it really doesn't sound to me like the problem came from you. But if it did, I hope she or he can forgive you - as we all have accidents once in awhile.
Absolutely! I was and still am THRILLED that you took the time and effort to send me not one but FIVE brugs! A few bugs aren't going to spoil it for me. I gave them a washing once but no rubbing. I may take them back to the sink and work a little harder. But I still haven't seen any webbing on the leaves themselves so who knows what it was. And if it was mites then they were giant mites! The webs really looked like what happens when a spider egg pod hatches and there is the web with a zillion tiny babies.
If the webs aren't on the leaves, where are they? Jeanette
They were strung between the leaves like a normal spider web
If they were strung between the leaves, they probably were regular spiders. Lucky you. I'll take regular spiders anytime over mites.
Me too! The Mites sounds awful.. Whatever they were I washed them all down the drain
No kidding! And regular spiders eat bugs!
I Know!! When I first saw them I thought..Great! They will keep the critters off my brugs.. Then I got paranoid.. lol.. oh well.. really didn't want a house full of spiders either
yours are still in your house? My spider mite problem was pretty much gone when mine went in the house - but then came the aphids. Have that under control now, so hoping the spider mites don't come back and get me now that mine are going outdoors quite a bit of the time now.
I was going to take them outside but then it snowed so I decided to wait
Probably a good idea. I do know they like fresh air, so if they are in small enough containers to cart back and forth - they'd love the sunny days. Just avoid putting them in the wind - they don't like that at first. Batters up their leaves. It seemed to me last year that they eventually got heartier to the wind.
They probably would (if the leaves survive :) I am watching the forecasts to see when I can put them out.. what is the lowest temp they can take?
Oh and um.. Should I be fertilizing these guys? At what size do you start fertilizing?
Laura: I am so glad that you got rid of the pests, whatever they were! Those that I sent you, yes by all means fertilize them. They had been fertilized by me numerous times, they were small just because I held them back in the 4" pots. Once you start fertilizing them regularly and get them into some fresh air and sunlight, they should really take off for you. As for your seedlings, I think most people wait until they get their real leaves, as opposed to their cotyledons (seed leaves), and then water them with 1/2 strength fert until they're big enough that full strength won't burn them.
Karrie: Thank you!
OK.. I better go get some.. now if I can just find those numbers..was it 18-5-18 or something like that.// ack. going to search
You can use anything -- Peters, MG, etc. Whatever works well for you. And, yes Monika recommends that your middle number (phosphorus) is lower than your Nitrogen and Potassium.
I keep mine indoors if the forecast says anything 39 or below - except for my established taller ones - they stay in unless it says 37 or lower. I don't take chances with mother nature.
Because she's a "joker".
Boy that's for sure.. We had frost Sunday morning! Sheesh! Ok.. Last night I transplanted 5 seedlings into foam cups (poked a couple holes on the sides near the base) This morning they look a little limpy but I am hoping that is just from cold. They were in one of those little tabletop green houses before (warm and moist) and now they are out just under the lights. The basement is a bit cooler than the rest of the house.