OK.. I am very VERY excited!! Rosamond is ALIVE!! Today when I went on my Brug rounds I discovered THIS!!
Beginning Brugmaniac
I was just telling Kell, on another thread that I have a Cherokee upstairs that had been doing well and then went kaput on me. I'm going to bring it outside with everything else so I don't forget to keep watering it. Who knows! Maybe she will come back as well! :-)
Maybe so! It can't hurt and it just may decide to keep going! This one just kept shriveling down the stem and looking more and more wrinkly. I must have unpotted her about 3 times to check the roots and they were always good so I kept going. LOL.. I ran out and gave my DH a huge hug and he said "What is happening??" lol
On another note I still have all my brug's inside. Every time I think I will take them outside the temp drops or else I have to go to Dad's (and I don't trust the DH to watch them properly while they make the transistion to outside) Are they ok as long as it stays above 40 degrees?
Yes - they can handle 40. Mine have even handled less than that - but it's best to harden them off a little at a time so they don't go through a dramatic climate change. If the weather says less than 40 I don't take my chances and bring them back inside. It hasn't been under 40 for weeks now, and by now I know I'm pretty much safe. I always plant all my annuals at mid-May.
Well Karrie, I put all of mine outside today and , as you know, it has been pounding rain all night. What do you think they will look like by morning? Jeanette
umm.. wet? (please don't hit me..lol)
Seriously though, some of my annuals that came back up this year (yay) have gotten rather large and lank and the rain has pushed them out like parting hair. I am waiting for the first bloom to be over so I can cut them back to a more pleasing and chubby shape.
OK.. so when I come home Wednesday I shall drag the Brugs and tomatoes outside.. Or rather.. When I come home Wednesday I shall have my DH drag the Brugs outside (Did I mention they were in really large pots?)
AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH
Today during my Brug review and while digging some osmocote into the pots I discovered that Isabella was once again covered with webs and this time they definately look spidermitish! Complete with spotted and yellowing leaves. sigh. I read alot of the boards for help but was limited by the fact that i am leaving soon (like I should already be on the road) to Indiana.
OK.. here is what I did.. Browsing my cupboards found a little H2O2 and was going to use that in conjunction with dish soap.. couldn't find dish soap. found murphy's oil soap.. thought hmm... oil... soap... ok.. So I filled one side of the sink with Murphy's and warm water. Wrapped the pots and around the stems with saran wrap (so the dirt wouldn't fall out when I tipped the pots. And one by one I took them to the sink.. swished and rubbed each leaf and stem, swished again and let them sit a bit.. Then for experimentations sake (this whole thing is an experiment really) I rinsed off two and left the stuff on two. I took one unrinsed and one rinsed outside under dappled shade and the other two I put back inside where they were. (Isabella went outside since she was the one that was really infested) I am really hoping I haven't killed them all.. But won't be able to check them until Wednesday. I also gave them all a nice watering afterwards. What do you think?
Jazz,
A good idea because peroxide and murphy's oil soap has been used before. So has peroxide and regular Palmolive. I was told to steer clear of any of the anti-bacterial soaps, however, so make a mental note of that - not sure what it does.
If you got them in time, it should work. Last year it didn't work for me, but mine very very infested. I had to resort to Malathion (not an organic measure) to finally get mine under control.
As I am going to do my best to avoid these this year, I am going to go ahead and use the Malathion on mine again (going to spray them after the leaves are completely dry). I hated to resort to that but wasn't left with any more options.
Jeanette,
Did you put them in pots outside or in the ground outside? The two I put in the ground don't get a whole lot of rainwater as they are in a bed that are under the eave of the house. But I am going to go check on them here in a little bit. The ones in pots we brought up on the porch when it really started raining hard yesterday late afternoon. They are all fine. I'd taken them off the porch to give them a shower. LOL - as soon as they were showered the rain started coming down hard. Those brugs are all safe and sound up on the porch now. I hear we might get a temporary break from the rain off and on tomorrow.
They had "Snow Bank", a variegated brug at the Garden Show. I didn't even look to see what the price was because I wasn't interested in buying it. They were nice sized starts though.
Karrie
Whew.. good to know that they probably won't die because of this treatment. I just hope that it works. The isabella was very infested and that was one that I rinsed. Oh well maybe the ladybugs will get it. I thought about looking round the house to try to find some of the ladybugs that wintered over!! (I think they have all left now..sigh.. just when I could have used them!)
We seem to have alot of lady bugs this year.
I just found in a gardening book that you can use 5 ounces of sugar to a quart of water and spray your plants to attract lady bugs. It says not to spray directly on a lady bug because it will glue their wings together. But the problem with this, is the sugar also attracts pests such as slugs, and I can't see a lady bug being able to eat a slug. Alot of the treatments such as that, that I have found in these "gardening tip" books are like that. They may attract the good bug, but they attract bad bugs as well. What to do?
I had sprayed my plants for spider mites again and yesterday I was looking at them and there was a lady bug flopping all over the place in the soil. Must have gotten some of the spray. That's too bad.
Yes, my plants did get plenty wet Punkin. Don't know about your rinse treatment. I am sure it won't hurt them but don't know if it would help them. Might hold them over though.
I have done things like that to put the plants away for the winter just in case there were any eggs etc. but not when I actually knew they had something.
Where was the plant show and what was it Karrie? I guess you did mention it and I missed it.
Jeanette
Jeanette,
It was at Spokane Community College on Greene St. on Saturday. It is given by the Inland Empire Garden Association every year. My neighbor across the street is a member, and I used to be a member, but didn't feel I had time for it. I've been thinking about rejoining - but I'd probably miss most of the meetings again - I find meetings boring - being a secretary for many years and taking notes, you must understand that, lol! But I do keep in touch with them and share seedlings with them when I have extras.
Jazz,
There is another thread going on about the "color of the leaf" that seems to be leading to mites, but I'm not altogether sure it is mites.
Seems to me that it is a good idea to ID your mites to find out about its' life cycle. I have Carmine Spider mites, and the life cycle is 7 days...so every 7 days I treat. Boring...but necessary!...
Carol
That would be a good idea - if I could have just "seen" them last year. I need to get a magnifying glass.
Well, If they come back I will try to look more closely at them. It's too late now and I scrubbed all my plants. I had taken one to my Dad's and I looked under the leaves when I got here. Found a few red spots so wewent out and got some Pyrethrin spray. It said it took care of mite eggs as well as the adults.. we shall see.
Found more webs on my plants outside (I have them all outside now.. none died :) I sprayed them down with Safer beand insecticidal soap. It listed spider mites as something it worked on.
On the good news side of the fence, my rosamond is really going to town! Not even two weeks since I first noticed the green peeping out of the dirt and here she is today!
She looks great Jazz!! I, too have spotted some spider webbing, think it's time for some more Bayer 3 in 1! Those things are horrible, they just suck the leaves of all the color and they fall off grrrrrrrrrrrr
Julie
I'm using the Neem now. It isn't very expensive and goes a long ways. It gets aphids and spider mites, and also serves as a fungicide. I kinda like the idea of covering so many bases with one product.
Today's inspection revealed no spider mites! I will spray again next week.
OK.. All my babies are outside now. I planted 4 of them, the rest are still hardening off. I am hoping that they do well Three were planted near the hemlock stump so I am hoping that it isn't too acidic there for them. the other is nearer the norway spruce which my meter tells me is a perfect 6. :)
I gotta find some Neem...where can I find it? The Drug Store? If so, which one?
Julie, Lowe's carries it.
Well I guess I'll be taking a ride down to Lowe's this weekend. Thanks Ada! :-) Wish I had a Lowe's down the road, it's like taking a trip to get to the one that we have. Then again, I don't get out of Harlem much lol...I'm such a home body :-)
Hugs
Julie
Julie, any hydroponic store should carry it also. Jeanette
But I am sure the trip would probably do you good if you are as rural as we are.
No kidding Jeanette - you're up there in beautiful country but quite a ways from a real shopping center aren't you?
Yes, Karrie, it is really LUSH now with all of this rain. Beautiful but wet. LOL
Jeanette
I AM SO EXCITED!!! Isabella.. Once the dastardly carrier of spider mites.. HAS A BUD!! MY FIRST BUD!! EVER!!!
Way to Go!!! She sure looks lovely and healthy!!! A proud Mama! Show us the bloom!!!!
Carol
I sure will!!.. lol.. I think the bud is about an inch long.. I will be out there checking on it every day! lol
LOOK LOOK!! My first brugmansia flower!! I know it isn't totally open but still.. very nice.. and there are plenty more coming.. Faint smell but it's just a baby.. Isabella has done me proud.. :)
ack..I got so excited I forgot to post the picture.. sorry
