Something is attacking my brugs. I've look for insects with high powered lens but could not find any. Notice the plants appear to be dying from the top down. These are planted in the ground but I also have a couple in pots doing the same thing.
Any assistance you can give me would be appreciated.
Judy
A close up of the stem
The top of one of the plants
Judy, a couple of mine did the same thing and one snapped in a storm where the stem looked like yours. Inside a catapillar was boring through the center, but it's good and dead now! Not sure if a systemic is the answer or if other means would work. Good luck, Neal
Neal,
Thank you so very much for your response.
Judy
Judy, some of the stems on mine are showing the same callusing, but there is no die-back in the plant tops. I thought it might be the high temps we've been experiencing. It was 99° here yesterday and supposed to be back in the mid 90's today.
The leaves in your last pic are similar to what mine looked like when I had broad mites on everything.
Barb
Barb, What did you use to kill the broad mites? Thank you for posting.
gemini_sage - I've going to chop this one into and see if I can find anything inside.
Sure looks like a terrible case of broadmites to me too. They attack the top new growth first and work down. If they are left unchecked, the top growth leafs break off just like in the last picture.
This is an advanced case. I would take off all the infested leaves, bag them well!!! The leaves are crisp, hard, and brittle. They are ruined anyway. And spray with Neem or some insecticide that lists broad mites. Not all miticides kill broadmites so check.
When you are done go wash your clothes twice and take a shower. They hitch hike on you to your other plants. They can be dreadful to get rid of.
I would also spray Neem on all the new leaves on all my brugs so if they are starting on them, you nip it in the bud.
As far as your trunk picture, I think it is fine. Not to worry.
Good luck. I hate broadmites so much!
Kell,
Thanks for the detailed information. I'm going to make a trip to the big city to get some Neem.
Judy
I personally love Neem. It is not poison so you do not have to be scared to use it. Also the mites do not get tolerant of it so it works forever on them.
Some say it burns their leaves if you do it in the hot sun. So for your healthy brugs you are going to spray the growth tips on, do it in the early morning or late afternoon so the hot sun does not hit them.
Make sure you hit the total bottom of the leaves, it acts by suffocating so you need to get all the surfaces. On the ones that have the infestation, drench the leaves and branches with Neem. Esp all those growth tips that have lost all their new growth. In just a few days you will have new leaves coming out.
It is remarkable how they bounce back.
Judy, if you can't see them with high powered lens they must be tiny.
Ruth
Ruth, broadmites are tiny but I have no clue what magnification you need to see them.
The only other thing that I have heard cause undercurling is a calcium deficiency and you can give gypsum to add the calcium. However, the 3rd picture really looks like broadmites damage to me. And I have sadly had them a lot. LOL
Judy, I'm sorry I didn't get back to you before now, but Kell gave you the info I would have. I used Neem with moderate success. My problem is that I didn't remove and bag the affected leaves first. That makes a lot more sense than trying to spray every square inch of every leaf on every plant... you get the picture. They are a bear to get rid of, too. I mentioned this problem to Brenda at Seed Sprout Nursery when I first realized what I was dealing with and she recommended Avid or Forbid in addition to the Neem. Good luck with them.
Barb
Barb & Kell,
Thank you for the advice.
Judy
Mites feed on plants by sucking out plant juices, leaving leaves stippled, yellow and dry, or with pale yellow spots or blotches. They also suck chlorophyll out of leaves, causing small white dots to appear. Finally, they inject toxins into the leaves, discoloring and distorting them. If you notice any of the above symptoms, or fine webbing covering leaves, shoots and flowers, your plant is probably infested with mites. Since they are almost invisible to the naked eye, you can confirm your suspicion through examination of the undersides of the leaves with a magnifying glass. Tap a few leaves or a small branch tip against a sheet of white paper and look for the tiny culprits crawling on the paper.
Since mites thrive in hot, dry conditions, light infestations can usually be controlled simply with water, sprayed forcefully on the affected plant every other day in the early morning, beginning as soon as the first stippling of leaves is detected. Make sure you spray the undersides of the leaves, and wash plants at least three times. If mites persist or infestation is heavy, spray with insecticidal soap every 3 to 5 days for two weeks. Severely infested plants or infested portions may require destruction and disposal, since its hard to rein in a mite infestation once it's well underway.
Judy, Neem doesnt help against Broad mites. You need a systemic akarizid like Abamectin. After seven days, you have to spray Abamectin a second time. Be sure to spray especially the small sprouts and young leaves all the way down the stem.
Judy, I agree 100% with Monika. The very best method to control broad mites is a systemic miticide like Abamectin (Avid) or any other approved miticide for broad mites. However, this stuff is very expexsive, but a little does go a very long way.
I live on a fixed income and cannot afford Avid, and I have not had acceptable results using Neem oil. What I use to control them is horticultural oil, but at greater than recommended rates. For example if it says to use 2 tablespoons per gallon, I will use 3 -4 tablespoons depending on if it is one of the heavier or lighter oils. You do run the risk of defoliation of the brug, especially if it is under stress or in the hot sun, but it will kill the mites.
Here are a couple of pictures of what my Day Dreams looked like before and after treatment with horticultural oil.
Here is a picture of her one month later after the treatment with oil. She did lose all of her leaves, but that was mostly my fault. I did not make sure that she was well watered the evening that I treated her and she willted badly in the hot sun the next day.
So if you cannot go the Avid route, try the horticultural oil.
Please do not tell my broadmites that, that is all I use against them and it has worked every time till they pop up somewhere else. God forbid they read Dave's! LOL
The trouble with Avid here in some parts of California, is it has been so overused, broad mites no longer respond to it. I have tried it myself and it didn't work. I couldn't understand it till I read about how mites have mutated because of its overuse. I prefer Neem anyway because it is not a traditonal insecticide so I do not feel like I am killing myself when I use it.
At any rate, throw everything you have at them for they are very troublesome.
Here are a couple of links I found that might be useful in ID and treatment.
http://www.optimara.com/doctoroptimara/diagnosis/broadmites.html
http://ipm.ncsu.edu/current_ipm/03PestNews/03News11/ornament.html
Here is what they have done to some of my seedlings in the past. It is so much easier if they attack my little plants for I can just lift them up and spray Neem all over them. I think I have a picture of this one after treatment, it grew great. I will look for it. The big problem with Neem or any other oil is that you have to cover all the growing areas. So if you miss some, the mites come roaring back.
I edited my entry for I just found out registration for Hi-yield systemic insecticide granules was cancelled in February so it is illegal to sell it anymore. Also I just learned that PAN has classified Disulfoton 2% as a PAN Bad Actor, which then makes it either Extremely Toxic or Highly Toxic!! Everyone needs to make up their own mind whether to use it or not. Mites are bad but not worth getting sick over.
This message was edited Aug 29, 2006 10:55 PM
The least expensive place I found Avid is Primary Products Catalog for Serious Gardeners. It is $86.95 plus S&H for 8 oz. That is wa-a-a-a-a-y out of my budget. Looks as though I am going to have to hope the other methods are successful. Good luck with your fight, too, Judy.
Barb
Hi David. We cross posted. I have used Horticultural oil too with good results. To me it is very smilar to Neem. I like Neem only because it comes from a Neem Tree instead of being petroleum based. I am sure it doesn't really matter though as far as one being more healthy than the other.
Here is a great link about oils for those that like to use more organic ways of insect control. I hate spraying with pesticides because I always get it all over myself. When I read people use Neem even for toothpaste, I thought that is for me. LOL
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/Pubs/insect/05569.html
Barb, if you can find a friend or 2 you can share it with, it goes a long way. I bought mine at Rosemania and I think it was a little bit more than that. Do you still have broad mites? Gosh I hope not. These are why a lot of people hate brugs I think! BUGS!! Have you tried Di-syston on them? That is so inexpensive, it would be great if it worked for it is so easy to apply just to the soil.
I think but am not positive that this is the tray that had the broad mites so bad. They all recovered as you can see. I also took all the trays and bleached them outside to kill any mites that had fallen. I also washed down my seedling table with alcohol. I was determined not to get them back for it was a nightmare and I didn't thank goodness.
Last year (or was it another lifetime ago??) I had Carmine Mites and Broad Mites. I stripped ALL of the leaves, buds and new growth off and sprayed with AVID...in 7 day intervals 2wice. Burned the leaves. Got rid of them!!! The Bmites love to be in the newest forming buds....and leaves!
Well, I am so hopelessly confused... I think this is just a bad dream, but sleepwalker, Judy, just stripped the brugs that were damaged. I came within a hare's breath of disposing of the brugs but at the last minute opted for stripping off leaves. If they had not been such desirable brugs, the complete plant would be in a tied off plastic bag in the garbage dumpster, instead of just their leaves.
Then I used a systemic which is no longer available, but was listed for use in controlling mites, just didn't specify which mites. I've either cured or killed about 20 brugs, the ones with the mites and those around them.
I'm confused from all the internet research I was doing on the systemic insecticides I had on hand, all of which it turned out had the same insecticide but different names. Then I read on was banned, but found it for sale on a USA website... Oh Glory!! Does that mean it's now allowed??
Finally I just used one of them because it was in granule form and I could just shake it on, plus I will have to order in the Avid/Abamectin and the Co-Op closed at Noon so I didn't have the opportunity to check what they had in stock. (I like the 'shake in the pot' stuff.)
Wish me luck and I appreciate the postings.
Judy
This message was edited Jul 16, 2006 2:37 PM
Just checked and that 8oz of Avid is$135 now (!)
This gardening business can certainly get capital intensive!
This message was edited Jul 5, 2008 4:58 PM
Some people got together and did a co-op for that on one of the Brug sites. Don't remember which one..... Probably been done more than once. A little goes a long way, so a bottle can be divided up among a group or 4-5 and you'll still all have plenty to fight mites with. Don't overuse it though.
I'm going with the heavy oil approach for now --we'll see wha' hoppens.
Avid works well, but FORBID also penetrates the leaves to the other side and kills the mites there AND their EGGS. I refuse to use anything else where I live for now. I am in the country in Florida and we have some vicious mites out here. FORBID has done much better than AVID and I only have to spray every couple of months. Both AVID and FORBID come from a micro-organism that lives in soil and does come from a natural source. That being said, it is still a poison so use normal precautions. Comforting though that it is classified as a CAUTION when properly mixed. It is odorless and colorless. Good stuff!! Kills all types of mites--spider, broad leaf, rust mites--etc. The way it works, I once read, makes it darn near impossible to build up immunity to. It causes the mites to dry out and die by interfering with their ability to absorb moisture and it works very quickly. The eggs essentially dry up to a crisp too.
I don't have time to post much and usually lurk a couple times a week to get cuaght up on plant happenings. But, I hoped this could help someone out there. Mites are the biggest pain in the A$$ I have with brugs and since I found this stuff, I LOVE it. Expensive, but a small bottle lasts forever because you use only what amounts to around a couple of drops per gallon. it pays for itself.
Brad
I see it for $270 for 8 ounces. Yow!
I've got Forbid in my arsenal too. I alternate - but that being said, it's just spider mites for me so far. This year I've stayed organic, which is always my intention..... however, when mites can't be controlled with organic means I'm going to drag out my arsenal. If broad mites invade - I'm throwing in the towel and moving to the coastline.
Here is the person i buy from. Best prices I have found.
http://stores.ebay.com/Sunshine-Gardens_Insecticides_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ6QQftidZ2QQtZkm
I use a combination, Forbid, anti-stress 2000 and Ivermectin. All are real docile. They do not kill indiscriminately. Most times just the target mites.
When using a mitacide it might be a good idea to use a pheromone .
http://rosemania.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/product121.html
I use hort oil to spray my neighbors mite infested plants in the summer and use oils on mine in cool weather. Also use a good sticker not household detergent.
