Oh my....can you believe this pic? It does amaze me how FAST those wonderful pre-butterfly worms can destroy a beautiful brug.....this happened in 24 hours. This variegated brug had the most beautiful foliage and I really didn't care if it ever bloomed or not.......I loved the foliage that much! I've been so busy the past few days trying to get rid of spider mites and mealy bugs that I missed those blasted worms!
Spidermite damage! Eeeeewwwww!
I can certainly tell that we didn't have a hard winter!
I know how you feel I had a couple last night about the same damage and it just made me sick..And I did not see them coming, I had just watered that night and they looked good and in 24hrs it is hard to believe that something that small can do so much damage.
Vickie
I feel for you Brinda, that is what my B peaches n'cream looks like. I don't think I am going to bother growing it next year. It always get's eatten up by the cats.
So sorry, Brinda. I have one or two that look like that too. LOL
LOL....thanks for the sympathy everyone! If any of them survive after I blasted them, I'm moving! LOL
Cats LOVE Maya/P & C. Every year they get mine if I do not spray BT fast and furious. Though usually it takes just one time to spray it.
Oh Brinda, I could scream myself.
I am dying with mites suddenly. I had such luck all season and then ZAP with a capital Z! I sprayed Neem the other day and noticed I had mites even on roses but I was out today and I see even more plants covered in them. Plants I never have had mites on before. You know I have lots of roses and some of them for the first time in my life have mites. It had to be the dry, hot spell we had here. They went nuts.
No way I can spray Neem and cover every leaf. So I have been researching miticides and think I will order Forbid. It will even work if you do not get the entire leave, if only the top it still kills mites on the underside and has residual control for four to six weeks I read. The main reason is its toxicity to hunmans is low. Though I still need to buy some PPG. I hate spraying poison so much!
Now to find some PPG.
Good luck Brinda! Don't you hate this part of gardening? I hope you can get it all in control in time for your big party.
I have a bunch of Cat's all of a sudden but not on my Brugs but on my Dutchmans Pipe. They are dark with red splotches and I haven't had the time to photo them for ID....
I can pick these off and throw them away so I won't have to much damage to my plant.....
I know how you feel because they can make a mess of a pretty nice plant.
Dee
So Kell, how come you aren't using the systemic for the mites? Do you think Forbid is better? What is PPG? I have never heard of Forbid. Who makes it?
Jeanette
Gosh Dee, are they pretty? I wonder if they will make pretty butterfies. I need to look at my Dutchman's Pipe then.
Bayer is making Forbid, a new miticide so I hope it has a big chance of working here on the first spray. I have been researching miticides for a few hours.
http://www.rosemania.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/product147.html
http://grounds-mag.com/news/bayer_forbid_071205/index.html
I like the long residual effect it has and also that is has a low toxicity.
PPG is personal protective equipment. I just found a safety site and bought a bunch of stuff to wear, for my head on down. I hate using spray, I always get myself covered.
I need to find a powerful sprayer too, one that I can stand in one place and just spray my entire front yard.
Edited to add, I even have them on my Japanese Maples. I thought they were just burned from the heat but I looked carefully today and it is mites! I can't believe it. Thank God the heat spell is over.
This message was edited Aug 29, 2006 10:52 PM
Kell... I was attacked a month or so ago! The spider mites are a NIGHTMARE!! I was amazed at how many plants were totally covered.. just ruined so many brugs and my lil MG trio I had on a cute lil trellis I made. I used NEEM several times.. I tried misting several times a day.. I tried soapy water, I tried 2 in1 I tried some other stuff.. and I'm still fighting them.. So thankz for your input here.. I'll go find some Forbid.. I was so ready to give up.
Well I can relate to ya'll quite easily .. I don't like to be stingy so when the horned cats come calling I move them all to 1 brug that has offended me by either not blooming or whining too much about not enough water.
I can live with 1 brug being the blue plate special .. besides .. they don't eat the whole thing.
X
I had a horrible, horrible, horribe mite problem I've been fighting since early spring (late, ok, mid, winter for everyone else). Nothing could control them. I finally tried Orthonex (reccomended by a local nursery). She said I may have to spray about 5 times with 5 days between each spraying. Once zapped them. Dem lil boogas is gone!
I'm just have one brug (my first) and knock on wood/fingers&toes crossed, I haven't had any major insect problems except for the odd japanese beetle. I keep looking but the only thing that's happened is some leaves have yellowed from a missed day of water and heat stress.
Fate must be cutting me a break on this first one but I'm still watching:)
Brinda,i'm having the same problem with my brugs and some other plants but only the ones in the gh. It was like overnight the plants went from beautiful to looking like swiss cheese.
Know what I did? I had an unopen bag of sevin dust, I opened that sucker up and when I came out of the gh it looked as if it had snowed in there!!!.
I dont know about anyone esle but i've just had one problem after another since early spring with bugs.
First it was aphids. Got rid of them! Then the white flies came. I've never had those and boy did it take me some time to get that one under control? Then it was spider mites and mealy bugs at the same time. Got some di-syston and did a double whammy on both of em" Now guess what? Those same nasty little green worms that you have.
But with any luck, after my manmade sevin dust snowstorm,they'll have disappeared as well!!
I can only imagine whats' gonna come at me next.
David
Eeek David .. I sincerely hope you were wearing a dust mask/respirator!, took a good long shower afterwards and washed your clothes separately from other clothes and rinsed them twice .. I'm a little nervous about everyones free use of Sevin here on DG. That stuff is VERY carcinogenic. It's not only the carbaryl, but the carrier which is usually talc which can cause permanent lung damage and is linked to ovarian cancer and breast cancer!! (which is why I quit using talc based body powder and switched to corn starch many many years ago).
Please, if you must use Sevin, use the liquid!
X
Oh David, I do feel for you! And I hope you used care with the Sevin too! That is one product I don't have here cuz I can remember my Grandmother just having fits when it was sprayed close to their farm. She wouldn't allow anyone to harvest anything out of the vegetable garden. It really scared her, but of course that was years ago.
I feel like I've had every critter possible and the only one I seem to have had luck with are aphids. I remember all the years past here on DG when people were talking about all the problems they were having with pests.....my thoughts were....WOW, I sure am lucky not to have all those pests! Humph!!! They found me! LOL And now they don't want to go away!! I sure hope you don't have to deal with these blasted mealy bugs....they are zapping almost everything I have and the crazy things are so hard to get rid of. I was sitting out a couple of nights ago with a cup of alcohol/water and a qtip trying to get them......what a tedious job! LOL
I did BT for those blasted cats last night so hopefully that will get better. Does anyone know how often you should reapply the BT?
So sorry. All of mine are dying from the heat.
Oh Brinda, way too many bugs! I hate feeling like I live in a toxic dump. My main one are mites!! Though I do have a few mealies on some indoor plants. Ironically, they came from a carnivorous plant I brought home a few months ago. And comically, I guess they do not eat mealies!! I want to know a mealy gets from one end of a room to the other.
Carter, I bet the Orthonex is reasonably priced too! I so hate using these sprays though.
David, I had no clue Seven was dangerous. I have used it in the past myself. I bet I have some old stuff laying around here too. If your problem is cats, BT is not harmful to humans and kills them dead.
Joyce, I have no idea if Forbid will work yet. Though it sure should for what it costs!!
X, I had no clue talc caused lung disease. I switched to corn starch years ago but my husband prefers talc! OH NO!!
Oh Jim, I am so sorry your heat is so bad! I hope you get relief soon.
I was looking at predator mites the other night. The trouble with them is that they are so expensive. But I am wondering if the right way to go is organic. It just seems that one bad thing leads to another!
This message was edited Aug 3, 2006 6:10 PM
Thanks Kell. My water bill usually runs around 15-20 bucks a month. This past month it was $123 and the month before it was $137. Bobbie said I was going to have to quit watering the plants or quit bathing. I told her she would be sorry she said that. LOL Wonder when she will be moving out.
LOL Jim! I do not dare ask my husband what our water bill is. He used to have a very loud heart attack over it every month but he hasn't really mentioned it much in a few years.
Don't you hate all the work you put into these things and either they go get bugs or the weather does them in. It is just not fair. I am really thinking the ideal way to go is only to have a couple of brugs. I am getting sick of all the money they eat too! Today I paid a guy $100 to haul off a bunch of them and I still have a bunch more to go. I think I am getting too old.
On the way home from the plots I was thinking wouldn't it be nice to spend my days going to lunch with friends and even going to the movies in the afternoon? Instead I am always knee deep in mud and look like a real disaster.
LOL Yeah but when they bloom it is really worth the trouble. I have almost quit a few times before. It does get expensive and seems there is always something to buy. A new pot, more fertilizer, a new water hose, more water, I think I am going to start staying where I am in my acquisitions however. No more. I think I said that before.
LOL Jim ......come fall and big flushes we all will backtrack. But I may stand firm. I retired real early to have fun while I still could and for a couple of months I was having fun doing mud every day but now I am thinking it is getting to feel more like work. Unpaid work at that. Actually, much worse, it is costing me to work. LOL
Hey Brinda, I think I am a better whiner than you are. We should have a whine contest.
LOL Kell....I don't know about that!!! I have whined, cried and screamed about all of this for the past 3 or 4 weeks. And like you said....get rid of one thing and another starts! Last week seemed to be the worst! We've had triple digit temps going on three weeks now and I guess that really fueled the fire with the mite. And as I was inspecting for mites, when I moved huge brug leaves out of the way to find my coleus all wilted, brown and DEAD from mealy bugs I wanted to give it all up! I'm telling you that I had a serious but fleeting thought to just torch it all. If it wasn't for this big party I might have! My DH is so helpful outside and really enjoys looking at all the plants and blooms, I think he might shoot me if I torched them. LOL
I didn't have a clue that mites attacked bananas.....I have a huge banana stuck in the back of all of this and as I was inspecting I could see all the lower leaves that have serious mites. I just couldn't believe it! Sheesh!
If you weren't having a fancy do, your garden would be at its best. It just is not fair!!! Your husband is a keeper for sure, mine wishes the plague upon my yard. He wants to start traveling and hire gardeners. LOL
It must be the the intense heat that is causing the mites to just thrive so. I know they will attack the EEs, but I didn't know they liked bananas either. Are they on your gorgeous caladiums?
I know how you love your coleus. What a shame!!!
Your border is fantastic, Brinda! From here it looks just great. Not a bug in sight.
Oh thank you Kell...you can't see the bugs, I think they're wearing camo! LOL
No Kell...as far as I can tell, caladiums don't have any bug problems at all. The only time I have problems with them is when we have high winds. Other than that they are so easy and add so much color!
I have to say here in Michigan I have been only plagued with one cat..I know you guys are moaning but this means I will have more I think..my shreded white is the one I found it on..it was a tiny one but it was eating at the top where my bud was coming..thank goodness it didnt get the other 2 branches..I will hopefully have my first bloom of a shredded soon...also Ive seen a few jap beetles...what the heck is the small beetles thats yellow with spots on it..I saw a few land but not sure if they are what are eating on some leaves...I got rid of the spider mites with spraying under and over the leaves..all gone after a few days of spraying...and yes I think this hot weather all across the country and really brought the devil bugs out....Judy
This summer is certainly the worse gardening season ever for me. The heat and humidity is unrelenting, and I cannot stay ahead of the spider mites. They have killed off 4 new Dahlias I was looking forward to seeing and they have made a mess of two of my brugs. I looked into Forbid, Kell, and if I buy any I will need to increase my home insurance policy. My potting shed is becoming a gardening Fort Knox.
Tussee
It definitely has not been a good summer for many of us. I must also say that I am tired of being hot and sweaty and worn out and only having a few brug blooms to show for all the time put in. I will definitely be yanking and throwing away many that did not perform and seem to attract insects. I love brugs and I will continue to add a couple each year to see how they perform here in the south and I will also continue to grow seedlings. But it is just not worth spending time on those that do not like the intense heat even when they are in shade over half the day.
Frannie, are you hotter in your new location then in your old? I am sick of it all too. I need a vacation from gardening, I think. LOL. It always has been a joy but now is really becoming a chore that I can do it full time.
Brinda, I sure wish I could grow caladiums here. We just do not get hot enough. I love the colors. And if they are so easy, I am really sad I can't. I planted a huge pot of them for my mother one year and they were amazingly beautiful. She loved them.
Oh Judy, I bet you have cucumber beetles. They eat everything. I squish them when I see them. They have a great survival mechanism of falling when startled. They just fall fast and are gone. I have noticed that if I treat just a few flowering plants that they love to eat with Bayer Tree and Shrub, I hardly get any of them. I also have used Raid Flying insect spray on them when I say a few too many. It is cheap and they drop dead. I am just afraid I will too.
I hear you Tussee. Repeat after me, we love our plants so much, nothing is too good for them!
Kell, it was reasonably priced. Not cheap, but not too expensive. It was $19.99 for a bottle that makes *I think* 20 gallons. I don't like to use these kinds of sprays too often, and thankfully, I rarely need to. Our humidity and heat typically takes care of mites, I spray of water takes care of aphids (which I only get very early in spring), and my army of wasps (we have a truce) take care of the majority of cats.
This year, though, nothing else would get rid of the dadgum mites. Hope this is a crazy occurrence and not a sign of summers to come!
