Is evelyn2079 a reputable dealer to buy from on ebay or not? Has anyone here bought from her and were you pleased with your purchase?
david
evelyn2079 on ebay
Do not buy from Evelyn!
She has been selling cuttings that are infected with the borer beetle!!
This has been brought to her attention many times and she doesnt change.
This beetle could be the single biggest threat to the plumeria world.
We have posted a list of reputable sellers who stand behind thier sales and care about keeping the plumies free from pests.
Anything you want plumeriawise can be obtained through our vendors.
The list is comprised of many many folks who have proven themselves over time. ;^)
This message was edited Aug 7, 2006 8:36 PM
How can you tell if a plumeria is infested with the borer beetle?
As for Evelyn, how does she get her cuttings out of Hawaii without getting them inspected by the Agricultural Department? I though all plants were inspected.
There was a great deal of discussion regarding the issue of infestation and how the cuttings get by customs on another forum. http://www.mauiplumeriagardens.com
Id reccomend doing a search there using beetle and Evelyn as your search words.
There has been discussion of it here as well.
The info is lengthy and Im typed out lol!!
Perhapsa search here as well will do
Someone else may chime in and post the links to the discussions.
Michael is right. I wouldn't risk it. I did buy from Evelyn before I knew about her cuttings being infested. Some of her cuttings wouldn't root, and it could be because they came from an infested tree. A few people have found the larvae inside of her cuttings, including a couple of Dave's subscribers. Here's a link: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/618214/
Thank You for posting that link Clare. ;^)
I have not purchased cuttings from Evelyn but I have purchased
a couple of hundred seed from her.The service was good and the germination was the best of any seed purchased.No worries of beetles in seed but I would not purchase cuttings there.
I refuse to give her any business whatsoever as she has been told of the problem and yet continues to sell infected cuttings anyway.
Her lack of concern is alarming!!
Would you buy a hand towel from someone selling blankets infected with smallpox?
If the beetles are in her plant area you may get eggs inside a box
I would give her ABSOLUTE ZERO BUSINESS UNTILL SHE STOPS SELLING INFECTED CUTINGS
Evelyn's not the only one doing bad plumie business, I see thta mantisbee is still selling j l pink pansy on ebay with current auctions running.
I emailed he,she again just to get on his/her nerves about my so called replacement that I never got and really dont ecpect to.
They never respond and i've gone as far as to send messages to the high bidders warninig them of this person but I dotn even hear back from them.
I dont know if maybe ebay is intercepting the messages and reading them before the buyer gets them or not,I guess it's possible.
Evelyn only had one plumeria thta I wa interested in and I dont know if it is even a registered or true name for it but now that I know she gives complimentary beetles away with every cuttings I dont think i'll be ordering from her.
Gosh know i've fought the battle of the bugs long and hard enough since spring this year already.
First it was aphids,then white flies and mealy bugs,then spider mites,most recently the little green worms that make everything look like swiss cheese. I cant imagine whats gonna hit me next!!
None of the bugs seemed to bother my plumerias though and I know that mites love them. NOw that i think about it htere was anohter little strange worklike creature that I forgot about.
Maybe someone can clue me in on what it might have been. Sorry I dont have a picture but i'll describe it as best I can.
The only plants that got these were the plumeria and the brugmansia. They affected both sides of the leaves on the brugmansia but only the top side on the plumerias.
They were very tiny you almost needed a magnifying glass to see them but they were visible to the naked eye.
They appeared to be some kind of little worm about as long as a grain of rice,thin as a needle and they just made tracks all across the tops of the leaves and I seem to remember them being an orangish color.
David
Could this have been it? It's a thrip.
That very well could have been it. I couldnt get a picture large enough to view it that well. I think I have gotten rid of them all now. But if I happen to find anymore i'll look under my magnifying glsss just to see if in fact it was a thrip.
Since I dint know what they were I used several different products at 1 week intervals until the problem was gone.
Thanks for the pic and i'll refer back to it if I should see anymore of these things on any of my plants.
David
Thrips are one of the few suspected pollinators of Plumeria
1 Beetle can lay enough eggs to wipe out your collection in less than 3 full seasons
No Beetles, they are terrible!!
Michael, thrips dont turn into beetles do they? If so none of mine lived long enough to make the switch!!
Or are you refering to 2 different species in the same post?
Should I have left the thrips on the plant if they help pololinate. My plumies are in a gh so not many butterflies go in there. I do get dees in ther though.
Problem is when my plant had these insects it wasnt in bloom yet and as for any seed pods. i've never had any even when my plumies were out in the yard. I dont really want ot get into the seed growing part of this anyway.
I tried my hand at hybridizing dayliles once and all it was was a big headache!!
david
thrips are thrips
Beetles are beetles
2 species yes
I dont think it hurts to kill them
I know they do also carry pathogens from plant to plant like rust
They also cause flower problems at times, not always
Thrips ca be troublesome if they get out of hand
Ants and aphids, mealies and mites are a bigger threat
Thrips,if that in fact was what were on the plumies were the only bugs that got on those.
The other rainbow of bugs seemed to prefer all of the other types of plants that i grow.
The bug problem has been solved now. The only problem were having now is no rain and very high heat and humidity.
I grow Brugs and mix them into my garden as decoys for the bugs
Bugs love brugs!!
My other plants are all but left alone
Occassionaly I get ants
Then I soak the pot through with Dog Flea & Tick shampoo mix
1 capful to a gallon of water
Kills all the creepy crawlies ;^)
Flea shampoo, what a cool idea!
Okay,
Time to be controversial---LOL ;-)
This beetle thing has gotten to the point of hysteria on some boards, and I hope it doesn't here. I have NEVER EVER seen a beetle, personally. BUT, that being said, I do know that they are in S. Florida, and, in other states too.
However, I have talked to a couple of major growers who are afraid to speak out about this matter because they are concerned people would label them as uncaring or careless and not buy their plumies. I am speaking of the fact that some very observant growers have noted that these beetles are everywhere in Hawaii, for starters. There are not a lot of places where you canNOT find a beetle. What is being reported to me time and again is that this beetle is possibly a natural phenomenon.
Bear with me here........Here is Florida, whenever a pine tree gets weak, it is attacked by the pine beetle/borer and eventually is infested and dies, much like the plumie borer does to plumies. Back during that horrible 3 year drought we had from 1998-2001, pine trees were dying in droves. BUT--these were the pine trees that were in areas that were hard hit by drought and were already stressed. The beetles avoided the healthy tree populations.
Now, apply this to what were are discussing. It seems that the borers are attracted to already weak and sick trees. Case in point: Koko Crater---a place where the trees have suffered terrible neglect for a few years now. Most have viruses and have not had dead or injured wood pruned away form them in ages. They are almost never fertilized either from what I hear either. These trees are very stressed, and this is a beetle buffet. Yet, in all of this, it seems to be the more unhealthy wood of the older, lower branches that are exhibiting the damage, or, the branches that are already fallen on the ground. The healthiest trees seem to show no damage.
Where I am going is this: I think the beetle naturally is attracted to sick or weak trees to begin with ,and does not necessarily just go out and attack all plumeria, any more than our pine beetle does here. After our rains began again, the terrible destruction of our pine forests became a memory as the beetles lost their food source: sick trees. You never even hear about them in the papers any more, though they are out there weeding out the weak and sick trees so that nature can balance it out with new, healthy ones.
One grower in Hawaii I spoke to said they simply gets rid of sickly trees and keep any type of damaged or sick wood pruned to avoid attracting these critters. Even though there are many trees nearby that are infested, theirs are not. Why? It all starts to make sense. Many of the plueras in Hawaii are now so taken for granted that most people simply ignore them. They are so prevalent that they are not treasured by the locals any more like they are here. In short, they are considered beautiful weeds by many folks over there.
I think that we as humans tend to sensationalize many things that could be perceived as dangerous. True, the borers could be a major issue. But, if people use common sense and keep their trees healthy and pruned of damaged wood, the chance of a borer showing your plumies any interest is highly unlikely. This seller Evelyn is obviously getting her cuttings from unhealthy trees, or, damaged ones to begin with---trees that were an open door to a bug that looks for the weak and the injured, like most destructive pests (and predators) do in nature.
If you have seen a borer in a cutting you purchase, send it back and demand a refund, But, DON'T get paranoid and worry your self if you have healthy trees and have good, sanitary gardening practices. Also, realize that that healthy cutting you just bought from Hawaii or S. Florida might have had a borer or two land and crawl on it at some time, and then, leave because the mother tree was healthy and not a desireable "victim".
Brad
Good Points. ;^)
So shes selling sick stuff then as well as beetles... ;^P
Im provoking ... dont mind me lol!
Michael,
She might be selling from unhealthy trees which she probably doesn't care for, or, that maybe don't even belong to her. Just a serious possibility!