I've had some leaf curling, but this is crazy! I think I treated these with the Ortho Bug-B-Gone to get rid of any unseen critters, but I'm not sure. I have 2 Rum Runners that are doing this in my yard. The buds are blackening and dropping off before bloom! The thrips problems I have with Celia and Double Peach never caused any blackening on the buds that would drop, but that's what's happening to my Rum Runners. Any ideas??
Forgive the overexposure. The white spot-looking areas are not aphids or anything - they're places where the stems have broken off from the branch.
Amanda, it is impossible to be sure from one photo . . but in the extreme infestations, thrips CAN cause this. Be sure to pick up and discard any such buds. A better bit is a more serious pest that behaves like a weevil. IF you find little buds yellowing and wanting to fall when still small, take a very sharp knife and slice the bud lengthwise. Hold in your hand with the cut faces towards you and watch for very squirmy jumpers, little translucent worms no more than 1/4" long. They could be in any size bud that is yellowing. Sanitation will be critical and it is hard to control this pest without resorting to poisons. So . . let me know what you find and what your preferences are for treatment. We minimize poisons here . . but when you buy plants from all over you get all kinds of surprises. We rarely buy any since we breed thousands of new ones per year . . so thrips are here but not the weevil-types. Give me some feedback . . like how do you treat thrips . . and I'll say more.
Luck to you . .
Wow, that is super weird. I'm going to check for that tomorrow!!
I know, it's not a good pic - overexposed and not focused. Unfortunately, my attention was no trying to keep my small daughter from removing all the mulch so I snapped and ran! Ok so I'll do this checking.
I'm pretty new to the technical details of hibiscus. However, I've treated Thrips before with Ortho Bug-B-Gone and it worked fine, but I don't remember if I've treated these with that or not, nor do I konw how often I should treat them to prevent them from coming back. Please, no one else kill me - but I don't mind using whatever it takes to get rid of the bugs, as long as my plants stay healthy. If chemicals work better, then I don't mind using those.
I really appreciate your help! It's sooooo neat to be able to talk with the guy who creates the hibs I buy at my local Home Depot!!
