It is hard to get a picture of this, but the leaves aremottled medium green with darker green spaces, about as big a nickel. The leaves are slightly wrinkled too. It has been slow to grow too, just now having its first flush, but I think it is in too much shade. I hope you can see what I'm talking about in the photo.
spidermites?
No, I don't see anything on it and none of my other brugs have it.
anyone elsehave an idea?
Sure looks like broad mites to me. Take A magnifying glass out and check the undersides of the leaves. I use a jewelers lope, I carry one in my pocket to the garden every day. Mites can be very selective. They will not always to go every plant.
Broadmites would attack youngest leaves first and the leaves pucker pretty badly. It could also be a nutrient problem. I suggest you look at the underside of the leaves first as theraglady suggests. If you don't find anything search for threads started by Tonny. I believe he started a thread on nutrient deficiencies and included photos.
Good idea.
What about the white paper method? Hold white paper underneath and tap the plant to see if anything drops on the paper. I have never seen a spider mite or broad mite, only the damage.. but that's just the old lady eyes.. Your pic looks like spider mites to me. But I'm a newbie, so experience trumps my input by a long shot! LOL
you haven't been spraying 'off' anywhere near this plant by any chance?
I was dosing myself before leaving the greenhouse about a month ago for the mosquito patch by the compost piles and a couple of days later some of my brug leaves had spots where the spray had hit them.
Sure looks like some I had and it was broad mites, very hard to see. I cut off all afected leaves and sprayed the rest.
I had a terrible experience last year with broad mites. Spider mites are easier to handle than broad mites... IMHO
Spider mites like it hot and dry.. leaves feel like sandpaper, webbing, white on older leaves.
Broad mites like it cool and wet... leaves curl w/crispy edges and distort at the new growth.
Neem oil works good.. with a side order of Bayer's 2 in 1 systemic.
Here is a link w/pics
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/656332/
Well I will check it out tomorrow and let you know. I have not used Off. However, I suppose the nitrogen thing could be part of the problem. This brug was a bit neglected compared to my others.
i read in one of the AG publications that broadmites (they are cold weather mites) can be killed by immersing the plant (foliage parts) in water held at a temperature of 112 to 118 degrees fahrenheit for 15 minutes. never had any mites so don't know if this would work or not. it's not supposed to harm the plant.
i'd be afraid to try that.... i'd prolly end up boiling my plants!!!!!
my problem with that is how do you get a LARGE potted plant under the water, if you tip the pot out comes all the soil *LOL*
Get creative with some Glad wrap? Still sounds risky:-)
I think this method of mite control is for when your big plants are so infested that you just need to start over with cuttings. However, there are ways to save big plants if you want to spend the money on them. My tap water is hotter than the recommended temp, so I use a thermometer to get it right and check it every few minutes and add hot water to keep the temp up. It doesn't cook the cuttings.
My spousal unit had a 10X magnifying glass, very small. I went out and turn over some leaves and looked at them. Did you know that brug leaves had fine hairs? I saw a tiny bug that was brilliant teal-colored, some tiny leaf hoppers, but have no idea if I saw a mite. What color are they?
I saw one little black bug that I was suspicious of. If I spray this plant well, would it be save to take cuttings without spreading the mites next year?
