*Jan
Thanks for the email! :) I'll reply back to you!
*AuntB
That's a pic of my three year old brug 'Xena'. :)
Mike
Is this the beginning of a bloom???
AuntB I use Bayer's Tree & Shrub the 12 month stuff (liquid)... a one time soil drench will rid your brugs of aphids and whiteflies for a year..
Oh, ZZ! ((((((((((((ZZ)))))))))))) I'm going to Lowes at noon! Tree and shrub seems kind of harsh, for a plant with such beautiful blooms, but I'm getting some and a soil drench? Great, easy! Aphids AND white flies? Cool! My hibiscus had white flies really bad last fall, now I have the cure if it happens again and it shouldn't if I dose em' up good in spring.... I don't like to use insecticides, but this is war! Thanks Mike, Xena is gorgeous! Do you have any pics from a different angle? Although I love how you captured the sun on this one. I just want to see more of her.. thx It's 8 degrees here, the weather man said it will WARM up into the teens. Sleet and snow on tap for tonight/Thur a.m........ Probably seems a lot warmer to you, Jan! Winter just keeps coming and coming and coming......
Off I go to get some Bayer's Tree and Shrub also. I thought I had won the aphid fight. NOT SO! they are not treating me well. Thanks for the tip.
Marie
Marie, I see them slowing down, I may even venture to think I've eradicated them.........then I find an outbreak on something else.... they're creepy looking on the leaves, too... yucky! ZZ, does this work for Spider mite, too?
I sprayed this morning with the "recipe and palmolive" picked off some leaves, smashed as many as I could see, now will try the bayer. We will get them yet.
Marie
Hey! Save some of that Bayer's Tree and shrub for me too!!!
Spent 2 hours last nite, after dinner, giving plants/leaves a soapy bath and didn't even get all the plants---#@$& aphids!!! Then, had trouble falling asleep cause I hadn't "relaxed" before going to bed---ARGH!
I think that eradicating the fungus gnats is easier than the aphids...isn't that a sad thought?!
I use the Bayer outside on roses but are you guys using it indoors? My problem with the bugs is in the sun room attached to the living room, with DH, me, dogs, cat, and birds.
Joyce
Oh, I forgot about your birds, Joyce. I'm using it in the basement.... my bird is upstairs and I won't let the cat go downstairs for a while, but it is liquid, should soak right in... I'll look on the label when I get home tonight and see if the pet issue is addressed. They had granules and liquid, but I opted for the liquid for instant uptake to the plant. There was Bayer 2&1, Bayer something for roses and shrubs but it was more for diseases, and then the Tree & Shrub stuff I just bought ($20.00 for liquid). Oh, I saw some Ortho stuff for spider mites, but upon reading the label, it was 97% petroleum..... I'll stick with my neem oil, at least I know it is "petroleum" from the neem tree. Guess these bugs are giving us something to do besides dream of the growing season.
ZZ.. I am going to try the Bayer Tree & Shrub on my brug's & see if it's better than what I have been using, Also have you tried dipping your brug cutting's in Super Thrive. I am going to replant 75 roses bushes this spring & am going to dip the roots in Super Thrive. I see most of the big growers use it on about everything.
Jerry.
That Tree & Shrub is great for whiteflies and aphids.. but not mites. That's a whole different ball game. I have the big guns for that.. LOL Forbid. I use Neem most of the time.. till it gets out of hand.. then BAM gone for another couple of months! I restrict myself to only 3 times a season as recommended.. so I don't use it till I absolutely have to.
I hate using so many chemicals.. so I use the "big guns" for a "once and be done with it" approach. I have too many brugs to spray every week or so when they are growing good.. Like now.. LOL
Roseman.. I use a lot of Superthrive. I don't really dip cuttings.. but I use it in the water for foliar and roots.. I love the stuff.
I'm not a big grower, Jerry but I use Superthrive, it's like vitamins for dirt/plants. I read on the label of the Bayer 12 mo liquid. It says for outside residential use only... I think I will obey the label on this one. It says not to use around ponds, lakes and streams.... Lists a lot of bugs it controls but NOT mites. I will probably wait until Fall to use it, unless I get a big aphid/whitefly/mealybug infest outside,... I just don't like the idea of possible fumes and my parrot and cat. But, at least I have a BIG GUN to pull out, if I get desperate..lol nite all, It's been a long day...
AuntB
I have alot of pictures of 'Xena' in my files - but hope this link helps:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/164536/
Mike
Great! Is it considered pink or orange? There was one pic it looked pink... Or does it start one color and change? And I will remember to utilize the DG plant files, nice people like you post pics there all the time... :) thx