Desperately seeking help for my hibiscus tree!
- Jojo
- Julie
- Jojo
- Julie
- franland
- Carol Wallace
- Margot
- franland
- Gay_Klok
- benner
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» Jojo - HI there Helen. First - If your hibiscus is looking sick and
HI there Helen.First - If your hibiscus is looking sick and loosing leaves, that's OK. They usually lose alot of leaves in the winter anyway, and tend to be easier to do the following anti-mite treatment on when they are a little 'sparse'.
Heavy Infestation Treatment
How can you tell if you have a heavy infestation or not? If you can see mites all over the plant, clearly visible webbing and sappy exudations on lower leaves, you have a heavy infestation.
Heavy infestations are difficult to get rid of on Hibiscus. But if you are in the northern Hemisphere, now is a great time for this drastic treatment.
Fill a spray bottle with 8 parts water and 1part rubbing alchohol. Take the hibiscus into a room with no carpeting, or outisde if it is relatively mild. Spray every surface of the plant. Be sure to soak the trunk and bark. Go lighter on newly-forming buds, but still be sure to drench them at least once. The main point here is not to let puddles of the solution sit amongst the buds. Spray, and spray again.
The hibiscus will not be happy. In fact, it will not like the rubbing alcohol at all and most likely lose leaves, but more importantly the mites, as well as their eggs, will be dead. It is sometimes important work drastically when you are dealing with mites. Just be happy you don't have mealybugs; the quintessential gross house-plant pest.
This is how it works...
- The bugs and eggs are just sitting there
- They get drenched with water and alchohol.
- The water softens their exosceletons and egg-shells.
- The alchohol soaks in
- The alchohol evaporates, taking vital body fluids with them. nice huh?
How to deal with the hibiscus after this treatment, and preventative future stuff
After this treatment, I would recommend going out and getting a indoor houseplant product for controlling mites. Here are some ideas...
What products are available to you will depend alot on where you are, but here are some common ones available in many regions of the world.
- Safers Insecticidal Soap OK for future infestation prevention, but is mild on mites and doesn't kill eggs. Use for light infestations
- Safer's Trounce is much like a non-aerosol version of the following, but, again, mild on mites and effects only larvae and late-stage eggs.
- POKON, as described below
Mist with one of these products occasionally, just as a preventative. Also, keep the air humidity around the plant high by misting, or providing a tray of water and pebbles under the plant. Take steps to improve humidity, especially in the wintertime when central heating dries the indoor air.
Treat other plants that have mites. Do not treat them with the alcohol solution. For example - a palm would most likely die if given this treatment.
How to treat light infestations
When I'm on duty at the garden centre, I recommend POKON for light infestations on Hibiscus, because, like the above treatment, it works on the theory evaporation, as well as containing Pyrethrins and another chemical product I can't remember the name of right now. Follow label recommendations. Its effective, but not organic, as are trouce and the soap.
I am sure that some of our other garden editors will have more tips to add. After all, I'm sure we've all had to deal with mites!
GOOD LUCK!
Josephine - Urban Gardening Editor
-- posted by Jojo
» Julie - Josephine, Thank-you very much! OK here is my problem. I
Josephine,Thank-you very much!
OK here is my problem. I think I classify for the "light infection." Let me first point out that I live in Vancouver, Canada and my hibiscus tree is indoors (an apartment). Because my tree is indoors I am a little reluctant to use POKON for fear of harmful effects to my cat and me. Instead I sprayed the tree with Safer's Trounce and then came back and removed any leaves that had webs (there are only a few and I hunted with a magnifying glass). Will this be good enough? I am thinking about setting up a humidifier to leave on during the day. Is there something that I could add to the water?
Thank you again for your help!
Helen
-- posted by Julie
» Jojo - Hi Helen Use the trounce. It's good. Just be sure to drench.
Hi HelenUse the trounce. It's good. Just be sure to drench. Drench drench and drench again. Then let it dry. Inspect the plant for crawlers 7 days after drenching. If they are back, spray again. Don't spray a hibiscus with any safer's product more often than every 7 days. I have found it smothers them with the fatty acids that kill the bugs.
By the way -- I am in Vancouver too! I wouldn't bother with the humidifier. I think we will be back to our very humid, beautifully warm and lovely weather very soon, so you will be able to turn your furnace off for a while. Just mist the plant and the area around the plant. Also be sure to keep it away from furnace ducts and electic baseboard heaters.
If you do get a humidifier, don't forget to add a tiny pinch of salt to the water. Our tap water is so soft that it wont work by itself. The salt raises the electroconductivity level, and that's how those things usually work.
I find a humidifier is handy when I am starting seedlings, and also when I get that Sunday morning hack after a night on the town.
Good luck, and Happy Chinese New Year!
Josephine - Urban Gardening Editor
-- posted by Jojo
» Carol Wallace - Francine, What kind of fertilizer are you using? If it is hig
Francine,What kind of fertilizer are you using? If it is high in nitrogen (the first number on the fertilizer formula) then you may be promoting beautiful leafy growth at the expense of flowers.
And is your hibiscus indoors or outdoors? Four hours of direct light indoors may not be enough. In fact, it may not be ebough outdoors,since this is a sunny flower and 4 hours is technically more of a shade condition. <img src="http://www.suite101.com/userfiles/79/rhubarb.gif" alt="rheum" align=left>
Carol
virtually gardening
Enter the Tacky Yard Art contest.
-- posted by Carol Wallace
» Margot - Francine,I have an indoor only Hibiscus.It absoultly loves it's
Francine,I have an indoor only Hibiscus.It absoultly loves it's southern exposure window sill where it resides.And the flowers are beautiful.Infact if I occasionaly forget to feed it,it stays lush, and seems to forgive me.Eileen O'dea - Contributing Editor
Home and Garden
-- posted by Margot
» franland - francine landry Thank you for your responses. I use 15-30-1
francine landryThank you for your responses. I use 15-30-15 fertilizer. My
hibiscus is located indoors and has a southwest exposure. I guess it does not receive enough sun. Since I do not have a
southern window I may try to bring it oudoors.
-- posted by franland
» Gay_Klok - Francine, I think that it is more likely to be too much fertiliz
Francine, I think that it is more likely to be too much fertilizer so all its strength is going into making those lush leaves. I have my hibiscus in an almost enclosed position, sunny but through glass and they are in pots and I hardly ever feed them. They flower very well though I have to admit the leaves could look better!If using spray against mites, always spray under the leaves too
<img src="http://www.suite101.com/userfiles/2779/Su101pea.jpg"align=left>Come for a stroll in my gardens
Tasmanian Garden Journal
-- posted by Gay_Klok
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