Any help would be much appreciated...

[BayouBiscusLover]

A few weeks ago I purchased "Creole Lady" from HVH and she arrived with numerous blooms and buds.  I noticed some yellow leaves as well as brown dead spots on them as well.    I visited my local nursery and they told me it was more than likely spider mites.  They gave me Ortho RosePride to spray on her every 7-10 days.  It has been 5 days and I haven't noticed any difference.    Leaves that have been dark green and glossy are now turning yellow.  I finally decided to start pinching the yellowing leaves off of the plant.  Also, no new buds have formed since I have recieved it.  Could this be due to shock?  I have 2 other hibiscus and they are full of small buds but once they start to open up they fall off the plant.  The nursery also told me that the RosePride would take care of the problem (Thrips).  I am a newbie to growing and any help would be great.

[BayouBiscusLover]

here are some pictures...

[BayouBiscusLover]

cant get all the pictures to load at once...

[BayouBiscusLover]

...

[davidwood]

Hi Bayou? If you just had Creole Lady a few weeks ago and it had buds on when it arrived it will take a little while to start to bud up again, its my view that they grow in a cycle [not all of them mind] and no worries buds will soon start to appear again, it just needs time, maybe a little longer than normal due to the shock of moving, this moving will most probably be the cause of the yellow leaves, also nothing to worry about there either unless it is Spider Mites, a slight change in there environment will cause yellowing,  though looking at your leaves I would say its not Spider Mites but even saying that you will have to prepare yourself that you will get them eventually, it just seems part and parcel of growing these beauties.
As for clearing up Thrips I don't know Rosepride, I use Spinosad for Thrips and Kontos for Mites if that's a help.

Just had another look at your leaves in the picture [quite a big size and I couldent see before], that yellowing is not Spider Mites, I would say it just exposure to the sun, or strong lights. As for the underside, have you tried to see if that will wash of.

[blupit007]

Hi Bayou,

  Sorry to hear about your problem.  If it is spider mites, which is strange because I know Charlie has worked real hard to send out clean plants, but these little guys are the pits.  The best and most effective way to take care of the problem is this.  First take the plant to the yard along with your garden hose.  Lay the plant on its side (make sure the soil doesn't fall out) And with a strong stream, blast each leaf individually.  I hold my hand over the top of the leaf and blast the underside as I rub it with my fingers.  The mites cant withstand this strong spray of water.  Do this to each leaf, then spray the entire trunk, branches, and make sure you get the top of the leaves.  Let the plant air dry, then I spray with Bonide all seasons horticulture oil.  http://www.hiddenvalleynaturearts.com/acatalog/horticulturaloilinfo.html

Spider mites really stink.  I would spray your affected plants 2-3 times a week.  And make sure you clean the area the plant was in too.  Do not let the infected plant sit anywhere near other plants or they will spread and have a party.  If it is spider mites, this will really help.  It could definitely be stress too.  My plants have been happy all summer / fall / winter, but then damp cool spring came along and they are giving me real trouble.  They are also yellowing and dropping leaves.  So I suggest getting a 10x or 20x magnifying glass and routinely checking the undersides of the leaves.  That is what I do to keep on top of things.

Good Luck!  Keep us updated,
Kristen

[BayouBiscusLover]

Thanks David and Kristen, I am hoping it is just shock from the move into Louisiana.  It has been 100+ here the past 6 days straight.  I am looking forward to learning alot from all the members here.  Take care, Jonathan.

Also, how often does HVH restock?  I am looking forward to purchasing a few more to add to my collection and have also signed up to recieve restocking alerts.  A few I like on here are already sold out... I guess we have to be fast to get what we want 

[blupit007]

Yes Jonathan, You need to be real quick on your feet.  Charlie, correct me if Im wrong. They seem to be restocking on the weekends for now.  They stop in the fall, then have a big store opening in January for Spring shipping.  Their spring shipping is almost complete right now, so then I think they go into routine weekend re-stockings.  Im in CT, so I miss them most of the time as I work 2nd shift.  But it is a great way for me to manage the size of my collection. 

 

[blupit007]

Jonathan, It is still a good habit to wash off your plants when you get new ones.  And to make a habit of washing them weekly.  You don't want an outbreak, and this will prevent one.  To make it easier, I just ordered the bug blaster from them.

http://www.hiddenvalleynaturearts.com/acatalog/bugblaster.htm

[Charlie]

Jonathon,

Sorry to hear about the problem. Please be careful with the Rosepride product. I don't think it (depends on which one it actually is) has anything in it that will really help with spider mites and could contribute to the leaf yellowing, particularly if the hibiscus is in much sun.

I replied to a private email about this problem but will copy my reply below in case it might be helpful to anyone else.


Looking at your order I see that you live in Louisiana. As I understand from others, it has been unusually hot and dry there lately. That would explain the yellow leaves and lack of new buds. Hibiscus flower best when the temperatures stay below 90F but will do OK up to about 95F. Above that it is very stressful for them and the stress causes them to slow down or stop blooming until conditions cool down. What you can do is keep the plant very well watered, which means daily when the temperatures are above 90F, and place the plant in a location where it gets shade the rest of the day. Twice a day watering is better than once a day when it is very hot, so if that is possible for you it might help to try it.

I would be very surprised if the plant arrived with live spider mites but it is a fact that the higher the temperatures the faster mites will reproduce. Since you can knock most mites off of a hibiscus with a strong spray of water I would recommend doing that daily for a couple of weeks. Try to direct the water up under the leaves because if there are any mites living on the leaves they will mostly be on the underneath side of the leaves. The hibiscus will also appreciate this cooling shower and do better for it. You can even lay the pot on its side to make it easier to spray under the leaves, and then carefully lift it back up after spraying with water.

Please follow these suggestions and then let us know how the hibiscus is doing in a few weeks. By the way, hibiscus form new buds that are very small, called microbuds, which then swell slowly to full size just before they open. Watching for buds is worse than watching water boil but the first signs of them will be very small growths slightly different from new leaves or shoots that then continue to form the traditional bud shape before opening into a flower.

Charlie

[Charlie]

In answer to the question about store restocking, the current situation is that Cindy is pushing her self to the limit with the last 2 weeks of her special ed job and the end of our huge spring shipping crunch. Later in June we anticipate a major restocking that will include both 4 inch, 6 inch, and 2 gallon plants. Most will replace varieties now "tempoirarily out of stock" (or TOSS as JPiper quipped    but there will be some never before seen varieties in 4 inch pots as well.

I'm not sure if she will be able to get it uploaded all at once or piecemeal it in over several days but at least it is coming later this month for sure. Thanks for asking.

Charlie

[BayouBiscusLover]

That sounds great!  I will definitely keep on my toes from mid month on!

[mphquicksilver]

Hi Jonathon
I live in Arkansas right above you , My dad lives in Louisiana 45 minutes down past Lafayette I went down their about a week ago . Its a little hotter than here where I am our temperatures has been around 98 degrees . I keep all my plants under a tree in my back yard so they get sun in the morning until about 10 am. the sun is to intense  down here they will wilt real bad & it will burn the leaves of them especially if there not use to that kinda heat . And for spider mights home depot sells a spray called Bayer 3 &1 it works pretty good , I'v been reading on the forum and they said wilt proof does an excellent job of killing them also . I just bought some at Amazon.com for 21 dollars + 5.95 shipping , about 27 bucks . Thats a one quart concentrate , thats the best price I could find .  

[BayouBiscusLover]

Hey Mike, I'm in Northeast La. (Monroe) I have mine on my back porch which get full sun from about 11:45 until 2:45.  I am really thinking it is just the shock from the shipping and climate change...but it is good to know that home depot sells the bayer 3 in 1.  I read about the wilt pruf and saw it on amazon as well...I will need to get both soon!  Thanks for the suggestions!

[BayouBiscusLover]

This is my older hibiscus, I have had it for about 2 years now, and I figure it is now 3 or 4 years old. This was the one I was having bud drop with.  I have sprayed it one time with the rosepride and looks like I am going to have 3 blooms! Still crossing my fingers though... I have never had this many buds on it at any given time.  I did prune it last october and I am sure that helped alot!  Charlie, I used your shipping stakes that came with my creole lady to hopefully try to straighten the trunk.  Might be too late for that although.   

[Charlie]

I'm glad to hear that some people are going to try the WiltPruf as a spider mite cure in their conditions. Please let us know how it goes for you.

The bamboo stakes are great for shaping hibiscus. It may take time and you may not get a perfectly straight trunk but it will help.

It's interesting to hear how people are growing their hibiscus in different areas. Everyone is using some shade, probably a good thing in this year of weather extremes.

Turns out that Cindy wants to get a small start on the restocking this coming weekend.


Charlie

[BayouBiscusLover]

Thats great!  I have my eye on 5 cv's I hope some of them are going to be available!  Thanks for the heads up...
Jonathan

[blupit007]

Bayou, I see 15 buds on that one.  Looks great.

[Nievesgirl]

hmmm I wonder if the wilt-pruf will work on thrips ?
I will be buying this stuff called einstein oil along with a spray pump. Many people said the EO kills mites and thrips so we will see.

[Charlie]

The national distributor that supplies some of our products also offers Einstein Oil. I looked at it last year but could not in good conscience offer it to our customers because it is a hugely overpriced neem oil product. Marketed as a "leaf polish" to  the pot growing crowd that seems to thrive on hype it seems to me to be more of an ingenious marketing idea than an ingenious product. You can find 100 percent pure neem oil products at a fraction of the price - I would definitely try one of them first if you want to try neem oil on your hibiscus.

BTW, the same national distributor also offers a far more reasonably priced neem oil product called Bioneem Organic that is available from the HVH store and other retail outlets.

Charlie