Spider Mites

[Charlie]

Jordan, I'm really glad to hear that you like the hose end sprayer version of the hort oil. That same type is available for spinosad but few have availed themselves of the convenience. For those who aren't aware of them, the hose end oil and spinosad are canisters that you thread onto the end of a hose like you would a watering wand. The oil or spinosad is concentrated in the canister but is automatically mixed at the right amount when you turn on the hose and direct it at the plants. Couldn't be a more convenient and simple way to apply pesticide, seems to me.

Charlie

[blupit007]

Dark Horse,  I think that the high triple digit temps we have been having the last 2 weeks are probably a reason for the lack of buds.  I will give you some photos of Cindy's Heart's gorgeous bush! 

I'm including one photo (the last one) of a flower that I added pollen to, let it fall naturally when dead, and left the pod.  It has been on the bush, am I supposed to leave it alone?  Do the seeds come from that?  Or does the plant grow a separate pod of seeds?  It may be a really stupid question...  But since I sprayed the oil, the pod turned yellow.  And on Saffron, the pod did the same and then dropped off.  I never read anywhere what to do between pollinating a flower and waiting 6 weeks for seeds.

Can I get this hose end sprayer at any good nursery?  And what is a good rotation to get in the habit of when it comes to bug protection?
Thanks for all the help.  I reapplied oil again today to all the plants.  Do worm castings help with bugs?  I bought some from Charles and Cindy and haven't done anything with them yet.

Thank you all!!

I cant post any photos, it says the upload file is full.  I made them really small too...  I wanted to show you photos of Cindy's heart's bush.

[helixturnhelix]

Don't worry about the pods turning yellow, when you have triple digit weather your chance of having a sucessful pollination is very slim. Also you have to make sure that the variety you are pollinating sets seed.  Of the two that you mention only Saffron is a known seed setter.  Cindy's Heart may, but it is probably going to only set seed under mild conditions.  The best way to increase sucess of pollination of a known seed setter, is to pollinate during overcast days or moving the plant to shade until the seed pod ripens. 

Another variety that I think would be good to use as a seed setter is Belle du Jour, it set up seeds reliably for me.  Haute Courture also set seed very well for me as well.  Before I lost my Burnished Gold plant I got tons of seeds from that plant.  Hopefully it will live on in the seedlings I sent Charlie. Perhaps we will see a few available in the store in the next few years.

[Charlie]

Test of Photo upload.

This is a first bloom, 2 actually, on a seedling plant that is Simple Pleasures x Enlightenment. Very cheerful 7 inch flowers and loads of buds on the young plant.

Whoops, I get the same message, Kristen. It could be that the forum had taken up so much storage space that we need to buy more, Cindy will check that out tomorrow. Thanks for letting us know.

Charlie

[Darkhorse]

Kristen,

   Sounds like your crosses didn't take, but as Chris said with temps in triple digits they're not likely too.  After the flower is pollenated and the spent bloom falls off, you don't do anything with the pod.  If the cross took, you will see it start to swell as the weeks go by, then it will turn yellow and start to crack open.  Best to let it turn brown then harvest the seeds but you have to be careful.  Pods will sometimes fall off on their own when ripe or nearly ripe-- keep an eye on them so you don't lose any seeds.

   As for the hose end sprayer, I got mine at Home Depot.  Can't wait to see your CH picture!!


Jordan

[Charlie]

OK, Cindy tells me the problem is fixed. I'm going to try it with a photo of the seedling I described earlier that is Simple Pleasures x Enlightenment. Here goes.

Charlie

[helixturnhelix]

Very Cheerful!  Its like Simple pleasures but with a less distinct eye

[Pachrian]

Hmmm, looks like I'm joining the 'Mites-on-Belle' club. My little one in the 8" pot has caught the bug, so to speak. At least I think it's spidermites, not sure since these guys are brown (or dark red?) and very easy to see. Definitely not the red mites, which are bigger, but I think so far all the spider mites I've seen were light colored. Do spider mites come in brown?

[blupit007]

Great beauty Charlie!!  Love it.  As for the mites, I have been spraying every three days regardless of whether I see bugs or not.  How long should I do this?  Everyone is starting to look pretty good.  Saffron looks like it has about 50 buds startin on it...  Don't know what will happen with me spraying the heck out of it every three days, but I rather be safe then sorry!  It's my favorite CV so far.

It has been hot over in the East cost for sure!  It is stuck in the 90's for the next week.  Yay, I get to wear a really heavy wedding dress on Saturday for my beach wedding.  90º phew, nuthin!  Pray for no humidity.

I will try to post the Cindy's Heart bush photos, what a beauty, now just need some blooms.

~Kristen

[helixturnhelix]

Great looking bush!

[Darkhorse]

Kristen, CH looks awesome!  Where on the east coast are you?

[blupit007]

I am in CT, on the shoreline.  Clinton.  Big summer hot spot.  We triple in population during these months.  I just looked at the pod that fell off of CH.  It is shown as yellow in the first photo.  When I broke it open it looked like there might have been tiny seeds starting?

[Darkhorse]

Oh ok Kristen, I'm originally from SC, that's why I ask.  I've seen that before too.  Every pod that falls off seems to have those.  My guess is they're the unfertilized ovum.  If they had been fertilized the pod would have continued to swell on the plant and they would have turned into seeds.

[Pachrian]

I did a little homework on mites. Yuck!

First off I need to make a correction to my previous post: the 'red' mites I was talking about are actually called velvet mites. Velvet mites, along with many other types of mites pray on -- tada!!! -- spider mites. These predatory mites also love thrips (yay!) and insect eggs. Some predatory mites supplement their diet with pollen. The problem with predatory mites controlling spider mite infestations is that the PMs usually require higher humidity. They are also susceptible to insecticedes.

Which leads me to another discovery: spider mites start out as 6-legged larvae. I'm wondering if maybe insecticides work on them at this stage?

The dark mites that I saw on my Belle are probably Carmine spider mites, although they could have also been the predatory mites (they are usually more active and move a lot faster, which mine definitely did).

Of course I'm now wondering if I should just leave things alone, if in fact the dark dots were the good guys?

[blupit007]

Dark Horse,  what type of riding do you do?  Im a jumper.