spider mites

[Rad Michelle]

sheesh man about 3 weeks ago i was really excited about all the new foliage from my passiflora, and in the last week ive noticed green has halted and all the ends of the branches were turning brown and wrinkling! upon further inspection i saw the mini webs, googled spidermites and read that they suck the life out of plants causing ends to whither. shoot. i just got done throughly hosing the potted plant outside and i hope i wacked all those suckers.

[miguynmkoi]

My passifloras are showing good signs of growth too.  Never have probs with spider mites.  Are your plants getting enough sun?

[Johns]

Rad,

If you are a "Green" gardener ( I'm NOT), you could try a tablespoon of dawn detergent and a teaspoon of boric acid per gallon of water and completely submerge the plant for ten minutes every 5 days for three weeks. Or, if you really hate the little buggers, go for the chemical option:
Having grown a vegetable garden for almost 50 years I have had a lot of experience with spider mites.  Whatever you use on them, the little suckers eventually evolve resistence to it.  Having said that, there is a chemical initially developed from and modeled after nicotine called imidacloprid.  Anything you can obtain containing imidacloprid should do the trick for you.  If you can't find anything with imidacloprid, buy a pack of cigarettes and boil a couple of them in a gallon of water and spray the result on the underside of the leaves.

One word of cauton: Pregnant women should avoid contact with boric acid.

[Rad Michelle]

actually. upon closer inspection they werent spider mites. i figured they were from the cotton-y 'spider webs'
they are mealybugs!

[Johns]

Same method as above works on mealybugs as well. Many people use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to dab the mealybugs, but that's a lot of work and will not kill the babies that are so small you cant see them.

Acephate , malathion, and carbaryl (Sevin), are effective insecticides on mealybugs.  As with any insecticide used on ornamentals, take care that phytotoxicity (damage froom light) is not a factor.

[Rad Michelle]

Ok well before I busted out the chemicals I decided to go hunting because it's not a huge passiflora it's in a 5gal pot but most of the bugs were hanging out hidden under the green plastic string that tied the vines to bamboo sticks and al the dead foliage trapped between the vines bunched together. I vigorously sprayed the plant off after bring it outside fir a couple days and removed all the strings and dead leaves and either smashed what I saw and gave it a ferious hosing Down. Do I just wait a week and keep checking and see if it will green up again? Will the browner ends turn green and keep going or find alternative routs to begin new growth

[Rad Michelle]

Has anyone had experience w these bugs basically I'm wonder how long it'll take my plant to bounce back because there isn't any new life yet but what leaves r left on it aren't withering I thunk I got them all

[KatFish]

The life cycle is about 10 days I think... you'll need to re-spray for the babies you can't see yet.  Do it every 10 days three times, and you should be golden.

[emm]

Mealy bugs can be very difficult to get rid of.  Most of the treatments do not affect the eggs that's why you have to keep repeating them.  I find insecticidal soap works well against mealy bugs but I replace about 1/4 of the water in the mix with rubbing alcohol.  This helps the soap to penetrate the waxy cuticle of the insect.  Pay special attention to the undersides of the leaves and the leaf axils when treating.     Insecticidal soap only kills when it comes in direct contact with the pest.  You can spray the plant with water about 20 minutes after treatment with the soap if desired.  The pests do not eat it and die so there is no reason to leave the solution on the plant.  Don't spray when the sun is full on the plant, it can be hard on tender plants.  Using a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol to swab the affected areas works also.

An infestation would have to be quite heavy to kill any of the plants that I am familiar with.  I haven't grown passiflora so don't know how long it will be before you see new growth. 

Keep an eye on your other plants as well, once you have mealy bugs they can be with you for a long time.

emm

[Rad Michelle]

Well the great news is I can see little fluffy leaf strts all over the vines so at least Its getting nutrients to the end of the vines now, should b a week before I see green I'm hoping... Bad news is I found some of those damn bugs on the green tips of new growth on the plumerias.

[Johns]

Rad,

Perhaps its time to try the nuclear option:  http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/2-in-1-Systemic-Rose-Flower-Care/ .  You may have to experiment with dosage.  I recommend starting with 1 teaspoon (1/6 OZ) of granules per 1 qt pot.  I think your mealybug problems will be a thing of the past.  BUT! Read the label.  Pay attention to directions, especially to wearing rubber gloves when handling.  I prefer the purple nitrile disposable gloves for any working with chemicals or for that matter, anything that involves putting my hands in soil for any reason just to keep hands clean.

[Rad Michelle]

Exciting news all the leaves are coming back , picture soon when comp is fixed