Garden Pests and Diseases: Dealing with Hibiscus Weevils in seeds., 2 by Gitagal
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Subject: Dealing with Hibiscus Weevils in seeds.
Forum: Garden Pests and Diseases
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Gitagal wrote: Everyone--especially Dr. O... This may run a bit long--as I have been putting up with this every year for a long time. I have two perennial Hibiscus--the tall ones. Red and white. I collect seeds from both Hibiscus every year. I lay them out on a plate to dry and then bag them up in a Zip-baggie. There is nothing unusual at this time--and NO visible signs of any of the weevils. The seeds are absolutely intact. Then--maybe in December or January--as I start to divvy up my seeds in the small baggies for swapping--there they are--groggily crawling around in the bag. I shake and rattle the whole bag--and now they all come creeping out. HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of them! Oddly--they will survive for months in a small, sealed, plastic bag--so no oxygen seems to be needed. Somehow, at some time in the bloom/seed development, they seem to be already inside the seeds. After a couple months--they are full grown and have eaten out the germ, leaving a hole in the seed-- at one end--like in a small bead. At least 70% of the seeds are affected by these Weevils. These seeds will never germinate--as there is no gem left. I have tried all kinds of things over the years---mostly putting all the seeds on a plastic styrofoam plate, spraying all the seeds heavily with an insecticide, and then covering it tightly with plastic wrap...for days! NOT a pretty sight! I shake up the plate--and they all start crawling around--endlessly. They are hard-shelled--lie any weevil--almost black and about 2mm-3mm in size. Many of them die--but many do not--as they are still inside the seeds. and so this "process" drags on and on until they are all dead. Before packing them up for Swaps--I have to wash and dry all the seeds-- as I could never offer them to anyone after this treatment. I have to also write a note to anyone I give them to not to plant the ones with the holes. I DO NOT have time to sort through the seeds--and now it is left up to the receiver. HERE IS WHAT PUZZLES ME THE MOST: --At what stage of the bloom /bud development do they make their way into the developing flower or seed pod??? WHO lays the eggs or how do they get in them??? --Seems they develop already inside the seed, as there is NO signs of them when I am removing the seeds from the pods. These seeds are small, round balls ~~3mm. There are a few little bugs crawling around the inside of the dried up seed pod, but I am assuming this is normal. The seeds are all intact looking... One bug that seemed to be in many of the pods was a small beetle, about the size of a lady Bug--but more elongated. Longer legs and antennae. Maybe 2/8"--3/8" in size. Dark brownish/maroon body with tiny, blue markings on them. Took a pic--very fuzzy! Dr. O--or anyone--can you enlighten me on this????? I have just finished removing all the seeds from many,many pods. Need to do something before these Weevils grow up and eat out the germs. ***DO YOU THINK FREEZING THE SEEDS WOULD KILL THEM???*** How long? Not knowing what "stage" they are in at this time (if any)--not sure it would work. Here are some pictures of this fiasco: PLEASE HELP!!!! 1--This is the Hibiscus--it grows about 5' tall. Very pretty! 2--This is what the seed pods look like--ready to pick. Lots of room in them for bugs... 3--This is the small beetle that was inside many of the pods. Any importance??? Sorry--This was as macro as I could get... 4--Plastic covered plate after they all were sprayed with insecticide. 5--A close-up of the rim --you can make out all the weevils. These are from 2008! DISGUSTING!!!! Gita |