summer time bug and disease control

Sally--

The brugs will survive losing a a bunch of leaves....They may even grow new ones...

Give the plant a blast of a hose--as strong a stream as the brug can tolerate.
SM can be washed off--most of them anyway...

So far so good here. Of course--they got the Butterfly bush pretty good--earlier.
Sprayed with Neem--twice now. All the affected leaves have fallen off...
Bare stems on the bottom half. There are some flowers coming....

Seeing some JB as well. I don't usually have a lot--but they say this year will be bad..
It's the heat--I know..... G.

thanks Gita.

I have a terrible time with spider mites on my asclepias (both tuberosa and incarnata) and on my crocosmia. I have resorted to spraying with pesticides once but I'm phasing those kinds of plants out since they don't seem to attract monarchs for me here in this urban environment anyway. I think this is directly related to more neighbors using whole-yard mosquito sprays? Swallowtails are diminished but still present: I have some swallowtail (I think) eggs on my dill and parsley!

SSG: I have only learned about HVX this week. Here's my neighbor's plant. Pretty bad, huh? I have no recollection of what it looked like when it was healthy, but this hosta is flanked on both sides by what I believe is 'Frances Williams'.

Typwc, I know some indoor citrus growers spray fish emulsion and/or rosemary oil on their plants to prevent spider mites. I've tried fish emulsion foliar sprays myself, but I have no idea if it's actually working. :)

I have a very young Gold Standard, so the bleeding is really minimal. But I'm paranoid now so it's going in the trash! I'll be soaking all of my tools in pure alcohol this weekend.

Sally, thank you for the link. Yes. those caterpillars look just like what I saw on my plant. So they are moth cats.

If the brug leaves fall off, the plant will recover in no time. Mine lost all the leaves but the very few on the tips of the branches last year, but the plant recovered very quickly and bloomed very happily.

SSG, sorry to see the hosta so sick. Maybe use spray to control it so that the virus won't spread to other hostas in your garden?

Donner, I've been reading extension service sites to see what I should do. They say it's definitely spread by tools/touch/soil. There's no cure for it, so I'm going to just remove the hosta and plant something else, like an astilbe or a fern.

so sad to lose plants :(

Really hard to rip out something thats just "a little bit sick"

I'll work on the sick Brug this weekend; not giving up. But I wanted to give it to the lady across the street and was watching it get big and hoping for buds so could give it in bud.
8 ^(

Sally--I KNOW that you KNOW............OOPS!........never mind.......
but--has your Brug "Y" 'ed? If it hasn't--it won't bloom....yet...

Gita

SSG, you can also use a brunnera to replace the hosta.

typwc: Many of my neighbors use the "mosquito mist." I was really hoping my small yard could be a safety zone for butterflies -- I hope you are not right, but I bet you are!

Alternative to bee/butterfly killing solutions used in 'mosquito misters'
http://www.mosquitobarrier.com/

happy: I wanted to be the oasis in my rowhouse neighborhood too. I think my yard is too small (0.08 acres including the house) and too far away from a wide open natural area. Now my backyard is just a haven for mosquitos, since I'm the only one not spraying! :/ The little jerks are practically knocking on my door asking if I can come out to play. Forget butterflies, I need to attract bats! Again, this would fail: they need a fresh water source.

Mosquitoes literally swarm around me and follow me around. Happy couldn't believe it when she witnessed it. I left her house literally bleeding!

DH is so concerned about all the DEET I'm spraying that he wanted to get the mosquito mist for the yard. Of course I didn't want anything like that, but he couldn't understand why I'd cover myself in a harsh chemical like DEET but not spray the yard with what was advertised as "all natural." Their marketing is so sleek that I can see why so many homeowners would be interested.

I do wish I didn't have to inhale that nasty DEET spray, but nothing else works for me. Coleup, I'm tempted try that garlic spray, even with that price...

I've heard of people rubbing themselves with Lemon Grass leaves to keep mosquitoes at bay -- they say it really works. I've not tried it 'cause I'm not sweet enough for them to be interested in me, but what the heck, I think it's worth a try. =)

Judy and Paul---

The closest place to me, that is listed in Nottingham is, literally, somewhere off my street or a few blocks away.
I KNOW the name Bowline Rd. Same zip as mine--21236...

Wonder if it is a distributor from his/her home and NOT an actual business???
Will have to ride around and check it out.

YES! They are out in my yard as well....Will have to yard Guard the back lawn Saturday
as company is coming......

Gita

Gita, Looks like on Google Street view that it's a residence. Mosquito Squad is apparently a franchise business for spraying.

I. Google. Everything.

I di a lot of it myself......Good info to be had in a few minutes.... G.

SS--I think your Japanese beetles ended up on my rose bushes! :-( So sorry to hear about your Gold Standard.

I've lost a few plants this summer. It's always sad...

I'm going to try to spend more time sanitizing my tools after use...

The two best sites I have found on Hosta HVX Virus are
The Hosta Library and Hallson Gardens. They have both been leaders in combating this now widespread disease in Hostas.
http://www.hostalibrary.org/firstlook/HVX.htm
http://www.perennialnursery.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=63&sid=d0a087c765b8bf869182bd3b38ad074a

Well-Judy----
IF you cannot find it--it DOES NOT exist!
You ARE our information expert here.....

Catmint, cleaning and sanitixing our tools is one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of disease in our gardens!

Just now, many of my Hosta are blooming, some tall and blue or white, others short and pale. Generally, I don't grow mine for the flowers and tend to remove the bloom stems rather than let them go to seed.

If I have an HVX infected Hosta any sap I get on my sissors from trimming the flower scapes from that plant can readily infect the next Hosta I cut into thereby infecting it and so on down the line and round the yard unless I clean off the sap and dirt from the sissors and then disinfect the blades and my hands between each cut!

An infected Hosta may not show signs of infection for three or more years so any work around Hostas that gets Hosta juice on ourselves, tools, soil etc should be done carefully. Many gardeners now find it quite prudent to stash disinfecting wipes in their garden tool kits. aprons, sheds. buckets, etc.

I can't tell you how appaled I was to see infected Hosta for sale at my local Big Box store this year I hope none of the Hostas I have shared with any of you are infected and likewise, that I have not unwittingly received infected plants from any one at our swaps.

Confession time. I let my guard down this year because my Hostas are almost all over ten years old now with no signs yet. Back to quarenteening new acquistions in containers for a year or more. UMDTerp, watch your Pauls Glory like a hawk as it came from HD where I later observed diseased plants. Or, better yet, I'll give you your purchase price back and you can destroy the plant rather than risk it. Donner, the big blue Halceon I gave you is one of my old plants and has been grown in that same pot for years, so I feel it is probably OK.

Finally, Buyer Beware! Big Box stores, low end retailing and cheap Hosta have been major contributors to HVX being widespread rather than contained.

Your resident Harbringer, Judy

Judy,

That is OK thanks for the offer I will deal with it accordingly.

Catmint, I think my roses were already so decimated by the rose sawfly that there wasn't even any landing room left for the Japanese beetles! LOL

SS--LOL! One of my rose bushes is holding up pretty well (it is a rugosa hybrid), but the other has black spot and spider mites. Now with the JPs piling on each remaining blossom, it is a sad sight... :-( On my list of plants that need some special attention this weekend!

Coleup--good reminder to be careful about what (and sometimes where) we buy. I was at our local Home Depot a couple months ago and was astounded at how many diseased plants I saw. But then last week I was enticed by the bloom color of an Echinacea Sundown at a nursery that I generally trust a lot, only to look more carefully and realize that the stems and leaves did not look healthy. In fact, none of the Sundowns looked well, but I gather it's a common problem with that cultivar. Too bad as it's such a lovely color. :-( (I got an Echinacea Raspberry Truffle instead, which is flourishing and has a little of the coral tone I was looking for.)

Catmint

I have some big, maybe an inch or a bit less, scarab looking beetles on my grapes that are orange! Any idea what they are?

If it looks like this it's probably an Asiatic.
We find them in the pool all the time, if they stop eating long enough to have a drink.LOL

This message was edited Jul 13, 2013 9:11 AM

Judy, I can't tell you how appreciative I am of your sharing this info about the HVX problem. After reading this thread and the wonderful links you've provided yesterday morning, I PROMPTLY went outside after I got to work and inspected (with alcohol bottle in hand, to pour and clean between touching each plant) each and every plant we have for sale. Not ONE of them show any signs of this virus. Thank God!

Ric - that is the one.

Speedie, congratulations! And kudos to those you work for and their suppliers. Most of the small growers and garden centers here in MD early on got on the "contain the virus and stop its spread" bandwagon and it felt good to be among so many people and nurseries who were doing the right thing.
Now you can breathe a double sigh of relief when you see a customer shopping the shade stock!
And if a suspect shipment comes in you can address it while still on the truck with the supplier

Back then the Dept of Ag did get involved and did destroy infected plants at several locations after we reported sightings, Don't know how active they are currently.

Glad to be on the same team with one such as you!

Judy

Ric, maybe they just get over-heated and want to take a quick dip? :-D Look out if they start ordering tiny drinks with teeny little umbrellas in them! < =/

Heck Judy, my hat is off to YOU! You're one of the MAIN reasons I learn as much as I do, and am better able to be a good employee. You really need to be reminded, daily, of what a precious Precious Gem you are!

I wonder if that garlic spray for mosquitoes smells of crushed garlic?

Yes, for about ten minutes until it dries and then it is not detectible by humans, just bugs. Much much less than 'fish emulsion'!

A friend said citronella geraniums work great in keeping mosquitoes away. I grew one last year, but couldn't tell if it worked. My garden is just way to big for me to be anywhere near the plant. It might work if several are planted in a small garden.

Sally---
So many people ask about the Citronella geraniums ans I am brutally honest with them
I tell them--"Well--you will have to carry it along with you everywhere you go for it to work..
Or--if you put it on the table--you will be sitting at your table the whole time to get any
benefit from it..
Usually, we both have a good laugh when she realized how ineffective it would be for a whole deck.
This same lady had a written list with her with about 6 plants on it that she wanted to have for her deck
to keep the mosquitoes away. The geraniums--Lemon Grass--some kind of herb--and a few more...
The only thing we had were the geraniums--she bought 4 of them....
Plus--2 tall Tiki torches (which I suggested), a gallon of Tiki Torch fuel, and two Tiki-faced lanterns for the table.
I guess money was no matter to her....
The power I have!....:o) These people that really do not know anything--most of the time they will
buy whatever I suggest. Selling "add-ons" is one good way to increase sales...I stay honest, though!

Gita

I'm with you, Gita, about 'staying honest'. Honestly, I don't know much about the citronella geranium; I've not grown them nor have I read up much about them, so I tell people so. I tend to pass along to customers what I've been told by others or my own personal experiences. I've not had a whole lot of people tell me much about the successes they have had with citronella plants, but people tend to look for them anyway. ... shrug...

...speaking of what would be effective for a whole deck... here's the three Lemongrasses I've got on my deck...

In the second pic, you can see my flopping-over lettuce beside the Lemongrass. I really need to cut that baby back, I think it's finished for the season. Oh well, it's served us well for several meals! < =D

Speedie--my daughter is adopted from Vietnam and I have since discovered how much lemongrass is used in Vietnamese cooking--delicious!! :-)

Yes it is! I have a few regular customers who come in for lemongrass every year and I've gotten cooking tips and ideas from them. One "tip" -- don't over-do it! (learned that the hard way last year when I used too much with the shrimp on the barbeque. DH said "Mmmmmm, tastes like Fruit Loops!" Ooops!) < =D

It even mixes well with cilantro in salsas too; gives the salsa a nice fresh taste.

So Speedie, the lemongrass works for you? Your 3 pots are enough to deter mosquitos?