Problems w/Hibiscus gall (mites)

[Dot]

Aloha PunaWebbers, just curious, is anyone else having problems with mites on Hibiscus plants?

We're part-timers, and arrived to some very unhappy Hibiscus plants, white bumps all over the leaves, others curled up into a ball and no flowers. I took a ziploc baggie with a few leaves to the Maku'u market and showed it to a couple of the vendors, and they both agreed it was mites and the curled up leaves are called gall. I found info on http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/site/ and it sure sounds like they are correct. So I pruned off all the sickly stalks and applied pesticide recommended by the nice garden lady at HD in Hilo. We're in Nanawale, and I saw it on alot of other Hibiscus in the neighborhood on our morning walks, even the older bushy ones! I was so disappointed, they are my absolute favorite flower! Last year aphids, this year mites, and it looks like we have a few slugs too.....gotta love Puna!

Wondering if anyone has a magical cure? Appreciate any suggestions.....

And on a lighter note, we got our final inspection on our house - yay!!!! Rob, does this mean I'm not a newbie anymore[]

Aloha - Dot

[Michael Bird]

Wettable Sulfur has worked for me. In some cases, I’ve had to do some severe pruning to begin treatment with a clean slate. I also hauled the prunings off a good distance away and sanitized them with the weed burner. I’m also experimenting with rooting some cuttings that were doused with the sulfur solution prior to dipping in rooting hormone.

[Royall]

I've got the same thing. The man at Garden Exchange called them "blister mites". Most likely the same thing just different name. Gave me some stuff to put on them but for the life of me I can't find the bottle!!! Gotta love getting older!!

Newbie, Keep posting Dot... You'll get there sooner than later! Took me 5 years to get to Punatic, but I don't post as often as many others do. ;-) Oh, and congratulations on the final! Hope to see you and your family at Scuba Sunday sometime!

Royall

[Dot]

Thanks much for the information, sometimes gardening misery loves company! Figured I was on the right track, better gardening through modern chemistry and brutal pruning []

I have scuba Sunday on my list of things to do this winter when we're there (I get 4 months in paradise this winter yay!), looking forward to meeting everyone in person!

Dot

[Noel M2]

Aloha Dot.

I've experienced this with several varieties of hibiscus, including the natives. I plant them out of the way so that the leaves are not that obvious and keep the mite resistant varieties in more visible spots in the yard. Yes, there are some hybrids that tend to be resistant to the mite. There is a nursery that sells some of these hybrids. They are based in Hilo and have a stall at the Kinoole Farmers' market. The market is open every Saturday until noon.

If you'd like to test some cuttings, let me know.

Noel

[Dot]

Noel, thanks for the info on the Kinoole Market, I haven't been to that one yet, another market I need to go to......it's a dirty deed, but someone has to do it LOL! I have 2 other varieties that weren't affected by the mites, so relocating sounds like the plan.

Mahalo - Dot

[OpenD]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dot

both agreed it was mites and the curled up leaves are called gall.

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No, galls are little blisters on the leaves. I get a lot of galls on my ohi'a leaves, caused by an endemic gall-wasp, which plants eggs in the little blisters. If you look really closely you can see the way they open to let the baby gall-wasps out once they hatch.

Although unsightly, they are considered harmless.

Not sure this is what you are describing, but in any case, galls are the bumps, not the curls.

[missydog1]

well, I've had a lot of different hibiscus over the last nine years. Sooner or later, they all get blister mite. At first it was something I couldn't accept, but now I feel it's one of those things that takes too much work and too much dealing with chemicals to keep after.

I bought the expensive stuff from Garden Exchange, followed all the directions, and nothing really worked.

Like noel, I have the hibiscus at a distance, so that I look out and see the flowers, not the blister mite distorted leaves. I do hand pick the really ugly leaves every so often.

It is a shame. When I moved here I looked forward to growing hibiscus.
The good news is that the plants are pretty tough and will keep on blooming even with very bad cases.

My feeling about horticulture in Hawai'i is that perfection is too difficult. I kind of felt that way about roses on the mainland, always fighting the powdery mildew and black spot and rust. I grew them anyway, and most of the time they had gorgeous flowers but the leaves had issues. That's pretty much what you're gonna get with hibiscus.

Dot -- it's not a this year thing with the mites. I don't know when they arrived, but they're all over the island and have been for years. The way you great a pretty hibiscus plant is you buy a new one ... and enjoy that until it gets mites. Sorry!

"Sometimes it's not enough to know what things mean, sometimes you have to know what things don't mean." — Bob Dylan

[emilysteng]

Hey there - I don't know what insecticide you used. I have this problem on the hibiscus at the nursery. This may not be available to homeowners, but Kontos, a new insecticide from OHP is working for me. Before I was using Mpede (an insecticidal soap) but that doesn't work as well as Kontos.

[Lucy]

Use a horticultural oil and then follow up with rose food with an systemic insecticide in it. Or just the systemic insecticide alone and use your fertilizer that you have on hand.

http://www.hibiscusworld.com/pests-and-diseases.html This site might be of help too.

I am trying to remember the oil that we used when growing them at the botanical gardens here in Texas.

Lucy

Having another Great day in Paradise, Wherever that Maybe!