Times New Roman2Black Have Gloriosa Rothch. growing on a large trellis in the east window for the last two years. A few months ago a friend gave us a passiflora (Blue Passion vine) which we have growingon the same trellis. The lily was "woke up" mid March and grew rapidly and bloomed during June & early July and then for some reason stopped blooming and started to ripen (so we thot) as leaves were turning yellow even tho we had not started to withhold water. Got suspicious when we noticed little black spots on the yellowing leaves, thinking it must be a fungus until very close examination showed that some of the spots were a bit larger and were moving. They about a 1/2 mm. On checking the Passifora we noticed some of the leaves getting blotchy and getting darker green and some shrivelling although it is still blooming well. It has similar dark spots. Do we have both a fungus and insects? The only "remedies" we have on hand are liquid Diazinon and Benomyl 50 systemic Fungicide. We thot Gloriosa was poisonous to man and beast but apparently not these guys. Allan
Allan--my first thought is spider mite (I just discovered them on my colocasia, so it's on my mind!). But it could also be aphids, they come in many colours... A magnifying glass would quickly show whether they are the quite mobile 8-legged mites, or comparatively stay-put 6-legged aphids, or some other insect. The management would be quite different depending on which it turns out to be... Glen
Mites generally create a silver effect on the top side of the leaf and is usually pronounced along the midrib (centre vein) of the leaf. You may have thrip. I suggest you hang a postcard size piece of yellow or white cardboard within the affected area. If it is thrip some will migrate onto the cardboard. You can also smear some petroleum jelly onto the cardboard to aid in keeping the criitters on the card until you investigate. I know that Benomyl fungicide is a banned substance in Australia. It would be worthwhile investigating it's classification in your country
We contacted the Garden Center where it came from - as they move very slow he speculated thrips (even with glass it is hard to tell) so he said the Diazanon will get them no matter what -- so we had to move the trellis 6 ft tall and 4 wide out on to the deck and be careful about contact with skin. It is banned in Canada but we had this on hand from way back. He also pointed out that leaf problems I mentioned can be caused by lack of fertilizer (very rapid growing plants need more than usual) our well water on College campus has lots of sodium -- appreciate your comments -- will dig out my old magnifyer I used when a stamp collector. Allan
Hi (In my opinion) In most cases at reputable garden centers they should be able to ID the critter . Or if bought in the last 6 /12 months they should have more interest as all of thier plants may carrry the host. If Diazanon was recommended/ it is like calling for limited nuke attack on plantain. If you are going to use it ,make sure what you are using it for , and HOW TO USE IT Also check at the nursery and find out if the person has at least a domestic pesticide dispencers licence/or greater. For mites White paper works better than glass(ie red on white)/ for thrips yellow (black on yellow). paper. Also a few pics would possibly help to Id what the prob may be . Regards Doug
Dougs comments are spot on! Just to build further on his message. if you have two spotted or red spider mite problems, diazinon will probably add to the problem. Its quite likely that if they arer mites, they would be resistant to diazinon. Diazinon is a broad spectrum organo phosphate that (as doug mentioned) will kill everything (bar the mites). Mites love it when they see the gardener coming for them with bug spray, as the spray eliminates the beneficial insects and may knock off a small qty of the mite population. Gloriosa is herbaceious and passiflora can be considered either deciduous or herbaceous. I would be removing all growth and dispose of thoughtfully. Then I would purchase a surface spray formulated for spiders. Spray the trellis thoroughly into all the cracks and splits as that is where the mites overwinter
Thanx for all your suggestions. I am pretty sure the problem is thrips from various descriptions and information on various websites. I have four Abuliton seedlings growing in another window and I notice a few same black spots and a few minute winged creatures flitting around the room -- so we still have the problem. Altho we sprayed with diazanon ojn the desk the foliage is so thick on a part of the trellis that we likely didn't contact every leaf both sides. So what can we use indoors that is likely available in Alberta. We are 65 miles (100 km) from the nearest city altho I could order by phone. Any suggestions? I noticed one site suggested "insecticidal soap" as harmless in humans. Allan
