I am fed up with pests… Now I understand that gardening is not so easy.
Initially I had a hibiscus at my home. It was perfect when I brought it our home. Was blooming well… Then came these ugly little things on the buds. I initially thought that those are from the flowers itself. After few days, my hibiscus looked very exhausted…. Starving…. Despite the fact that I water twice a day. One fine evening I decided to spend some time with it… (trying to talk the problems đŸ˜‰ ). When I was checking the leaves… On the bottom of the leaves there were tiny small insects moving within the leaves. It was a nightmare… Believe me it was the bad than the best horror movie ever made.
Not being an expert… I googled and found that they are called aphids. Tiny sucking insects which sucks the life of plants.
You know : Aphids can reproduce itself without a partner.
And there were probably billions of them in my plant. No wonder it was starving. I rushed to the shops for buying pesticides. I tried for couple of weeks. But no luck. Then I made this very hard decision. I dont want to abandon my hibiscus and at the same time I cannot watch it suffer. So I took a scissor and cut down all the leaves and branches till the bottom of my hibiscus. It was an horrible moment… I imagined someone cutting me into pieces… How painful it would be… I could imagine how painful it was for her.
Couple of days passed… There was a first new leaf on her. I was so happy that she survived all those painful moments. Now there are bunch of leaves and she looks very healthy.
Moral of the story:
Gardening comes with great responsibility. You have to spend some time with your plants. Do some checks if she is ok & healthy. You have find about pests at the early stage…. Otherwise if the infestation is massive you don’t other options. Cut down the infested areas so that it does not spread to other areas…
Next story:Â About my roses… Stay Tuned…
Dear Bhuvana !
Hope you will be at your best !
1. If you see aphids and have no pesticide just spray leaves with a solution of any detergent and water in any ratio you like. The aphids get suffocated and die.
2. Insects like Aphids suck juices excrete out which ants love to give to their infants. They collect eggs of aphids and put on leaves In spring season. Put a piece of plastic like an empty shopper bag around trunk of plant in a very zig zag manner creating many paths to trunk upper from below . Ants cant follow and put Aphid eggs.
3. If Aphids are not there some other insects will come who scratch, or leaf miners who make mines in the leaf and show like white zigzag paths, mites will come who scratch and make some webs around them. Then fungus like black rot on roses or brown rot on or Nematodes in ground. Then nutrients and elements like Cu, Zn or other may not be available readily in ground. Each have separate treatment. I tried many pesticides etc purchasing from Walmart. home depot etc. But difficult to use each item separately.
4. Then I found a bottle from Bayers. It has all medicines for aphids, other insects and Fungus. It also has fertilizers and other elements. Also easy to use. Make a solution in water and pour down around roots . You can also just bath the plant. One application is enough for 2 months. Do not use for veggies and fruits. It is not allowed by Bayer. i purchased it from Walmart. it is very effective