Thank you for telling me what kind of plant this is! :D Such a pretty name too! My mom has been watering it; she says she has been watering it heavily once a week. That shouldn't be enough to cause over-watering, should it? The fukien tea has been next to my healthy fig for the past several months; I read that scale insects love figs, so even if I somehow missed a scale when looking the fukien tea over, I'd imagine my fig would be showing signs of sickness. I think scale can be ruled out, thankfully. As for mites, there was a spiderweb underneath that lower horizontal section of the trunk. Or rather, I *thought* it was a spiderweb, but now I'm not so sure. Some of the dead leaves were hanging from the branches by some sort of very thin string-like material (at the time, I assumed it was cat hair or some other thing that shouldn't cause worry) that could've easily been single strands of a web. I did destroy the web. I'll keep a close eye out for any more webs and the mites themselves. Is there anything you can recommend me doing if this is mites?

Good suggestion. I thought for sure the white stuff was the same on the shrubs and brick. I tried Daconil initially a couple of months ago when I thought it was a fungus. It did not cover the areas very well (and apparantly did'nt work). Any suggestions on how to treat for the scale insect? Will it harm the shrubs if not addressed? Also, any ideas for the brick? As far as the Ligustrum, I hope it will green-up in the spring. I will do some pruning in the next few weeks. See below from the Clemson Extension. VARIEGATED CHINESE PRIVET (Ligustrum sinense ÂVariegataÂ) Mature Height/Spread: This semi-evergreen shrub grows quickly to 4 to 6 feet with an equal spread. It has gray-green leaves with white margins, which makes it a popular shrub for brightening dull areas of the garden. This shrub may revert to the species, which has dull, grayish leaves. These odd branches need to be pruned out.

I came across your post because I was searching mold on aloe plants. I just bought an aloe plant last weekend at lowes with an assortment of succulents that came potted together. I seperated all the succulents and divided my aloe plant into three little plants. I used clear plastic drinking cups to start off all the plants and repotted with miracle grow potting soil making sure to put holes in the bottom of all the cups a least 5-7 holes) All my other plants are doing great but I noticed, being that the cups are clear that the same green mold on your aloe plant is growing in all three cups of my aloe. None of the other plants have it. Only the aloe... Right now anyway. Since these have been divided and don't have much root development will the suggestion in your feed about the peroxide harm the plant or do you think it should be fine to use this method? Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

A three gal container is way too small for Big Beef, 5 gal is pushing it. Personally, I wouldn't use less than a 15 gal container for that particular variety. Big Beef plants get enormous. Water plants in morning, not evening, so that foliage and soil surfaces have time to dry out. No need to add sand to potting mix -- actually I'd advise against it. If anything, it will hinder drainage, not help it. Same with the rocks/sand in the bottom of the pot (a common misconception). Plenty of information in the container gardening forum on how to build good container mixes. Right now I'm using a fertilizer that's 30-10-10 Way, way too much nitrogen, especially considering you've already added bat guano and other fertilizers to your potting mix. Also, if your plants are only two weeks old (do you mean from seed or from transplant?) they need little, if any nitrogen at this point. Orthocide (captan) is not really as effective as a fungicide for fungal foliage diseases of tomatoes as Daconil (chlorothalonil) is. As far as continuing to use it as a soil drench past the seedling stage for this soil mold, what do the directions say? Because that's what I'd recommend what you'd follow. I don't think continuing to use it past a seedling or cutting stage as a drench is a labeled use, and you'd also want to research and then consider toxicity. Penncozeb? Works by coating/sealing leaf surfaces, so using it as a soil drench isn't going to be helpful. Also probably shouldn't be mixed with the captan like you're doing (I don't know, but would suggest you check). Again, my concern with using it as you are doing (not a labeled use) is toxicity to you. Did you throughly read the instructions for both of these products before you used them? This is so VERY, VERY important to do. I think the solution to many of your problems is going to be figuring out how you can somehow provide a drier environment for the plants, whether it be growing in a raised tunnel, a greenhouse, etc. Or perhaps even some sort of makeshift structure you rig together. Having rains every other day as a regular feature of a growing season is just not going to be optimal for tomato plants. There have been a number of posts on the main tomato forum discussing the challenges of growing in hot/rainy/humid climates that you might find helpful. Here is a link that might be useful: tomato forum