sammy what exactly do you spray your brugs with? Is it a mixture of soap and alcohol? What are the propotions? I know I have wiped a few of mine down with alcohol wipes but I think that is too drying. I will probably just go snip leaves.

Mary

If they are infested I'd go ahead and strip all the foliage. I've stripped infested foliage off of cuttings while they are rooting without any problem. I have the same problem as you because I don't use any strong insecticides. The strongest treatment I'll use is neem. Too bad I can't release a few thousand ladybugs in my house. lol
Karyn

It's a mix of dish soap, alcohol and water. I don't really measure it, but a large squirt of soap, and about a quarter rubbing alcohol to 3/4 water. Leave it on for 10 minutes or so, then rinse it off. (half the time, I don't rinse, and usually it's okay, sometimes you get a little leaf burn) You have to keep doing it, every few days. It's hard to keep on top of them. You stop for a while, think you're fine, then you turn around and have a million aphids again!!!

sammyqc, from when we move them inside/November until March here we keep them all naked so that we do not have problems with mites. We do this on a weekly bases both inside, brug and greenhouse.

I strip leaves too...my breezeway is around 47 degrees and the brugs dont get bugs until around late Feb, so when the bugs come I strip...and Karyn Ive thought of releasing ladybugs in my breezeway too..lolo..Judy

Are you using synthetic fertilizare?try changing to a granular and liquid organic fertilizer of some type even the miricle grow brand will do and a little superthrive.this will make the plant healthy and able to fend the mites off themselfs somewhat.as for the current infestation I would treat with liquid seaweed,neem oil,essential salts of fatty acids,spray use one each per week I would go ahead and strip any leaves that are damaged lets say about 50% or more as I feel the plants need as many leaves as possible to grow.Hope I dont sound like a tree hugging know it all but I made eliminating mites an obscession for a few years and this is what has worked for me and I am just trying to help mites and things are just an occaisional nuiscence for me now I used to raise them in great numbers. Good luck they can be maddening I lost many brugs to mites,aphids etc myself. Oh and spraying with seaweed about every 2 or three weeks will act as a preventative once the infestation is wittled down.

Don't mix the seaweed to strong for a foilar feeding.. I have naked babies as well... I do have several that I keep in the garden windows in the kitchen that have leaves .. but I wash them every few days... just so I can have some with leaves...everything else.. Bald and Beautiful...LOL
Kylie

I wish I could overwinter these outside!!! I don't fertilize during the winter, cause I'm trying to keep growth at a minimum. I guess I will have some naked plants. I think I'll let the babies and the Peaches and Cream keep their foliage, but I'll strip all the biggies. I just had never heard of stripping them totally, figured after severe cutting back for the winter, the new growth was kind of necessary for next years flowers. What about doubles? Strippers too? LOL.

sammy it doesnt matter if they are single or doubles re: stripping leaves, in that regard its all the same. The winter growth that occurs when they are being overwintered is usually weaker anyhow. What needs to grow in the spring to produce branches and thus a Y is for flowers. In the spring they will quickly grow back thier leaves..hopefully bug free.

BUGS - are we STILL talkin' about BUGS?!?!? (sarcastic grin)

I'm going to try to keep some of the leaves on mine with the Anti Stress treatment.

but if I see that I'm still losing the battle, I'll have to strip.

I just didn't want to lose the time when they generate new branches and leaves (zone 5b). So I'm battling an Illinois growing season and the bugs.

Didn't find the raid in the blue can. Trying the anti stress - but Jeep-Jim said this process will take some time - because they have to be starved/soffocated.

I guess I truly won't know for a little while until I see a complete halt of the spread and the new growth isn't stippled.

So what I am hearing is that if we have a bug problem or think we do even if we can't see anything too much, then we shoud strip the leaves off the cuttings that are rooted/rooting and they will be okay with that?
The leaves on my cuttings are continuing to go limp and dry up and fall off....and some of them just fall off even though they look perfectly healthy. I did see some white flies and treated for them, but the leaves continue to fall. About half of them have got themselves naked anyway so should I just strip the rest of them before they do it on their own?

greylady-gardener
Strip and treat. the stripping makes the whole eradication easier by eliminating 90% from the get-go. your leaf drop could be from over watering, however mites seem be amongst us all, so treat this with one of the remedies mentioned .

I just read the other "buggy" thread and now I know something is going on that I can't see, bug wise, so I am going to strip my leaves and spray again, and hope that does the trick. Does this happen to the ones that stay in the bubbler all winter?