I recently declared war on a stealthy spider mite incursion that seems to have become widespread when I looked away just for a second late this summer. I have been "Neeming" and insecticidal soaping recently and am going with biological warfare later this week! Predatory mites! They should arrive Wed. I hope they come in little ninja outfits though my daughter thinks pirates would be cooler. In any event I have an AOS recipe from the Judy White series among others. Mix 1 pt 70% isopropyl ETOH with an equal volume of Formula 409, top off mixture with R/O water to 1 gallon and spray away. Not great on thinner flowers, but then neither are bugs. Using R/O is better that hard water. One of the Growers put this up as his secret weapon against all manner of insects except maybe hard scale, which he attacks with this solution and a Q-tip. I found this on the AOS web site (members section) under great ideas. He claims they use no insecticide at all, but immediately spot treat any trouble with this stuff. I have been spraying with Neem due to said infestation and am mixing per the bottle directions. The label from DynaGro Neem directs me thusly; 1 1/2 tsp Neem with 1 1/2 tsp ProTek (works as a surfactant/spreader and disperses the Neem nicely) in 500 1 quart R/O water. It offers that mild dish soap is fine too, and someone suggested that Doggy Flea and Tick shampoo might be good too, though I have not done this. I think the pet shampoos are all more or less pyrethrin based. Remember you have to use it within around 4 hours or it looses potency. It is my understanding that the false spider mite - Phalenopsis mite can be a tough bugger, but properly applied Neem should reduce your burden of bad bugs. I have been tossing in a few drops of Safer Insecticidal Soap to my Neem brew for extra muscle but not because of science but because it make me feel like I am doing something extra nasty to those little buggers. I have read somewhere that mixing dormant oils and soaps is bad form but cannot recall the source. Mixing ETOH with anything dramatically reduces the amount needed for lethality due to enhanced penetration of the agent through the insects coating. It also dramatically will enhance the amount YOU can absorb through your skin so use good sense. If you have access the AOS Judy White article on pests is a very good resource. Good luck comrade! Death to Mites!

It is indeed looks like a H.arborescens and since it's a stoloniferous plant no wonder that new sprouts are bid apart from the mother plant. As damaged/deformed leaves are cocerned, I wouldn't pay much attention to that yet. I've seen this many times on a young emerging fom the underground shoots and unless you see sucking insects or caterpillars feeding on them this type of damage is nothing but cosmetic.

The Amarylliaceae (amaryllis, crinums, naked ladies, rain lilies and several dozen other bulb species) grow in this format - multiple leaves from a single growth point. And they do grow from a bulb. But they are not considered true lilies. (True lilies have bulbs with overlapping scales, other 'lilies' have bulbs like onions, with layers of tissue). I'd suspect your "lily" is one of these - literally hundreds of different plants have lily in their common name but are not truly lilies at all. Very confusing, I agree :-))

Hello, I'm completely new to this, but I have a Pindo as well and the leaf tips are turning brown . Close to the tips it's getting little brown spots that have darker brown spots in the center. The spear grows about 3/4 of an inch a day. I'm hoping these brown spot don't keep advancing down the leaves. If anybody has any ideas I would sure appreciate the help. It is growing in full sun and I just planted it in the beginning of may. It has grown 2 new fronds as well. Thank you very much.