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Hibiscus dying - fly-like pest

8 years ago

I bought and lost 3 hibiscus (in house) last spring and they all had little black flies coming up from the soil. Whatever they are don't destroy the leaves, only the roots. Hence the leaves sometimes turn yellow and sometimes just all fall off. I have used Dr. Earth fertilizer, and diogenous earth to slice the larvae in the soil. Can anyone identify these culprits? I love these plants and would like to buy some this spring but am reluctant. Help!

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Comment (1)

Jean
8 years ago
Likely the plants are in a high organic potting mix.

If such mix is a bit too wet at least part of the time, fungus gnats commonly become numerous. The adults don't damage the plants but the youngsters. The young damage roots and can injure and/or kill plants.

Of course, if the potting mix is chronically too moist, or alternately too moist and too dry, the plant can die from root rot.

if the problem is fungus gnats, back off a bit on the watering. But also use mosquito granules in the water. To break their life cycle, continue for at least 3 weeks. The acive ingredient is Bti, Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis.
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It is going to be hard for people to answer this without more information... Where are you in the world? What state? Which plants contain which bugs? Bugs that look like thread? ummm. Color, size anything more? Pictures are always nice. Never used Organicide, but there is allot of Organic options for different pests and problems. I generally only spray certain plants, but never everything. Being in the South, Powdery Mildew is a prob so I spray (certain plants like Cateloupe) with a Baking Soda Mix. Occasionally, if I see cabbage worms getting out of control I spray with BT (I try to pick off by hand). One size fits all stuff like Organacide might be to harsh for your plants. Never had to spray pepper plants. Get bugs from time to time, but not enough to warrant spraying and have always been productive. Pepper plants do not like to be wet that is for sure. And they are not going to produce in hot southern weather. But again, since we do not know where you are, it is hard to help.
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there could be several options: if its a recent planting - my first thought would be water/sun combo. maybe they don't like where you put them? does the soil drain well? is it too dry? its possibly bugs. if you check out the pests section of hidden valley hibiscus, they have a great rundown on what damage they do.
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You have white flies - just like I am fighting. The most common cures are spraying the plants with soapy water, Neem oil, worm castings on ground around them or Bayer Advance Garden Tree and Shrub Insect Control which is VERY expensive but I just tried tonight since none of the other cures worked completely for me. I have 29 hibiscus that have the bottom 1/3 of the plants COVERED in the white web/larva/flies. I just came to this forum to see what others have suggested and will try their suggestions: tangle foot on yellow plastic plates because they are attracted to yellow and will stick to the tangle foot (or fly sticky traps that are yellow), Naturalus T & O, Isotox if all else fails. GOOD LUCK!!!
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Whitefly nymphs do NOT live in the soil, but can be found on the underside of the leaves. I'd suggest that you make sure that the neem oil you are using is cold pressed, which will have a high percentage of the active ingredient Azadirachtin. Be sure to concentrate your spraying activities to the underside of the leaves, where whitefly of all stages hang out. Azadirachtin has no broad spectrum effect on other insects once it has dried, but will continue to work on those pests that continue to feed on the plant. Since it works as a growth disruptor, the nymphs should never reach adulthood. It also acts as an anti-feedant. Yay!
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