Can you tell me what might be eating my Bougainvillea folliage?   

Thank you,

David Vincente

 

David, It sounds like its the bougainvillea looper.   The caterpiller is a green or brown and about 1 inch long.   It feeds primarily at night, which is why you may see the damage but fail to find the culprit on the plant.

The insect will cause significant visual damage to bougainvillea, although this does not apparently result in the death of the plant.

With the cooler weather the loopers will slow down so I recommend nothing. 

If you would like to use something you can spray with Bt or with Spinosad. Neither one lasts very long on the plant after it is sprayed. It probably would be good to spray about 3 times a week apart.

 

Jen

 

 

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Do I have Chinch Bugs?

Chinch Bugs, a member of the family Lygaeidae, are common grass pests in the Houston.

These small bugs eat grasses and can cause patches of grass to turn yellow. If you suspect you have chinch bugs in your yard and would like to see them, get a coffee can and cut open both ends.   Firmly sealed coffee can into the soil of about 1″ .  It will serve as a leaky reservoir.  Pour water into the container, carefully not to disturb leaf clippings.  After 1 to 2 you should see chinch bugs float to the surface. 

Control of Chinch Bugs starts with proper lawn care. Any time can be a prime time for fungal lawn disease to move in, if your turf is stressed from lack of water, high temperatures, too much moisture or the wrong kind of care (scalping lawns etc). Your yard guys need to sharpen their blades and in the spring set their blades to Medium and in the summer set blades to the highest level so they do not scalp your yard which causes stress.

You can treat chinch bugs buy using  Liquid Systematic Fungicide and Soil Activator.  The Soil  Activator promotes growth of good microbes that will build soil structure and humus.  One gallon of this is equivalent to 7 tons of manure in term of soil bioactivation.   

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Jen,
Do you know what this is on my Hibiscus?  They are all over the neck of the flowers with a white web looking thing. It looks like there are insects in the web. Yuck!  Hopefully you can tell from the pic.

A. Freeman
Bellaire, Texas

Looks like you have a case of Mealybugs. They have been very prevalent this year. Please see below the recommended spray for mealybugs:

In a one-quart spray bottle, mix …
- 1 tablespoon of neem oil
- ¼ to ½ cup of rubbing alcohol (use up to ½ cup when dealing with mealybugs)
- 3-4 drops of orange oil
-5-6 drops of dish soap
Then fill the rest with water

This has to be sprayed directly on the mealybugs.  It is best to get as little on the leaves as possible because it does have some danger of phytotoxicity.  Since mealybugs like to be on the leaf axils and stems,  move the leaves and spray the little beasts directly.

Make absolutely sure that you do not spray this is full sun.  If the plant is in the ground in full sun, wait until evening (like after 6), and then to rinse the plant off in the morning.

May need more than one application.
The Neem Oil and the Citris Oil can be purchased at Wabash in the Heights.

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