Iguana-proofing my trees...if that's possible...

14 years ago

Happy Saturday, all:

Laura had asked for photos of more of my trees, and I thought this would be an opportunity to share a few more.

After an iguana basically tore off one of the tips of my dockside trees, I decided something had to be done...so today, I began the process of attempting to iguana-proof my plumies with bird-netting and garden mesh. Who knows if it will work, but I had to try.

So, here are a few more of my trees, under the veil of bird-netting! These are all doing very well in the gritty mix, by the way...

Lilikoi (the long tip on the right is the one that the iguana mauled off--grrr! You can also see where the leaves were eaten off the whole way to the stem):

Hawaiian Coral:

Lava Flow:

VCR:

Kaneohe Sunburst:

Hula Girl:

(No netting on HG)

Summer has arrived in South Florida! Yes! The trees are all waking up...inflos on Waimea, Haleakala, Aimhorn, and a pink NoID...still not enough! More inflos, please.

Enjoy your weekend,

Greg

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Comments (6)

pcput
14 years ago
Greg, They all look good with or without bird nets and leaves. Hope the netting works. It would be a shame to loose infloes to them. We work too hard to get those blooms. Your hula girl is really getting pretty. Peg
sflgplume
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you, Peg. I agree that it would be more than a shame to lose inflos to those critters. I am an animal lover but I have a hard time finding a warm spot inside for an iguana...and if they break off my flower stalks, I'm definitely going to have to talk to my condo association about a "final solution." *evil laugh*

Happy Sunday!
Greg
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jandey1
14 years ago
Iguanas, yuck!

Hula Girl is lovely; can't wait to see your other inflos.

How about a garlic/cayenne spray? Teen squirrels were chewing off all my magnolia flower buds (that I waited 9 years to see for the first time!) last spring so I mixed freshly minced garlic with cayenne pepper in water and sprayed my buds with it. Did the trick for quite a while, until rain washed it all off. Smells terrible so I can't imagine iguanas wanting to eat anything sprayed with that. With all the rain you get you could just spray the underside of the leaves and that might be enough.

Good luck!
sflgplume
Original Author
14 years ago
Jen,

yuck is right! Every time I see one down there, I just cringe.

Your suggestion is terrific--thank you. I was too busy this weekend to find the time to get netting on all of the trees down there; mixing up this spray will take a fraction of the time, and it just may work.

I'll keep you posted. Have a great week.

Greg
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
14 years ago
Hey Greg,

Thanks for the pictures!!!

I am so sorry to hear of those critters eating at your trees. Yikes!!! Jen has a great idea about the spray. They also make other sprays to keep other animals away. I have another idea. I will email you tomorrow and see what you think. Those cages look like they will work well.

Great job!!!

Love that Hula Girl!!

I placed about 60+ trees outside today. Temps will be in the mid 70's all week with the lows only down to the low 50's. I lugged them all outside and my first thought was..."how many times will i do this before i can really leave them out for the year.." LMAO!! I guess this happens to me every season... I get so excited when i see the temps like this. MY trees are loving it!!

Take care,

Laura
sflgplume
Original Author
14 years ago
Hey Laura!

I don't know if my email is visible on my profile/account on GW...but please email me at gregfalk2@yahoo.com with your suggestion!

I will try yours and Jen's. I have been really busy at the office and haven't really looked at my trees in days, let alone finish iguana-proofing them...so I went down to the dock tonight, and found my Julie Moragne picked clean...

This is what I'm dealing with:

I could just scream...this is the third time this tree has leafed out and then had all of its leaves eaten off.

Anyway, glad to hear that your temps will be warm! Woo-HOO! What a great time of year, right? :) (and if I lived in Va Beach I would do the EXACT same thing you did LOL)

Send me your idea when you get a minute, please!

Greg