Robert,

That's a nice picture of your dwarf flower against the dark background. I've been spraying my plumies with both neem and alternating with spinosad every week for thrips to no avail. I had several inflos that aborted bc these little @*$!# keep feeding on the young buds and reduce the inflos to nothing. Maybe it's the type of thrips here in Oklahoma that's immune to these sprays. The ones you and I have is probably called Frankliniella tritici. These little buggers bite too. Ever got bitten by one? lol.

Here is the inflo on my rooted Madame Poni, it popped indoors over the winter and used to be full of buds. These flowers made you think they are the last few but they are actually #2 and #3 that survived the thrips ordeal :(

Kenny

You're right Kenny, like the spider mites, they seem to enjoy the poison. I swear I can hear the laughing at me. I had them bad on a rose bush last year and couldn't seem to kill them. I thought it was because they were inside the bud. So, I finally decided to try the dreaded systemic... nothing. Not much trouble from them so far this year, but I noticed one crawling on a Marjorie bud earlier.

You're right Kenny, like the spider mites, they seem to enjoy the poison. I swear I can hear the laughing at me. I had them bad on a rose bush last year and couldn't seem to kill them. I thought it was because they were inside the bud. So, I finally decided to try the dreaded systemic... nothing. Not much trouble from them so far this year, but I noticed one crawling on a Marjorie bud earlier.

Sorry guys, I have no idea why it posted twice.

Ack! You're supposed to tell me of some magic spray that I can use that will kill them all! Laugh.

Guess I'll try my best to control the little jerks.

Oh, my friend from OKC came up to Tulsa today and let me know that Calvert's in OKC has plumies in but he doesn't know which cultivars. Just thought you guys might want to check it out. :)

The JJ plumies are in at Southwood.

-Robert

You guys keep those pest at your place LOL. I Dont want em.

Mike

Ha, Mike! If only life was that easy! :)

-Robert

Thanks for the heads up, Robert. I have never heard of Calvert's. Any one know where it's located?

5308 N Classen Blvd, Oklahoma City
(405) 848-6642

I assume that's the one Robert mentioned.

Mike

As usual you are correct, Mike! :)

-Robert

thanks for the info mike, I'll have to check it out.

On the subject of pests, do you guys get a lot of ants going up to your inflows? They have been thick and i've had some unopened buds drop off. I wonder if the ants could be doing some damage, or maybe it is all of these weather changes.

Robert i just remembered using this stuff last year. As i was passing out and nearing exsanguination due to mosquitos I accidentally sprayed a couple of thrip infected plumeria on the way down. No ill effects and the thrips were knocked back to manageable levels.

That stuff should work fine as the label mentions thrips and ornamental plants.

Ha! Thanks for the laugh and recommendation, K!

I try to be an organic gardener so for now I'm sticking with Al's thrip spray, the water hose and Pro-Tekt. :)
Course if my buds keep falling off I just might buy some of this!

-Robert

Lol Robert, that's why they invented flamethrowers jk. Last Fri I went to a picnic at work and got bitten by thrips at the park. They must think my flesh is a delightful treat or something.

Back to your problem. I read that thrips like dry environment and often found in weedy vegetation. When you get rid of weeds, guess where they'll go? Your precious plumies lol. Since they don't like moisture the article recommends water your plants well and spray the leaves to wash off any eggs and pupas. I've been spraying my plumies with water, just at the tips where these little demons like to hide twice a day.

After seeing a little bud dropped off my Hilo Beauty, I started my dilligent spraying and misting daily and it seems to help. Here are some inflos of Hilo, Taj Mahal, and a mystery orange that I've been watching like a hawk. Taj is in a 2 gal pot from JJ and the other 2 are newly rooted cuttings that send up inflos while rooting. I have a couple more inflos but they are not as close as these.

Kenny

Thanks for the tips, Kenny!

Congrats on all your inflos. They look great!

-Robert

You did a good job protecting those inflos from the winds Kenny :) Peg

Robert, No problem.. Organic is always good but that went out the window for me when I got swarmed by some Alaskan size mosquitos (the thud of them landing on your back can knock the wind out of you).

Hey guys. Got a problem. My inflos seem to be attacking ants and I think I'm loosing buds because of them. I Dont see any other pests and I have treated with neem just to be sure. I Dont have too many inflos this year and I Dont want to loose any buds.
What can I do???
Mike

Mike, I was having the same problem and I thought I was also losing buds. I sprinkled some Diatomacious Earth (probably not even close to the right spelling) on the soil. It has since washed away, but I'm not getting any more ants. I have been gently washing the inflow off every few days and I haven't seen any more. I still don't know if there was a pest in there that I couldn't see that was attracting them, or if they were attacking the buds themselves.

Thanks Allan. I got some DE around here somewhere. I'll give it a try.

Mike

That is a well known bug killer. It cuts through their exoskeletons and they dry out and die. Here's some info on it: http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp

Here is a link that might be useful: safe insect killer

I just heard on the radio gardening show that ants won't cross DE, but it must be dry so just reapply it after a rain. Good luck, Mike!

And Robert, I finally got the Dwarf Deciduous White at the sale. Yes, I broke down and actually bought a white plumeria. Can't wait for those fragrant blooms! The foliage looks very cool, too.

Yay, Jen!

The leaves are cool. If my blooms wouldn't fall off after a day I could give more of a scent report but I can tell you the scent changes throughout the day. During the day it's sort of a citrus detergent scent but towards the evening it becomes more perfumey.
My partner thinks my plumie addiction is ridiculous however he's in love with the scent (at least I got him to like one of them!). :)

-Robert

Thanks for the Tips everyone.

Well I put some DE down. I got a bit on the inflo also I hope thats doesnt hurt them. Ill let ya'll know what happens

Mike

Robert, did you ever have any success against your thrips? My first two Marjorie blooms haven't opened completely and it's dropped a few buds. Today i was able to find one thrip on it. It's like a couple of petals came out just fine, but a couple stayed small and are keeping it from fully opening. Is that the kind of damage you were getting?

Hi Allan,

Sorry to hear you might be having thrip issues as well. :(

My new small leaves are deformed and my plant was dropping buds before they would open and if the flowers opened they would only stay on the plant for a day before dropping.

I've been hosing my plants down twice a day.
Need to make some more thrip spray.
Hopefully the rain will help with the issue. :)

-Robert

Robert, here is what is happening to mine. It's like a couple of petal don't get any bigger after a certain point and don't allow it to open. I have also lost a few bud before they could get to that point. I only noticed one thrip on the inside of the bud, but it sure reminds me of the way they will make a rose not open correctly. Anyone else ever had blooms open this way?

I've had some that did that. I even carefully pried them open but they still just sit there. It seems the very tip of the flower gets messed up and keeps them from opening. They eventually just fall off without opening further.

DelWH, I don't think that anything is wrong with the tip. If you look at the very bottom you can see two of the petal are still very small. It's like they stopped growing while the rest continued to grow. I don't know if thrips sucking the juices out of it could do that out not.

Its my opinion and experience it is caused by thrips. I have some that do the same thing and anecdotally speaking its always ones which get spider mites or you can see thrips on them. Once the infestation is under control the flower deformation goes away.

Thrip and spider mites will totally wreck a beautiful inflo if given the opportunity.

I keep it pretty well clear of spider mites, but i really don't know what to do about the thrips. It's the same problem that i get with my roses, I can't very well spray anything on them if they are getting inside the bud.