I wouldn't spray them with an insecticide unless you were sure that's what the problem was, even then I don't use them. If it was black powdery stuff it might well be a fungus. Are you allowing your plant to dry out between waterings and does it get good air circulation? The soil looks pretty wet but that might just be the pic. I'd probably pick off the badly affected leaves and leave it alone. Let it dry out and keep it in morning sun. No more insecticides, including neem oil and see if it recovers. Good luck.
Karyn

i do the finger test with my soil and only water when the top inch becomes dry. The ones in the plastic pot i water once a week and the ones in the terra cotta pot i water twice. Should i let them dry out more than that? These haven't grown at all for about 2 months now. Should I maybe repot them and start with fresh soil.

Just some suggestions: Looks like spider mites to me. Try soap and water, wash it off in 10 minutes or after the leaves dry, drain the pot of soapy residue. Feed with nitrogen, heavy compost. Vigna caracalla thrives in warm, humid, almost tropical rainforest-like environment...Lots of sun...Is the wire choking the plant?
For me, they are heavy feeders and need plenty of water.--However, keep in mind, I live in Hawaii. It is hot here and I would need to water every day or my plants would die.
Good Luck,
Lee

I have tried the soapy water and the black dust comes back. I'll try again and see what happens. I have kept mine in the sun since they sprouted to get them used to the texas heat. I have never had them dry out completely.

My apologies. I didn't intend to imply that you let them dry out. What I meant was that in some parts of the country, you can get away with not watering daily, in other parts such as mine, it can be a death sentence. That being said, I believe it might be best to do the dish liquid and water "thing" once a week, making sure that you douse the planter and the medium too--then, of course, washing all the soap off and out...hence the addition of fertilizer (maybe a liquid?) Spidermites are tough little buggers and not all insecticides work on them because they aren't really insects. Some people use a dust, others have some homemade remedies that include the use of (I believe) cornstarch. I have not tried these avenues...if soap and water or a strong blast of plain water does not work, I use Bayer--starting this year. This particular year has and still is a pretty tough insect, disease, and mite year for me and I sympathize with you...
good luck again and please post on you progress.
--Lee

I allow the top of the soil to dry between waterings and it's been growing and blooming beautifully. I have it in a 25" plastic pot. Black powdery stuff is most often mold, usually from too much moisture on the foliage and/or lack of air circulation. With spider mites you'll usually see fine webbing at the bases of the leaves where they attach to the stem and at the tips. You might also see it on the undersides of the leaves. Is it in a well draining potting mix and are the roots healthy? Unless you think the potting mix is to blame I'd be hesitant to repot an already stressed out plant. You might consider a fungicide for the black powdery stuff. Is there a nursery nearby that you can take a sample of an affected leaf and have them take a look? A good nursery should be able to tell you what is wrong.
Karyn

Btw, worst case scenario, if they die, let me know...I can give you seeds--perhaps for trade? Before you e-mail me, please let me know that you are e-mailing. I go through spurts of computer-ing...sometimes I don't go on the computer because I'm busy, sometimes because my son has a knack for causing meltdown (three times since last year November--wait, then twice before that...)
--Lee

I have used neem on it with is a fungicide/insecticide and nothing has changed. I looked at the roots and they don't look bad but i'm not sure what bad would look like. I'll see if I can show my local nursery a leaf.

Than you lee I appreciate the offer. I'll see if they get any better. I don't have much to trade. I live in an apartment and just started gardening so my stash of items is limited. The only thing I have growing really well is pampas grass and curly locks ivy.

Vanillalotus, I rec'd some cuttings of corkscrew last fall and rooted them in water - probably 14 of them rooted and I felt so excited! Here I'd heard it was so difficult to deal with these things and I had 14 of them growing in bottles and glasses of water in my kitchen. :-) Then I potted them up, and over the ensuing 2-3 months I watched as one by one they died. By January they were all gone and my grand experiment was over.

One or two of them had a root showing out the bottom of the pot before they got sick, but most didn't. Every time, the leaves would look sick, and then from the soil level the stem would start turning brown and then black and this would extend all the way to the stem tip with the leaves falling off rather suddenly at intervals. When I was certain there was nothing more I could do, I'd pull out the stem and there would be *nothing* attached - no roots or anything. So I am pretty certain it had to do with what was going on beneath the soil, and perhaps it was root rot - and I had never let the soil completely dry out either.

If your stems are showing any black or brown, yours *may* be doing what mine did. Is there any way you can pull back some soil and see how the roots are? I don't think the plants necessarily want constantly wet feet; it seemed that humid air was what they liked best. In retrospect, when I had them in my homemade greenhouse, they would even perk up briefly after turning sick, but then always died. I think the roots were probably gone by then but the leaves got some moisture from the humidifier I was running in the greenhouse.

I understand your distress, and I hope the problem is resolved soon for you. Best wishes.

Terri

... you already mentioned you'd looked at the roots, sorry for not reading all the posts. The ones I saw growing out the bottom of the pots were white and smooth like the water roots had been, but apparently there was just too much moisture in my soil for too long... at least that's my guess. Again, when I pulled out the dead black stem there was no root attached, even when there was still root sticking out the bottom like nothing had changed. It sure surprised me.

And I agree, if you don't see webs on these it probably isn't spider mites. However, I read on plantfiles that you got your beautiful ivy at Lowe's and I will strongly suggest you keep an eye out for spider mites on your plants... I decided I couldn't wait for wintersowing to be growing things last fall so bought several plants from Lowe's and Home Depot on sale, and in a month or two ended up with spider mites on everything I had indoors -- and they affected the ivies from Lowe's the most. I cannot say where the critters came from, though. Just be on guard. I gave up the fight by spring and gave them away to people who had time to give them TLC. Last I heard, they were doing fine. :-)

roflol I'll keep an eye on my ivy's. I hardly ever get anything from lowes or homedepot because they normally are infested with bugs or so mistreated. These were in actually good condition and i'm always checking them for any bugs. So far it's 3 months and they are growing good with not one problem! Sorry to hear about you corkscrew vines. Will you be trying again to grow them maybe with a different soil that drains better? I'll look at my roots and see if that might be the case with mine. I'm letting my soil dry out more than i normally would to see if they perk up some.

The soil probably would have drained if I had let it; I was so worried about it drying out that I had each pot in a saucer of water. With the gas furnace kicking on and the air drying out, I thought that was what they wanted. Guess not. I wonder if I'd left them in water and just put Miracle-Gro in the water, would they have made it long enough to plant in spring? I wonder if anybody has tried this.

I buy a lot from Lowe's/HD, from the distressed racks because usually all they needed was water, repotting, or planting in the ground, and they're at prices I can afford then. I learned last fall not to buy indoor plants because I personally don't have the room (space-wise) *or* the room (window-wise for the sunlight).

It's tempting to try the corkscrew vine again because I did smell the fragrance when the box came and it was really nice, plus the blooms are so pretty, but I gravitate toward perennials or really easy annuals; I'm kinda lazy I guess!

It was depressing to lose them, but it was a cheap lesson... it was just $6 for the shipping of the cuttings. I think I'll leave the corkscrew vines to those who live in the right zones or who have the really green thumbs... mine's more of a khaki/olive drab right now. Maybe my next house will have a sunroom and I'll try again.

;-)

Terri

Sorry about that. The blackish spots looked identical to what I've been dealing with off and on this whole year. The plants (not vigna) would get these gritty looking small blackish spots and if left unchecked there would eventually be tiny, thin webbing...at the base of the stem and underneath the leaf) I've had a time getting rid of the stuff. For me, I think I've got super mites--they've shrugged off everything I've thrown at them or are multiplying faster than I am spraying (yes, I did confirm mine are spidermites--magnifying glass).
Anyway, I think I won't die without a trade, so if you still want vigna seeds, let me know. I'll need to make sure that they are properly "cured" (dried out) before I send them.
Good luck,
Lee

lee I emailed you with some seeds that I have. I would love a few seeds to try this plant again! Check you email and tell me if you want anything that I have. Thanks.

Lee, geez spider mites suck... literally. Sorry to hear you have them.

I googled "symptoms spider mites" and everything I see comes up yellowed speckled appearance as the mites suck out the nutrients from the underside of the leaves. From University of Kentucky Entomology Dept website:

Spider mites have needle-like mouthparts and feed by piercing the leaves of host plants and sucking out the fluids from individual plant cells. This causes the leaves to have a stippled or flecked appearance, with pale dots where the cellular contents have been removed. Prolonged, heavy infestations cause yellowing or bronzing of the foliage and premature leaf drop similar to drought stress. Severely-infested plants may be stunted or even killed. Most of the mites feed from the undersides of leaves, although the damage is most evident from the upper surface.

That's what my plant leaves looked like during the flaming outbreak of spider mites. I wonder if you have two separate issues going on - the spider mites which you have confirmed that you have, and something else that is causing the black gritty spots (some type of fungal leaf thing maybe?). Just a thought.

Either way, I hope you get it all under control soon. I'm reading there are tiny parasitic mites you can order to eat the spider mites; they don't eat or attack anything else, and they die once the mites are gone = PHYTOSEIULUS PERSIMILIS. Wish I'd known about them last year, I'd have tried it. Best wishes.

Terri

vanillalotus, I checked my e-mail and did not receive. Perhaps you can try again? Meanwhile, tomorrow, I will check my vines and look for ripening seed pods.
-Lee

If you have ripening seed pods of vigna caracalla, they should be readily visible.