10 December 2018

winter plant ills

This notched sweet potato vine is doing pretty well in the window spot- although one leaf edge blackened from draft. The other one- still in a jar of water- continues to have pale leaves. I finally caught the culprit- saw an insect on the window and thought: oh, there's a bug. Then I noticed it scooted sideways- and I recognized that motion. I darted over there and pinned it with my fingers- a leaf hopper. I bet it's what was making a few of the coleus look poorly, too. I inspected them all close, but didn't find any more bugs among those windowsill plants.
Others at the best spot for winter light- in front of the sliding door- aren't doing so well. The ice plant is worst of all- it keeps dropping leaves. I can't see any bugs on it- and I have tried spraying it twice- so finally I just separated it from the other plants. But it doesn't get as much light now.
Curry plant had this. I think it is some kind of mites. I pinched off all the stems that had this pale, slightly withered appearance
Making the plant go from this
to this
and then sprayed it with soapy oil/water mix, and rinsed twice, and pinched it back again when I found a few more ill-looking stems. Now it's down to this- but finally looks healthy.
Geranium plant had some pale, anemic-looking leaves, I pinched it back too.
Jade looked okay, but I gave it a serious trim, because upper stems were getting overbalanced. Here's two views of its new look.
Several other plants that share this window spot got doused in soapy water too just in case, and I moved everything out of the corner and vacuumed. I hope I've stopped the bug issue- this happens every year I bring plants in from outside. But seems I've got it more under control this time around. If I loose one, it might just be the ice plant.

No comments: