Alright, let’s talk about them darn hibiscus plants. You know, the pretty ones with the big flowers? Yeah, those. Something’s been munching on ’em at night, and it’s driving me crazy!
I go out there in the mornin’, and bam! Holes everywhere. Leaves lookin’ like somebody took a cheese grater to ’em. It ain’t right, I tell ya. These plants, I put a lot of work into ’em, waterin’ and all that, and then somethin’ comes along and just gobbles ’em up. Makes me want to pull my hair out!
Now, I ain’t no fancy expert or nothin’, but I’ve been around plants long enough to know when somethin’s amiss. First thing I thought was, “Maybe it’s them little green worms?” You know, the ones that look like tiny caterpillars? I’ve seen them on other plants before, and they can sure do a number on the leaves. They call ’em sawflies, I heard somewhere. They eat and eat and eat, and then they make these little cocoons right there on the plant. Nasty little things.
- If you see them, you can pick ’em off by hand, I guess. But there’s usually a whole bunch, and it’s kinda gross.
- Or you can use that soapy water stuff, they sell it at the store. That seems to work sometimes.
But then I thought, “Wait a minute, these holes are kinda different.” Some of them are real small, like pinpricks. I read somewhere that those little spider mites can do that. You can barely see ’em, they’re so tiny. And they suck the juice right out of the leaves, leavin’ little holes and these tiny spider webs. It’s hard to see because they spin webs about halfway up the leaf. If you look close you can see them.
And then there’s them beetles. Japanese beetles, they call ’em. Shiny green and copper-colored. They’re real bad, too. They don’t just nibble, they chomp right through the leaves, leaving big ragged holes. I hate those things with a passion.
But the thing is, all this eatin’ is happenin’ at night. So, I started thinkin’, “Maybe it’s somethin’ else.” I heard tell of slugs and snails. They like to come out when it’s dark and damp and munch on plants. And caterpillars, too. Some of them only come out at night. If you have just a few you can pick them off, but more than that you have to get crafty. I heard you can put out beer in a dish, and they’ll crawl in and drown. Never tried it myself, but I might have to.
So, what’s a body to do? Well, I reckon the first thing is to figure out what exactly is doin’ the eatin’. You gotta go out there at night with a flashlight and see if you can catch ’em in the act. Look under the leaves, look on the ground, everywhere. Once you know what you’re dealing with, then you can figure out how to stop it.
For them sawflies and aphids and whiteflies and beetles, you can try sprayin’ ’em with that soapy water stuff I mentioned. Or neem oil, that’s supposed to be good too. Or you can get somethin’ called diatomaceous earth. It’s like a powder, and it kills bugs by drying ’em out. Just sprinkle it around the plants.
If it’s slugs or snails, the beer trick might work. Or you can try puttin’ copper tape around the pots or the stems. They don’t like to crawl over copper, I heard. If it’s caterpillars you can pick them off or get some kind of environmentally friendly spray. You don’t want to use nothin’ too strong that’ll hurt the plants or the good bugs, ya know?
It’s a fight, I tell ya. A constant battle. But I ain’t givin’ up. These hibiscus are my babies, and I’ll be darned if I’m gonna let some bugs or slugs or whatever ruin ’em. I’ll keep fightin’ ’em, every night if I have to. And I’ll figure out what is eating my hibiscus at night, you just wait and see.
So, if you’re havin’ the same problem, don’t despair. Just keep tryin’ different things until you find somethin’ that works. And remember, you ain’t alone. There’s a whole lotta us out there fightin’ the same battle.
And one more thing. Some plants, they just close up at night. It’s just nature. It ain’t nothin’ eatin’ them it’s just how they are. Like them tulips and poppies, they close up tight when the sun goes down. Hibiscus do it too. So don’t get fooled. Make sure you check your plants before you go accusing something of eating your plant!
Tags: Hibiscus, Plant Pests, Garden Care, Night Feeding Insects, Leaf Damage, Sawflies, Spider Mites, Japanese Beetles, Slugs, Snails, Caterpillars, Pest Control.
