My Florida Tropical Garden

Earlier this year I purchased two passion vines on eBay. Here's one of them, the 'Lady Margaret' passiflora vine. Yesterday I got to see the first flower bloom. Similar to the hibiscus, the flowers only last a day and then it's gone. The flowers are smaller than I expected but still very attractive. Still awaiting a trellis for more growing support.



Also yesterday I treated a gall midge infestation that is preventing alot of hibiscus buds from blooming. These stupid little flies seem to come around every year around the same time. Two years ago I posted how to treat this pest and here's how you do it. You have to use a systemic pesticide spray because the larvae are actually eating and growing INSIDE the plant. A systemic pesticide is actually absorbed into the plant, it's kinda like humans getting a flu shot. The gall midge larvae are not visible until you start peeling away a fresh bloom on your plant. You'll know when you see them, but you have to look carefully. They can be white to bright orange and very small. As your opening a bloom, look for areas inside that look bruised or decayed. The gall midge larvae will be very close to that area.

For a systemic pesticide, I spray Bayer 3-in-1 insect-disease-and-mite-control (active ingredient: imidacloprid) on the plant. For a soil treatment, I sprinkled Bayer Complete Insect Killer granules. The soil treatment is necessary to kill the larvae that have exited the blooms and are now buried in the soil, awaiting to emerge as an adult midge fly.