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token28001

Kongmansia

token28001
14 years ago

I've had it with this one. In early winter of 2008, I purchased two beautiful cuttings from Eddie on eBay. I even got to meet him to pick them up since we don't live too far from each other. They rooted nicely and grew new leaves during the winter. In late January, I over watered them and they died a slow horrible death. I was new to brugs and lost a few cuttings that month. Some were lost due to spider mites, others to over watering too. I was using a water/Murphy's oil soap mixture to treat for spider mites at the time.

So, in the spring, I bought another plant from his website. It arrived, well packaged, nicely rooted, and leafed out. After the chance of frost had passed, I planted it in the yard. Spider mites found it within a couple of weeks. It defoliated. I treated it with Spectracide, which I have used on several plants without a problem. It regrew nice, healthy leaves. Spider mites attacked it again. And again. And again. I treated it, again and again, and again.

None of my other brugs were attacked, only Kongmansia. A few weeks ago I treated it one last time and took cuttings. I placed them in water like all my other cuttings, keeping it far away from them in case the spider mites returned. This morning, I threw away the last mushy cutting. The top had shriveled and the portion is water was mush.

Before I invest in this one again, what's the secret? Has anyone gotten this one to flourish? I really wanted these huge blooms in my garden. I don't know what I did wrong with this one. Any advice?

---I do not believe there was anything wrong with the plant or the cuttings I got from Eddie. I know some are harder to root than others. Thanks.

Comments (26)

  • rialira
    14 years ago

    my kong did horribly this year too! I ordered a kongmansia and three other brugs from eddie. one of them, pink dragon, was pretty good sized and grew pretty vigorously and bloomed a few times, but the other three were small and immediately manifested signs of broad mite damage. I quarantined them but it was too late, the broad mites spread to a bunch more of my brugs.

    eddie was really nice about it and sent me enough forbid to treat them all, and my other plants recovered. one other one, miss emily mackenzie, recovered and grew slowly. but the other two, kongmansia and phanomena, just would not get better. they refused to grow, and what little they did grow still showed the broad mite curl, and eventually they just died back almost to the soil and I have no idea what to do with them, I've never had this happen before. I felt really bad and didn't want to ask for a refund or send them back, though I suppose in hindsight maybe I should have.

    I was really disappointed :( those were the two I was really REALLY excited about. I'm still not sure what to do.

  • wickedwickedwitch
    14 years ago

    It is funny to be reading this because I just bought a kong from his last week. I hope it survives. Bug me over the summer, I can send you a cutting if it does.

  • tommysmommy
    14 years ago

    Each time I buy rooted cuttings in the fall/winter, one of them succumbs to spidermite and dies. It happened last year with Georgia Peach and I was so disappointed. So I think I have to get my cuttings during the growing season to ensure success rather than trying to nurture them over the winter in a forced air heated house.

  • token28001
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    I've got lots of cuttings that survive in the basement under lights. I've got a wood heater down there and have to water a good bit, but the growth through the winter is incredible. I also keep a pan of water on the heater to add humidity back to the air. So I'm thinking maybe it has something to do with Kong itself. Are some varieties simply more susceptible to spidermites? I'm guessing I already know the answer to this.

  • technodweeb
    14 years ago

    Me too. . .Kongmansia had a VICIOUS battle with broad mites.

    So did all MY OTHER ones. . .that horrible curl. . .

    Ok guys, ready?

    Here's what happened. I got a hort oil out, and sprayed them. . .dosn't matter what they tell ya about rinsing, I'm here to tell ya. . .HORT OIL IS VICIOUS. . .it burns the leaves PERIOD. . . .when they say it's for dormants, they MEAN it. . .

    I managed to defoliate EVERY ONE OF MY BRUGS. . .the ones I didn't care about, the "Wretched Mess" that is actually a candida double, I didn't care about. The "meanie" in me was mad they weren't WMs so I didn't care they got hurt.

    They re-foliated. . . .here's how to stop it. . .

    Don't spend ANY more money on stuff . . I have the "forbid" also. . and it is SO expensive. . and you can't keep using it over and over. . .the mites are eventually immune to it. . .so you spend TONS of money for something that doesn't work anymore.

    Get yer bottle of palmalive dish soap out. . .and get a garden hose sprayer. . .yea. . not a spray bottle, a GARDEN hose sprayer

    SPRAY them 2 to 3 times a week for 3 weeks in a row. 3 times if necessary. . .KEEP the mixture light. . .

    And guess what. . .it doesn't even burn. . .You'll have your mite problem under control very quickly. And it is biodegradeable.

    Save the big guns like the neem oil for the broad mites on the ground. . .

    I bought tons of plants this year from Eddie and others, and I had a broad mite problem this year that I've never witnessed ever. wonder if it was in the soil that came with the plants. . .I've always had the spider mite problem, but broad mites?

    Jeeezuzuzmaryjoseph. . .I couldn't get it under control.

    I defoliated them, and then the leaves came roaring back. .and I just kept hosing them with palmolive and water.

    Oh man, I had pathetic STICKS sticking up everywhere it was so bad, but. . .I bit hard. There was no other answer to save my brugs.

    After the hort oil (canola oil) defoliated them, I started spraying and watering. . . .and I got out the neem oil and soap out. . remember to HIT THE SOIL around your plants also. .

    By the end of the season, they were fully leafed out, some had bad bloom performance. . .but ok. The ones near other calibrachoa didn't get the harsh treatment becaue I didn't want to kill mom's millibells.

    They were alive, but just barely. It was a relief to take cuttings and then put the root balls away for the winter.

    But there you have it. I've never had a broad mite problem down there, and this year, every single brug was being assaulted.

    NEVER had broad mites down there. That's where I took brugs to SAVE them from broad mites. This year. . .hundreds of dollars in expensive brugs, and they were all being decimated. . .every single one of them.

    Go stock up on palmalive and murphy's oil soap

  • technodweeb
    14 years ago

    And the only thing that I think half way saved me was the "defoliation" from the oil, which soffocated the mites that were still there, and then the hosing with the soapy water from there on out.

    It was a brutal step to take, but I had to. Trust me, my eyes were tearing as I was trying to save these. (almost 1K in brugs)

    I was losing leaf after leaf, watching them die. . .slowly defoliate from the mites. . . so. . .I broke out the BIGGEST gun I could think of. . .hort oil. . .

    I put on a plastic bag for rain gear, and I went out in the rain with a spray bottle and sprayed each one, top, bottom, dripping off and running down the stems. . .the few leaves that remained turned brown, and fell off.

    The next morning, rinsed them hard with a hose. . . .and then waited.

    I didn't lose a single brug, I want to make that one clear. But they were definately hurting. . .it was DEFINATELY a brutal step to take. . .but it was the only way to save them. They were all going to die.

    I'm gonna try the anti stress next year. See if that slows them down.

  • technodweeb
    14 years ago

    I stood outside staring at these poor plants, and my face was covered in rain and tears, dad came out and put his arm around me and said "you had to do it. Don't worry, they'll be fine."

    Mom said "and what was your option? They were going to die, so you had to do it."

    And they came roaring back. Just needed to keep one step ahead after that.

    Brutal steps, but it had to be done.

    For cuttings? I take them to the kitchen sink (ok, this sounds weird), but got one of those sink sprayers? The little nozzle sprayer on a hose? Put the water on pretty warm, barely hot, but not so hot that you'll hurt the plant, but really really warm. . .

    And SPRAY the cutting. PUt your hand over the soil in the little pot, so you don't dump dirt in your sink and you can tip it around. . .and spray it hard with your sink sprayer. All along the stem, the leaves, the nooks and crannies. . .and then, put it back.

    You may need to do that every few days, for about a week, but you should be able eto knock your problem down pretty hard.

    And THAT tip comes from the other "experts" in the room here who helped me.

  • haase
    14 years ago

    `WOW, technodweeb, I am impressed
    This is truly what they call "Tuff Love". I am so proud of you for having had the courage to do it. And I am learning from you and will do the same, if this problem should pop up at my place.
    Tuff Love, yes, that's what it is, since we all know how much you love your brugs.

    Ingrid.

  • technodweeb
    14 years ago

    Oh Ingrid, I wouldn't suggest that unless you are at "def con 4"

    And I mean DEF CON 4! Only as an ABSOLUTE last resort.

    I was. There was going to be no saving them if I didn't do something.

    WM, SAM, Berkoingkin, serindipity, Mountain Magic, Native Habitat, Pink Smitty, New Orleans Lady, all of 'em. .. .one or 2 leaves left, naked sticks, each tiny leaf opening and curling. . .falling off. . .regular hose spraying wasn't doing it.

    They were going to be dead if I didn't do something. Do NOT DO THIS unless you are at the brink. . .it's brutal.

    3/4s - 2 tablespoon of canola hort oil in a HAND sprayer (depends on how big your hand sprayer is), with 2 BIG squirts of some palmalive. . .fill it with water. . .shake it up. . .

    Understand, it's like a "fire break" when you have to burn ANOTHER fire to stop a fire.

    Just came in from my green room. . I've got 'em out there too. Dammit. Must have come in on the cuttings. I wasn't very vigilent this year washing them.

    I'm spraying with Antistress 2000 to see if I can defeat them with that.

    Not gonna believe this. I also have APHIDS for the FIRST TIME EVER in there. I've NEVER had aphids. Nasty. . can't even figure out where they came from. I've NEVER had aphids. Always considered myself lucky.

    I released about 200 lady bugs in there earlier in the year, about a month ago. . .spread out raisins for them to eat while my brugs were waiting to sprout leaves. . .

    DUMBER THAN A BOX OF ROCKS. . .I'm telling you. They loved the raisins, then FLEW to the ceiling and the windows and proceeded to die on the sills. Every single one of them.

    I'll try the anti stress in there. If the anti stress doesn't stop it, I'm going to order some predatory mites. Give those a shot this year. But man, gotta keep the humidity kinda high for the predatory mites.

    It's running around 68% humidity, and 76-78 degrees in there. That should be marginally ok. they prefer around a 70 to 75% humidity to thrive.

    But my "noid" Breezy didn't get them, and neither did the Frosty Pink. Or if they did, they were VERY resistent. The First Belle didn't seem susceptable, and neither did the Sun sport.

    So, note to self. Frosty pink, First Belle, Sun sport and my Breezy are resistent to that particularly virulent form of broad mite.

  • haase
    14 years ago

    What you call a green room ---- is this what I would call a green-house, sort of like a shed (with light) to winterproof the plants?

    If that's the case, I would attack the whole interior of that green house with that super killer-concoction that you described, wall, ceiling, floor, and all.

    You have succeeded in making me mad now! Go gettem, go after em and kill em dead!!- Your brugs will survive and come back for you! -

    Ingrid.

  • haase
    14 years ago

    What you call a green room ---- its the same as a greenhouse? A shed, plenty of light and warmth to overwinter plants? I mean it is not a room in your house, right? Pardon my ignorance. Where I live, there is no need for that, so---.

    If that's the case, I would attack the whole interior of that green room with that super killer-concoction that you described, wall, ceiling, floor, and all.

    Now you've made ME mad about those pests! Go gettem, go after em and kill em good and dead!!- Your brugs will survive and come back for you, I'm sure of that!

    Ingrid.

  • haase
    14 years ago

    Sorry, I posted that twice.
    You see, you got me all excited about that now.

    If this posts twice again, then there is something very wrong. I'll check into that.

  • chena
    14 years ago

    Curled leaves does not always mean Broad Mites.. Environmental changes can cause the leaves to be curled or be distorted looking.... They usually fix themselves with a bit of time..

    Kylie

  • technodweeb
    14 years ago

    Kylie:

    Yes, BUT, perfectly FINE leaves that START to curl? And the problem accelerates? (oh woe is me). . .Ha! This is broad mite. Beendaredonedat. I'm just so annoyed to have the problem again.

    The worst part is, they say the same procedures for spider mite is effective for broad mite. NOOOOOOOOOO. . .regular hosing for spider mites doesn't WORK for broad mites. It's like these mites are on steroids or something.

    I'll step to the neem oil concoction next. I'm going to give the anti stress a chance, see if that doesn't get a handle on them.

    Eh, I just can't haul all those cuttings inside. . . .once the interior of the garage is finished and I have hot water out there. . it won't be so hard to haul the cuttings into the garage then and wash them.

    Ingrid - yes, my "green room" is a poor mans green house. (grin) It was a scabbed on room with a concrete floor on the back of this old house I bought, so when we were rehabbing, I decided not to tear it off.

    We threw some insulation in it, and some plywood, threw some windows in it, ran a gas pipe and threw a little gas heater in there, a string of florescent fixtures with daylight bulbs, and viola. . .a "green room" that I can throw water around all winter, dirt, fish emulsion, etc.(grin)

    In Illinois, here, I couldn't afford a full blown green house. It's about 10' wide and 22 feet long. (grin) It's just this long skinny room that used to be a lawnmower and tool shed. I don't have a basement so there was no where for me to make a mess, so we decided this was a good idea.

  • chena
    14 years ago

    Dweeb I have seen your "Green Room"t is awesome.. I have dealt with the environmental junk but (knock on wood) have never had to deal with Broad mites.. I am just worried that some people with just assume that they are Broad Mites with out knowing that the environment can cause changes in plants as well.. I am not a big advocate of chemicals and would like for those who are experiencing this to isolate the problem before bringing out the big guns to treat it.. You can always isolate the plant and defoliate and see if it adjusts unless you have conclusive evidence that it is Broad Mites....

    Kylie

  • jumpin4joy
    14 years ago

    I have Kong and Raised it fine with no problems. I did note that this growng season in general did not do as well as years past. i did not get blooms on any of my brugs until much later in the season and rooting them has been harder. I think it is aot to do with enviormental. just an opionion. I lost my main Dr. Suess which was over 4 years old. And one or to others I had gotten from eddie. Again i dont think it was his plants I just dont think this was the year for them. My blooms on some of my old reliables just never came. Out of 30 brugs i set one seed pod and the freezes are killing it as we speak. Dont give up. I think it was just a weird season. Long dry spells and then over wet conditions. Crazy weather! I think.

  • givelittle_getlots
    14 years ago

    Brandy I think you said it....it was yet an unusual growing season.
    I was just in the green room and looked at the cutting. Second year and I am still not any smarter WHY some root and some just rot away.

    Potted up some cuttings yesterday that I had still in water and oh my gosh...the Orange Infusion had the biggest root system from all the others. Then others, not even knobbies. Go figure

    Lucy

  • sekhment
    14 years ago

    Thanks for all the info This one is on my must have list!

  • token28001
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    It takes me several years to give up on something. I'll keep my eyes open for other Kongs next year. I've got too many under lights in the basement now to add more brugs. I took a lot of cuttings of the orange and white Noids that did well, so they'll keep me busy til spring.

  • camellips3
    14 years ago

    Hi, I truely feel at home with all you Brug lovers. Sometimes I feel guilty that I dont fret over my son as much, lol but I'm sure I do.I have a question for you I have five Brugs and 3 of them get mites and 2 do not and I believe it is because they dont get much sun and the ground is damp under them and they are spectacular, the others I am constantly fighting off mites although they bloom great but over all the tree's dont look well.Do you think this is a possability with your Brugs? Or do mites like one type of Brug more than others? Mine are all your basic common Brug, I cant find any other than peach, pink yellow and white. Are yours in the direct sun all day?

  • mesemb
    14 years ago

    To control spider mites outdoors, use Bayer 2 in 1 Systemic Rose & Flower Care. The systemic rose care fertilizer / insecticide can be used as a preventative every 6 weeks. Brugs absorb the systemic insecticide through their roots.

    Indoors, spray with a 50:50 ratio of alcohol and water with a few drops of mild dish soap added. Spray every week until infestation disappears. Afterwards, spray with a 50:50 ratio of hydrogen peroxide and water with a few drops of mild dish soap as a preventative. It works.

  • eloise_ca
    14 years ago

    token, hope your Kong is now free of mites. I am going to get this one and OI, but not until the weather is fair.

    camellips and mesemb, welcome to the brug forum and for providing info. Hope you stick around!

  • sekhment
    14 years ago

    I have a axel rose all the lease are curled under, I am wondering is that normal? I thought it was just the plant but now that i read some of these Im wondering. I have all my brugs out on my sun porch I turned into my little green house for the winter. Axel rose is the only one that has curled leaves I dont see anything on it. Any info would be great thanks
    Cassie

  • token28001
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Eloise, it certainly is free of mites. The cold weather killed it completely. The roots have turned to mush. None of my cuttings rooted. I purchased mine last April and planted it in the garden.

  • chena
    14 years ago

    I think I have a Kong here I guess I should go look..LOL
    camellips3 Welcome So nice to have you here!
    Great info mesemb.. and Welcome to you as well!!!
    Cassie sometimes it can just be the changes in enviorment I have some with normal leaves and curled leaves on the same plant.. I happens most every Spring once I plant outside as well as when I bring them in.. It is Important to check and be sure that there are no signs of bugs!! Mites can be sneaky..

    Kylie

  • sekhment
    14 years ago

    Thanks Kylie I hope thats what it is.And oohhh I hate mites!!!!!!!! oh and black flys lol and every thing eles that likes to feast on brugs lolol
    Cassie

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