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Treat your ficus with Bayer Tree and Shrub Care
I overheard a conversation at an outdoor dinner party the other night, as we admired the lovely landscaping. Ficus whitefly is causing defoliation on many ficus shrubs and trees.
My friends got their info from the Sun-Sentinel. I work here, but somehow missed that story...bet it ran while I was out of town. So I wonder if any of you missed it too. If your ficus trees or shrubs get this bug, then replacing them will surely cut into your shopping budget!
The next morning, I checked out the ficus hedge at my condo, and sure enough, it was losing leaves and getting 'stick-y.' (Picture is from our story, not my yard.)
Bayer's Tree and Shrub Care will treat whitefly, it's available at Home Depot. I didn't want to waste precious time shopping prices, our plants needed immediate help. A 32 ounce bottle was $19.97 and was enough to treat 5 two foot plants. A gallon bottle is $69.97. Pricey!
I bought the small bottle and treated the worst parts, but will probably need to get more. Has anyone found a cheaper way to buy this stuff?
Comments
Treating just the bad areas won't do any good. You have to treat the entire shrub by covering all the foliage thoroughly and also drench the ground with the insecticide so that it is absorbed systemically. I hired a pest control company to do my hedge which is about 50 ft long and 8 ft tall. It cost me about $150. I also had it treated before any significant damage appeared. I heard that once the plant is defoliated it is to late to for treatment to be effective.
Posted by: Martin | October 16, 2008 5:35 PM
Thanks for your input...we will probably have to do the same. Only one small section of our hedge is bad, so I treated it first, then promptly ran out of this liquid gold. But it sounds like I will spend $150 just to buy enough product to treat the rest of the hedge. Since I heard about whitefly, I've seen these bad hedges everywhere! Albertsons, Boston Market...the ficus looks so sad with all the brown sticks showing.
Posted by: Kathy | October 16, 2008 6:02 PM