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What's up with my rosemary bush?


Arjay

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I have (had a beautiful rosemary bush which I use quite a lot in cooking.

Since I came back in October, the leaves have been a bit sticky and have little white spots on them. Does anyone know what the problem is and how I can solve it, please?

I don't want to use insecticides or poisons on anything I eat so I tried spraying it with water, dish soap and a little white vinegar but it didn't help. Thanks.

P.S. I've also noticed recently that when I start a topic, the format bar with fonts and smilies, etc. is greyed out so I can't use it. Whassup with that?

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Does it look like this description? http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/herbs/msg0217385820264.html or mildew May be better to start over with a new one

Didn't see any pics on the website so couldn't compare the appearance. It doesn't really look like a fungus and I don't see any bugs. I'll try taking a piece to the garden centres for diagnosis and see if they can come up with any solutions. I don't want to buy an inappropriate remedy that won't work. I've already spent too much money this year doing that with other plants.

And those ******* leaf-cutter ants are driving me crazy this year. They destroy my plants and as soon as I plant something new they come and chew off all the new buds and leaves. AAARRRGGG !!!

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Sounds like aphids. Keep up the spraying with soapy water every day. The automatic sprinkler probably washes it away every morning. (I'd skip the vinegar.)

There's no sign of aphids - just some stickiness and little white dots on the leaves which aren't insects.

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Start over with a new plant. Try a different location, full sun. The stickiness could be from aphidy critters, and here is where a magnifying glass helps to see things like mites. Be sure to look under the leaves to see most insects. Anyway, the nurseries and gardeners will call it plague (in Spanish) which covers any type of illness or infestation. Instead of vinegar, use rubbing alcohol in solution with water and a bit of dish soap, after spraying thoroughly with the hose pressure on full blast.

Rosemary is drought tolerant, and it may be getting too much water from the sprinklers daily.

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Water the soil at the base of the plant. Except for a short spray over the plant to remove dust all water should go to the

base of the plant where it will do the most good. Too much water on the foliage will lead to mold and fungus problems as

with the recent weather the foliage will not be drying out properly during the day.

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There's a little light-swtich at the left end of the format bar. click it.

Thank you - it's on the left-hand side and is called BBCode Mode. Don't know why it was switched off. Who the heck knows what BBCode Mode means anyway ??

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For leaf cutter ants, use Patron. Scatter along the path they take. I get Patron at Hara hardware on the Carretara in Ajijic next to Galvez.

Please look at the chemical behind the name and use protection. I found some very bad chemicals banned in the US

that the Mexicans use for leaf cutter ants down here. They put the powder out bare on the ground. The book says full

suit and respirator. Extremely Toxic. Banned in 17 countries. Go read the chemical bags and see what is being put

on your property or poisoning your gardener or you. I am not trying to panic anyone but that bag your gardener is dumping

on the ant holes may or may not be something you want on your property or you might need to make sure people applying

it are protected. I looked up Patron and it is an herbicide in US. Must be something different here. What is the active

ingridient in Patron? It will say on the bag.

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The active ingridient for Patron Ultra is;

Imidacloprid: 1-(6-cloro-3-piridin-3-ilmetil)-N-nitroimidazolidin-2-ilidenamina 0.35%.

I agree with lcscats. I wouldn't just sprinkle it anywhere on the ground. I was putting some on the ground near the hole to the ant's nest one night when I noticed one of my dogs was behind me eating it as I put it down. Now I make sure I only put it where it isn't accessible to my dogs.

The package says it is slightly toxic.

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