Problems with a Blueberry plant

11 years ago

I have a blueberry bush, and its around 2 months old I think, I have it in a big pot in my balcony and there are these small insects that live in the pot too, there are many of them. I bought an insecticide and use it every week to kill them but they keep coming back, they are very small, black and have wings, how do I get rid of them?
Also, my plant is developing these brown markings on the leaves and some of the leaves have curled up and fallen off the plant, I included a picture of some of the leaves. Please help.
Thank you

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Comments (5)

blueboy1977
11 years ago
That looks like a sunshine blue plant? Looks like last seasons leafs to me. Sometimes in mild areas blues will retain leafs from the following year and thh tend to look pretty rough come spring time. They will fall eventually and be replaced buy new ones. As far as the bugs I'm not sure if your in Australia.
Bradybb WA-Zone8
11 years ago
What kind of insecticide?Hopefully it is not harming the plant.Maybe get a closeup pic of an insect. Brady
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RainbowMuncher
Original Author
11 years ago
It is an Evergreen Blueberry bush. The brand of insecticide is Yates and it is very safe for the plant ( from what the store garden people said) but when I dug into the soil I see baby versions of the insects, they look like whiteflys but the body is black, I'm really concerned because I don't know anything about plants.
I use Osmocote potting mix I think it's the fruit mix, and Osmocote slow release fertilizer. I pour the Yates insecticide into a spray bottle with water and spray it, I havn't been using much, but the insects are under the soil and I have sprayed the insecticide twice and it hasn't worked so far. Could the browning be caused from too much watering? because it is really hot here and I give my plant around 400ml each day which is probably why, but is there any other explanation? Some information about keeping the plant healthy and a way to get the insects away would be greatly appreciated

Here is a link that might be useful: insect and insecticide

This post was edited by RainbowMuncher on Thu, Mar 14, 13 at 0:57
prestons_garden
11 years ago
I would say you have fungus gnats. You can back off on the watering which will help. Don't worry about it too much, they will not kill your plant. Also the leaves in your pic is normal for older blueberry leaves. They will get much worse and fall off, it's a normal cycle that blueberries go through every year. Don't use the insecticide, it's the wrong approach.

Google for natural remedies to get rid of the fungus gnats if you desire.
ahajmano
11 years ago
Don't use osmocote fertilizer. Blueberry a hate nitrates. They want nitrogen from other sources (example urea). Use an organic fertilizer for acid loving plants.