Hi All,

I have a young English Ivy I purchased about six weeks ago which is still in it's 4" nursery pot. It has been hit pretty hard with spider mites. My plan is to bonsai this Ivy however, one whole branch is very sick looking and the leaves are very shrivelled with a brownish-gray colour. I am treating this plant today. My question is: should I trim off the sickly branch before or after the treatment or just leave it?

I fed my Ivey and other houseplants about a week ago with a very poor quality fertilizer. The fertilizer being "Miracle Grow"...I know, I just learned how bad it is for plants...it was given to me and was all I had at the time. I just purchased a good quality, liquid fertilizer with all the necessary trace elements and a NPK of 10-15-10 to develope a healthy root system. My question is can I feed my Ivy and other plants after giving them the treatment or should I wait? If I should wait, how long a period of time should I give it?

Leslie

personally, I feed all my plants when I treat them. Like given someone chicken broth when recovering from the flue.

Thank you J. That's' great and makes sense to me...and what a lovely analogy. I will do that. What would you suggest with regard to my question on the sickly branch...should I trim it back close to the earth level? Many of the sick leaves on this branch are enshrouded in mite webs.

Again, thanks so much for your excellent guidance.

Leslie

Hey Leslie;

I find spider mite comes as quickly as it goes. I would give the plant a rinse, spray with one fo those water-sprayer thingies once a day and leave all branches on. If it dies, it dies. As long as it lives, it is there and leaves will regrow...

Wonderful! I will do that now! Thanks for the reassurance, J. It really helps.

L