My hibiscus are being eaten up by some kind of little worm this year. I'm not sure if it's because of all the rain and humidity, but it seems to be a lot worse this year than ever before. I finally sprinkled some Sevin around the roots of the plants to see if that would help. It's been so wet here that I assumed that the rains would wash away the sevin, but I decided that if I didn't do something my hibiscus would all look terrible. Will they still get blooms on them even if the leaves are just a lacy mess? Sadly, most of them look like this one.

Yikes! That is a mess .. Using your sevin dust, you'll want to use a duster and make sure the 'cloud' gets under the leaves and on top of the leaves - the whole plant from top to bottom paying careful attention to the new growth. The dust only works if the critters crawl through it.

If you're not adverse to chemicals, then spray the plant with whatever garden pesticide you like to use ... again, you want to make sure the spray gets under and over the leaves.

It will still bloom if the buds aren't eaten but the damaged leaves will not fix themselves.

If you are using sevin you have to put it on the leaves. The worms are tiny, green and are on the underside of the leaves. At least that is what happens to my hibiscus.

It could also be Japanese Beetles.

No, so far it's those nasty little green worms. I've been rubbing them off of the leaves and that's just icky! I'll have to look for a liquid pesticide to spray because I doubt that powder will stick to the leaves, especially with all this rain!

Thanks for the help!

Rose, I mix water, dishwashing soap, and cooking oil in a hand sprayer and spray leaves top and bottom. I don't measure but almost fill with water and probably about 1/8 teas of soap& oil. If I want to get aggressive I add an ounce or so Listerine.

Works for me.

Oh, mine have bloomed with some leaves like that, but I try to get it under control quickly so there are some good leaves.

Thanks for the recipe. I'll try that first before buying chemicals. I usually have these worms every year, but not this bad. I was shocked at how fast they attacked and shredded my plants this year! I'm not sure if all this rain has caused it, but I'm just sick when I look at my plants.

I don't get them every year. We are being drowned with rain, so I'll keep an eye on mine. It is upsetting how fast they can eat the leaves. If you have Listerine, I'd add it.

Maybe if they hybridized a lace leaf hibiscus, we'd think it was awesome?

I just went out and sprayed all of my hibiscus and now it's raining! Do I need to reapply after a rain? If so, I'll never get rid of these worms! Rain in the forecast all week! I did enjoy watching them writhe in pain when the spray hit them!

Oh you are cruel.

Sorry to say, if it is a substantial rain, yes, I would reapply. The oil helps a little to stick to leaves and worms. At least it is easy and I guess there are chemicals, but they can't be too bad.

I am SOOOOO tired of rain.

Me too! Downpours all week! Standing water in front yard.
And ohhhhh the mosquitoes. They ignore Deep Woods Off.

It is too muddy to get in my beds, but the weeds are loving it. The bugs are too. I have slugs, japanese beetles and green inch worms eating everything. I keep spraying but hourly we seem to have a flat out downpour. Went to drs apt this afternoon and could hardly see the rd to drive it was raining so hard.

I've been catching Japanese beetles in my white buckets with water in them! I'm sure they're hoping my Dahlia and hibiscus start blooming really soon! We've had 4 downpours today and it's thundering now...

how do you catch them? You mean they just go in it and drown? I tried hand picking them but there were too many and they see me coming and fly off... usually right in my face! This means war!

Yes, I set a white 5 gallon bucket out by a flower bed and fill it about 1/3 full with water. They fly in and can't get out. It's not 100%, but it does get several. I try to keep the water fresh each day. Not sure if you have to use white, but that's what I read somewhere, and they were free!

Here's a picture of my killer bucket Frillylily!

That looks like Sawfly larvae damage.

Thanks Danita. I sprayed the mixture that was suggested on here and it to have helped. I'm seeing new growth, but they seem shorter this year. I'm not sure if the attack had anything to do with it, but all seem slower to produce blooms, too. Oh well...I'll be ready for them next year with my spray bottle!