Sebas Posted January 27, 2007 I still find some root mealy every now and then. It kinda starts bothering me... Pyrethrum isn't of much help, and I don't feel like using systemic stuff. I've been thinking about and reading into Neem. Maybe mix some Neem seeds through the soil? Any other solutions? Also some other questions come to mind. Are stronger (more disease-resistant) plants less vulnerable to root mealy? How about plants in pots outside, or in full ground, are those less likely to get root mealy cause of natural predators? Or to be more specific, would it cure a plant from root mealy by putting it outside of a period of time? Thanks all! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted January 27, 2007 (edited) Hi sebas, i recently tried out a mixture of a few gram kali-soap(not sure about the international name) and methylathed spirits.I don´t have a long time experience using this but it seems to work on root mealy. It definately kills spidermites. Cacti seem to survive it pretty well but it´s possible that i might lose some of them on the long term. I had to use some more drastic measures in order to keep the buggers away. You could try it out on plants that allready look lost. I don´t want to give you a bad advice as i don´t know how the cacti cope with it on the long term but it might be worth the try. I´ve read that allegedly the Kali Soap is allowed in organic growing so it seems to be pretty safe. Neem is another possibility! Or onions and garlic but that´s more homoeopathic and you gotta believe in it to make it work Edited January 27, 2007 by Evil Genius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sebas Posted January 28, 2007 Thanks EG, I see you're from Germany, that's nice. Kali soap, might that be something similar to "green soap"? Since I've read somewhere that green soap is a kalium salt, where solid soaps are natrium salts? Non off my plants are really suffering from it I think. But I don't want this spreading either, so I've started to wash clean the roots of my most suspectable plants. Leaving them bare root for the rest of winter, thinking of a plan... I've read good things about Neem, but I was kind of hoping someone could confirm this. (Wasn't Zee_werp experimenting with this?) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted January 29, 2007 (edited) Hi Sebas, yeah, we´re neighbours I´m still not sure what this Kalisoap actually is but it probably has to be some kind of Kalium or softsoap. I´ve read about it in some Plant Forums as a lot of people we´re talking pretty good about it. This soap is also included in some biological pesticides available on the market but it´s cheaper to buy it in the apothecary. 100 g Soap are about 5 Euro in germany. Mixed with methylated spirits, this is enough for months for my purposes. But in the future i´ll use neem instead once i have my plants completely free of insects. I bought many infected plants from other cactus growers and i had some pretty bad problems in the first few months to get rid of all of them quick. In case of an an emergency, i have at least one thing that´s effective now. It gives me a better sleep. The bare root thing over the winter is a good idea too. I sometimes do this with bigger and more rare cacti. Unfortunately some of my seedlings have been weakened pretty bad by this storage method so i avoided doing it this year where i could. I´m so glad when it´s summer again. It´s one of the first winters i had to think about getting my cacti over the winter and it´s a longtime learning process. As long as all plants are healthy it works very good but as soon as there are some pests inside of a collection, it can get dramatic very fast. bye Eg Edited January 29, 2007 by Evil Genius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sebas Posted February 3, 2007 Same here, some root mealy got in that way... Unfortunately, I haven't found an affordable source yet for neem-pellets or pulver. But when I do, I'm planning of just mixing some of it along with the soil. Very curious if that helps... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sebas Posted February 12, 2007 Anyone ever got the feeling that plants in clay pots are less likely to attract root-mealy compared to plants in plastic pots? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlackDragon Posted February 12, 2007 If you guys in europe still havent found neem cake, try you local hyrdoponics stores over there, or alternatively you local indian supermarket will have concentrated neem oil in vials, or sometimes cakes of pressed neem seed. Clay or terracotta pots are able to breath much more easily, wonder if that helps? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
