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Wretched pestulence in SoCal - need help

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Am hoping for some help here - my plants are besieged by at least mealy bugs - they are leaving what look like little silk cocoons all over my houseplants and indoor cacti. I see the mealy bugs also - are they the cause of this or do I have 2 type of pest? I've had root mealies before - but not this silky mess on the leaves and columns of my plants. My beautiful goddamn TPC is dying - sections of it are sort of rotting and drying up and turning brown and crisp - is that the bugs? There is this silky stuff everywhere, on most of my indoor plants.

What should I do?

thanks!

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That's a shame man... Do you have any pictures? Diatomaceous earth is good against any critters in my experience.

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Spraying my infected cacti with garlic/tobacco/soap wiped out all the mealy bugs in my collection.

Preparing garlic/tobacco/soap solution:

Chop a few garlic heads and put them in pot filled with water and bring it to boil and tobacco in the pot, be careful not to inhale cuz it could make you pass out. Bring the solution to simmer and let it simmer for 30-40 min. Take the pot off the fire and add some soap detergent and mix it well. Strain the solution to get rid of the garlic pieces and tobacco. Put the solution in a sprayer and spray directly on the bugs and their cocoons. Spray your infected plants twice a week.

Hope that helps

Edited by Philocacti
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the first thing i would do is remove what silk/bugs you can with a hose and then use a strong systemic pesticide.

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For mealy bugs I agree on using a systemic and confidor ( IMIDACLOPRID ) seems to be the one that most growers use. I have never used the tablets but I would be interested to hear if any one has used them in pots. I have used it as a soil drench and it works really well.

Make sure you don't have mites as well. i made the mistake of thinking that all of the damage was from mealies and it wasn't I also had mites and confidor doesn't kill mites :BANGHEAD2:

By the time I worked out what was going on every thing was a total mess. The only positive I didn't loose any plants they are just very badly scarred.

If in doubt treat for mealies and mites. Its not going to do them any harm but it could save you a heap of grief.

Cheers

Got

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I was trying to think about the cocoons. It must be the mealy bug egg sacks? Look up pix of the egg sacks. It looks sort of like a silk cocoon.

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take all your plants & move them outside, asap, then hose 'em down with a garden hose with a sprayer attachment. spray them all with your favorite mealy bug / white fly killer spray the plants, the soil & the pots.

and would you please get your TPC planted in the ground somewhere?

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Imidachloprid should solve the trouble assuming that they are healthy enough to take it up.

Its a good idea to destroy all flowers on any treated plants for a couple of years as this compound appears to be linked to honeybee colony collapse.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/colony-collapse-disorder-pesticide/

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Great, thanks for all the help!

Unfortunately I can't move the TPC outside - it's huge and heavy - it took me and two professional movers to get it up into my apt and into the living room - and we almost couldn't do it..

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I'd also recommend just going over every square inch of your cactus and manually removing/squashing any pest you encounter... Like with a weed plant. I hope you get them under control!

I also kinda want to see your TPC inside, sounds very feng shui ;)

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From my post here: http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=37313&p=450047

Get some Spiders or Mites?

They are much more efficient at finding them, and killing them than I am.

For Christ's sake they have 8 eyes and 8 legs

Humbly, I only have 2 of each.

Not to mention a voracious appetite.

Wholesale use of pesticides kills other life in my garden.

med_gallery_11911_583_160045.jpgmed_gallery_11911_622_151055.jpg

From Wiki... https://en.wikipedia...ki/Phytoseiulus

Phytoseiulus is a genus of mites in the Phytoseiidae family.[1] A predatory mite this is the most frequently used mite predator to control two-spotted spider mites in greenhouses and outdoor crops grown in mild environments. Adult females are approximately 0.5 mm long, reddish in color, pear shaped and active at room temperature, Immatures & males are smaller and lighter in color. Eggs are oblong. About 80% are females. At optimum temperatures Phytoseiidae can develop from egg to adult in 7 days and live for up to 1 month. A well-fed female will lay about 50 eggs in her lifetime. Prey consumption is up to 7 adult spider mites or 20 eggs per day.[2] The ecological impact of introducing a foreign organism into a naive biosphere remains untested.

XLSCG provides a place for predatory mites to survive, maintain, and flourish! It won't even cause cosmetic damage to your prized specimen. You see Population Dynamics dictates that communities will rise or fall, depending on the amount of available resources. All I seek is shelter and a light meal, it's an easy way of life.

Also found this for you...

Mealybug Control

If possible, plants infested with mealybugs should be isolated from other plants.

When using a recommended natural insecticide to kill mealybugs, always try to remove as much of the “fluff” of the nests as possible beforehand. Follow each insecticide’s instructions for control.

mealybug-destroyer-beneficial-insect.jpg

Beneficial insects and parasites are considered the best long-term solution for mealybug infestations above ground.

ARBICO offers a unique biological solution:Mealybug Destroyers, which are small dark brown ladybugs with orange heads whose preferred food happens to be all stages of mealybugs! Try our Mealybug Destroyer beneficial insects to keep mealybugs from harming your plants.


http://www.arbico-organics.com/category/pest-solver-guide-mealybugs

Edited by hookahhead
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