mealy bugs

[strangebrew]

Has anyone got any experience in getting rid of these pesky critters?

I was slack following up on an ant infestation last year and a dodgy, infested plant from GW has contributed to the problem.

I've already lost a couple of plants to the rot :mad: and had to try and save some others by taking cuttings.

I want something that I can water, or stand the pots in and soak, to get rid of one's hiding underneath the plants and around the roots.

A search came up with imidacloprid and I've also read a diluted white oil/malathion combo works.

Any opinions?

[smogs]

do they hang around roots as well!?

didnt know that

they can be a pest... nothing seems to like pyrethrum and garlic bug sprays u get... so maybe dilute and soak pots in that?

or even very hot chillis garlic and a little bit of detergent

i would wait for another opinion b4 soaking plants in eitehr of those tho... but they work well on leaves

[Liteweight]

I use isopropyl alcohol (the strength you get at the store) to drip onto the mealy bugs. I haven't had a cacti or succulent show any injury from this strength.

[M S Smith]

Man, I can't believe you brought this up. I just spend 7 hours today pulling all my plants up from their soil, spraying off the roots and then putting them upright in those divided booze bottle boxes. I have a cold winter here so I cleaned them all in the process of getting indoors for dormancy. My hope is that the root mealies (which are much worse overall for plants than normal above soil ones - different species I believe) will all have been washed off with the hose or will die due to not being in the soil as they seem to need to be. I also hope the eggs hatch and the offspring also die over the winter. I have found that good old thick brown topsoil dirt seems to both be good for growing Trichocereus and also seems to be hard for root mealies to live in.

Does anyone have any idea if root mealy bug eggs can go dormant to hatch in warmer weather when things warm back up?

I will likely dip the roots in rubbing alcohol a couple times before rooting come the spring (winters coming here in the northern hemisphere).

~Michael~

[devance]

My root mealy bugs left when the ants did. I think the ants were milking them. I churned up the soil with hard spray nozzle and the ants left for safer ground.

Was very worried, but all went well. Haven't reappeared for a year and I just checked all the formerly infested roots.

When the top soil gets hardened all kinds of problems happens. Water runs off, no oygenation, fungal attack.

I have had good success just using small landscaping bark bits the kind at walmart for just spreading on the ground to prevent weeds,

as a soiless medium for San Pedro and chemical fertilizer.

[strangebrew]

After doing some searching, I found one guy on the American cactus forum enthusing about Neem oil, the 100% only, not the 70%. He's so wrapped, he's even started putting Neem seed meal in his soil!

Alcohol/soapy water combos rate highly, but some people complain of plant marking.

And the local nursery has had good results with Confidor(imidacloprid), says Malathion is too harsh.

Alcohol root washes also got a mention but one site says 100% can cause damage.

[Rev]

http://www.succulents.co.za/Succulent_Pest...Mealy_Bug.shtml

this site says mothballs in the soil

i wonder if camphor laurel mulch might help

[M S Smith]

Yeah strangebrew, I had intended only to use a 50/50 alcohol/water dip, not full strength.

Thanks for the link Reville. I hate no bug worse and can barely stand to look at that picture.

So, does anyone have some sort of answer about the ability of root mealie bug eggs to go dormant?

~Michael~

[mescalito]

I did hear somewhere?? that they are activated after dormancy by a temperature rise...the above ground type that is-dunno if these are the same?

But if they are you could'pastuerise'the roots in water at a temp that wouldn't hurt the roots ie.~22'C,wait a few days then kill the buggers before they reproduce.

But a thought occurred to me-if they're secreting sugar as a reward for the ants then the ants provide protection yeah?

From what?

There must be a natural underground dwelling predator...

[strangebrew]

Nah mate, the ant's are calling all the shot's as I understand it.

They farm the mealy's like we do bee's. They transport them - the eggs?, somewhere they think the mealy's will find it cushy and just sit back and reap the rewards.

Smart little buggers hey!

[mescalito]

Never cease to be amazed :cool:

[macro]

M S Smith:

spraying off the roots and then putting them upright in those divided booze bottle boxes.

So the plants are uprooted and the roots exposed throughout winter? They cope OK with that?

[M S Smith]

Yep, you got it Macro, bear rooted all winter long in a garage that will throughout the season reach near freezing. I have had seedlings no taller than 2 or 3 cm handle it just fine as well. I keep a cup of water in there and if it starts to ice-over I simple put a space heater in there to get it back above freezing only as long as needed. I'm talking about Trichocereus primarily, but many other species handle it just as well.

~Michael~