Hey Rambler,

Quick eye! That's what it takes to keep an infestation at bay. I guess you are talking foliar mealy bug, and not soil mealies? If foliar the rubbing alcohol does the trick and rinsing because alcohol is drying. Make sure you check undersides of leaves.

Preventative measure and another treatment is spraying with Neem Oil. If you haven't used it before - I mix it in hot water and add a few drops of dish soap as a wetting agent. Neem does have an odor in concentrate, but once it is sprayed on your plants I don't notice it. I use a small one dollar spay bottle from the vacation supply bins at Target. Just make sure it has a fine mist spray. Shake bottle often while spraying.

The oil will suffocate the insects. Spray on your violets a couple of times a week. If you do have an infestation keep spraying for a month.

Good Luck,
Mac

Rambler -

I would investigate the purchasing of Marathon. May be somebody knows where to get a small amount? Cape Cod Violetry possibly?

Provided you do not have issues - allergies, small kids etc - I would add a small amount of this systemic to a soil of each pot.

These stinkers lay eggs... The eggs can be still on a shelf-
and hatching..

Irina

Thank you both for your responses.

Mac,
I will definately try the neem oil. How much of the oil do you mix in what amount of water? Also, does spraying your plants with it cause spots on the leaves?

Irina,
I dont have any kids or allergies that would be a problem with using a commercial product. I do, however, grow all of my indoor plants in hydroculture. Do you know of any problems with using these type of products in hydroculture such as salt buildup or problems mixing these products with fertilizers?

Thank you both again for your responses. I appreciate your help.

Hi Rambler,

If you decide to go the Neem Oil root, I use Dyna-Gro Neem Oil. On the bottle the direction for use is -mix 1 1/2 tsp. per quart of water (1 oz./gal.), plus 1 1/2 tsp of ProTeKt or liquid dish soap per quart of water (1 oz./gal.)as an emulsifier. Shake well. I use warm water. Directions say to apply early morning or late afternoon. Do not apply in direct sunlight.

I have never had a problem with it spotting leaves. I use the fine mist sprayer and shake often. Perhaps others can report if they have.

Just looked in Robitaille's book ..."Neem Oil should be applied every three days in order to break the life cycle. It disrupts the molting and feeding of the insects. Apply every three days during the period of one month. CONTINUE spraying each three days for ONE MORE MONTH after the last insect is seen and the infestation should soon be eliminated."

I must admit I've never had foliar mealy that I treated with Neem. Although knew it could be used for this purpose. I do spray plants with Neem. I had a leaf once with it and just used alcohol. That was early on and just didn't think about lingering eggs. Good to know about Marathon.

Mac

Neem is a really good preventative. Pests and fungi - both.
What Mac is doing - is excellent.

The MB has this fuzzy waxy cover that prevents the contact poisons to get to the skin. Alcohol dissolves it.

Regarding Marathon - look at the Bayer's lawn insectiside - or rose spray - it has imidacloprid - it is an active agent in the Marathon. You can spray your plants with it - and it will stay in a tissue long enough to destroy the bugs when they are feeding. Or you can add some to the solution.

Irina

I went to Lowe's yesterday and wasn't able to find any neem oil. I will try the local nursery this weekend. I may have to order some but I am definately going to start using it regularly. I have been checking my violets daily and havent noticed any bugs and I would like to keep it that way. Thank you both again for your help.

Just order Neem from internet - you can find a better deal than in any nursery.

You can spray your infected plant with watered down alcohol against mealy bugs. Just try on 1 leaf first - and be sure that your solution is warm. Streptocarpus cannot take alcohol for sure.

I.

Have any of you ever used a systemic to control mealy bugs (foliar)? I have some Tenderleaf by Dexol, but it smells very chemically. I have to keep the plants outside for about 2 weeks! I saw these "pills" by Bayer at local nursery for systemic control. About $7 for ~ 10 "pills". Has anyone used them?

Also, Rambler, for your hydroculture, are you using the plastic pots with slits in the sides and have a built in water level guage? I'm trying to find them for green houseplants and the company that comes up on the internet (Purlec) doesn't answer my emails.

Julie

Julie -

my understanding is that systemic works and the one that works is Marathon and it has imidacloprid as an active agent. Not cheap though.

I do not know what active ingredients are in your findings - but if it is Disyston (??) - it will be very stinky, more poisonous for humans and pets - and far less efficient.

Good Luck

Irina

The active ingredient in Dexol Tender Leaf systemic granules is Disulfoton 0.0 Diethyl S phosphorodithioate 1% or something like that. The print is very small. Is the Marathon specifically for violets and indoor plants? Is it a granule?

Julie

I hope neem works for you. The one time I used neem on my violets, though, I lost them fairly quickly afterwards. I do believe my house is prone to things like powdery mildew, and while I tried to dry off the leaves as best I could, they seemed to develop mildew and died. This was a few years ago.

I use Bayer Rose and Flower Insect Killer. It is a ready to use spray that does not have added fertilizer. There is another version that is granules (I think?) but that version has added fertilizer, which I do not want. Imidicloprid is one of the main ingredients. What I do is spray the soil a bit, not the leaves at all, and then add some water to the soil to both dilute it and water it into more of the soil. The benefit to this for me is that I don't get insecticide all over the place, and I don't get the leaves wet at all. And it is a systemic, which is nice.

The violets have generally been pest free, but I also used this on a sansevieria that periodically gets scale (and therefore can never be kept near any other plants, bummer). The scale die quickly, and it keeps them at bay for a long time afterward.

Disulfotone is very stinky and in my experience keeps them under control, but doesn't kill them off - at least that's my experience with soil mealy bugs. Buyer Rose and Flower - has imidacloprid. It works well - but I would do the spraying somewhere outside and wear glasses and something to cover nose and mouth. It is a synthetic tobacco poison - and as we all know "SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH".

Neem oil - it is a great preventative, it will not stop powdery mildew if it is all over the collection and I have doubts about Mealies because they are covered with waxy substance which will protect them against contact with Neem.

If you want to spray neem aganst PM - it should be low dosage and mixed with hot water. And again - if it is a beginning of the PM weather - when we turn the furnace off - but nights are pretty cool - it is a time to give AVs a light spray once a week. Plus - if you have violets under lights - it is a time to switch the lights - nights on - days off - to warm and dry the plants at night.

Good Luck - and Kill the Mealies

Irina

I've had very good results with Neem Oil! I used it on a few noids to rid them of thrips with no bad side effects. I sprayed my roses outside to treat for aphids, and it worked great there, too! Then I saw spider mites on one of my big tropical outdoor plants, and the neem oil spray took care of them, too!

So far, Neem oil and I are friends :) (once you get past the stinky smell!)

everybody describes Neem oil smell differently - for me it is rotten onions...

i.

Fortunately, I only had the one plant with mealies which I was able to take care of. I have been spraying all of my violets with neem oil since then. I havent had any problems with it other than the smell. I do agree with Irina that it resembles a rotten onion smell.

As for the effectiveness of neem oil, I can only assume it is doing a good job at this point since I havent noticed any other bugs. I have only been using it for a month so time will tell.

Julie,
I have never used the Purelec pots or any other pots with a water gauge. For my smaller starter plants, I just use solo cups with holes slit in the bottom and set in a tray of water. For larger plants, I just use regular plastic pots with drainage holes and set them in an tray of water as well. It is a gamble doing community watering but with so many plants, it is a risk I am willing to take. If I were to individually water each plant it would probably take me an hour. Doing it this way takes me about 5 minutes a week.

Aside from the time factor, I also hate to pay those steep prices for the fancy pots. If you want a cheap alternative, you can go to walmart or dollar store and find many clear glass pots, candle holders, etc. for a couple bucks. You can easily see the water line through the glass and physan 20 controls the algae well.

Rambler

What is a mealy bug, please.
I have 3 violets and two christmas cactus in pots on a shelf over my kitchen island and there are bugs crawling about that look like little black sugar ants. Can someone tell me what they are and what to do? Thanks.

Irina said:

Disulfotone is very stinky and in my experience keeps them under control, but doesn't kill them off - at least that's my experience with soil mealy bugs. Buyer Rose and Flower - has imidacloprid. It works well - but I would do the spraying somewhere outside and wear glasses and something to cover nose and mouth. It is a synthetic tobacco poison - and as we all know "SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH".

That is really interesting, because in looking for a low\-impact way to control pests, I tried spraying with "cigarette tea", because of the nicotine's anti\-insect properties. I shredded the tobacco from a pack of cigarettes (left over after my mother's passing) and steeped it in warm water overnight. Then I strained the liquid, and used it as a spray. I was disappointed in how it worked against foliar mealy bugs (which were the issue then) but its probably because of their waxy coating. I did notice, however, a COMPLETE disappearance of the occasional fungus gnats I'd seen around. Not a single one was to be found for months. The cigarette spray did not seem to adversely affect the plants, and I used it on AVs, begonias and other house plants. \-Jane

In future, I'd avoid using tobacco to make an insecticidal spray due to the potential for spreading the tobacco mosaic virus. There isn't supposed to be a cure, except for tossing out your plants. AVs are susceptible to it. I believe this is why synthetic nicotine exists: the nicotine works, but you have the added risk of the virus when you use actual tobacco.

My neem oil smells like slightly oniony sesame oil. Not horrible, but not great. I'm wondering if different batches smell different, or if it varies by manufacturer? Mine is from Dyna Gro.

motherhubbard,

Foliar mealy bugs are white--or at least the "nest" is white. They turn pink if you squeeze them between fingers.

Discribe your findings more accurately. If you put a pencil behind one of the black bugs, does it hop? Could be springtail. Does it fly? Could be fungus gnat or thrips.

I reread the orignal message and saw you sprayed the AV with a hose. The hose would give cold water which would spot the leaves. Better to rince it off in warm water from the sink and allow to dry out of the sunlight. Also you can blot any that remains in the center with a paper towel.

Nancy

Nancy

Has anyone ever heard of an allergic reaction to mealy bugs or mealy bug honey dew? I was pulling weeds sans gloves and dug right into a sticky infestation of these nasty bugs. That night I became feverish and the next day I had a sore throat. I went to doctor and was told I had HFMD however I've got "breakouts' on my arms, legs and back (which are not symptoms). So please let me know if yall have heard of any type of allergy to the bug or it's dew.