Poor Korina

it is just a never ending battle...

We need to ask Nancy what to do in this case - may be dip the plant in Clorax - roots et all - easier without soil.

Do not throw your hydroton - boil it!

Hugs

Irina

Try using a spray of Neem Oil, every week for 3 weeks.
Fred in NJ

Korina,

May I have your permission to add the pic of soil mealies (minus the soil) in a new bug forum?

There is a new forum on bugs only on yahoo but I am not permitted to give the address here.

I guess this proves these things eat on the roots and not on the soil.

Pretty plants, though.

Nancy

It was said:
"I guess this proves these things eat on the roots and not on the soil."

They're referred to as *soil* mealybugs only because they live underground. The more common reference is *root mealybug.*

Hi Korina, I finally got fed up with the mealies-regular and root, so I bought Merit from Rosemania. I use it on my roses in the summer and have no Jap. Beetles. It has been wonderful! For the first time I am not battling them. It is kind of expensive but lasts a long time. It literally seems to melt them away as I spray. You can also use a drench. It is systemic so it lasts a long time once in the plant. I have about 350 plants so I couldn't take it anymore! Sally

Thanks everyone!

Irina, I may try the bleach rinse if they show up again. Thanks.

Nancy, please *do* use my pic; anything to advance science.

Sally, thanks, but I'm determined to stay away from poisons; anyway, it's the only plant with bugs -- I suppose the beasts came with it.

I'm also getting the hang of the pH thing. All my AVs in hydroculture developed tight crowns from the 7.0 water I was feeding them, so I add 1/4 tsp. white vinegar to the 1 1/2 quart watering can, which brings it to 6.5. The crowns have gradually been loosening; I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a complete recovery.

Hopefully,

Korina

Korina -

I just thought that if you can kill the regular mealy bugs with alcohol - you can kill the root mealies with it too - except hard to get them when they are in a soil. So if you dip your plant - roots and all in a 1/3 solution of alcohol - you will nuke the beasties, beastie babies and beastie eggies. And boil the hydroton.

Merit - Marathon - imidacloprid - fine and dandy - not cheap though. i think they sell Ortho rose spray - for $17 with imidacloprid now. Not very economical and not enough for 350 plants - but if it is 30 plants in a collection - would be enough for several applications.

Happy New Year - and right Ph to all of us.

Irina

Irina-
Do you know if the alcohol dip has been tested? Also, is this rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol, or something else? I am currently thinking that one of my AVs has root mealies, and am wondering what to do about it. Also, how do they spread from plant to plant; and how do I keep them from spreading (preferably without the use of chemicals)?
Thanks,
-Jmcat

Jmcat -

to know for sure if your plant has root mealies or not - you just slip the plant out of the pot and look at the root ball.
If there is a waxy bluish white residue areas on the inside of the pot and in the soil - it is them, if not - then not.

It was easier for Korina to check on them - because they are not hidden in a soil with specks of white perlite all over.

If you have them - then - if you keep your plants together on the mats and wicks - the chance is that every single pot on this tray is infected. If you have them separated - then may be it is the only one.

It is very hard to get rid of the mealies in the soil. You need to apply pretty serious chemicals. Nancy will say - it is much less trouble just to trash the plant - than spend money and risk to poison the whole family. I would may be cut the crown of the plant above the soil level, soak it in a solution of the rubbing alcohol - the one you mentioned is OK - and reroot it - remove most of the leaves, put it in a pot with a light soil and bag it. It usually reroots in a week or 2. But I would keep this plant in isolation for 3 months - and then recheck the rootball.

Several years ago I had an infestation - and dunked several hundred pots in a malathion solution - spent several days doing it, developed a granddaddy of all headaches and some flu like symptoms from this poison, even I worked in gloves and face mask - and the beasties came back. And the plants lost their centers from the poison. It was pretty frustrating.

Irina

Irina - I took your suggestion on magnification, using our dissecting microscope. This revealed that, unfortunately, I do have root mealies. I think I may take the suggestion of throwing the plant out, given that I can probably get a leaf of this plant from my aunt if I want to.

I had this plant on a windowsill with two others. They were in separate water dishes, but were very close. I have tried to keep the leaves from touching, but I don't know for sure whether or not they might have touched each other. I have had no prior experience with RMB, so I don't know if they stay in one rootball or if they travel a lot.

One of the other plants on that windowsill is the AV that I repotted recently, thinking it had root rot. At that point, I didn't suspect RMBs, so I didn't check it thoroughly (under the microscope) for them. Also, while I didn't see any signs of RMB on the surface or sides of the soil, I did see some white spots in the rootball when I repotted. Its roots looked simply dried up when repotted; I don't know if that is a sign of RMBs or root rot from too little water.
Any advice ar answers would be appreciated.
Thanks,
-Jmcat

Soil/root mealies have a waxy coating, different from the leaf mealies and I've read rubbing alcohol will not kill the root ones. I've had great success using rubbing alcohol on the leaf kind and it's always worked, need to "dab" them each time one appears.

I hope the plant recovers and no other plants are effected. I've been thru a bout of that last year and it was no picnic...I was paniced about more plants getting it, but it turned out okay. (I used marathon granules).

I bought some of the ceramic pellets and have some violets growing very well with water. A couple I lost, didn't transition well. But it is fun to see the roots growing with the ones that are doing well.

Take care. tish

I ended up just throwing the plant out last night. RMBs are very hard to get rid of, from what I've heard, and since I can very easily get another plant of the same kind, it seemed like the best choice at the time. However, I am absolutely NOT the type of person who normally decides to simply throw a plant out if I get tired of it or it's diseased. It completely infuriated me recently reading a book on container gardens that was suggesting that you throw out bulbs after use in a container garden.

I have the other two plants from the same window on opposite sides of a different windowsill now. I am still wondering about some things, though. What should I do to sanitize the windowsill that had the AV with RMBs? Also, how far can the RMBs travel to get to a different plant? I think that's all for now.
Thanks,
-Jmcat

Jmcat -

only time will show. So keep checking the rootballs.

RMB in my experience get out of the bottom holes of the pot - and travel to the next pot - so that's why if you have your collection on wicks and on the same tray with a same mat - the whole tray will be infected. Tha's why it is better to keep them on individual deli containers with a solution.

For the large collection it can be a necessary expence to invest into a half-gallon of Marathon - from Cape Cod Violetry for example - and add this systemic to your soil when repot.

I do not think it is possible to grow plants and not have the pests. We learn by own mistakes - and after the fact - we begin isolate, isolate and isolate.

Good luck

Irina

Isolate as in new plants? I haven't gotten any new AVs since late last year, so I don't know how the RMBs got in.
Should I do anything to the windowsill that this plant was on? I recall that it needs a good cleaning simply from water stains, and now seems like it would be a great time to do it. Now I only need to actually do it!
Thanks again,
-Jmcat

Has anyone tried or heard of trying cayenne pepper, garlic, vacuum packing, or diatomaceous earth for RMBs?
-Jmcat

Jmcat -

I wish there would an easy way out...

These guys are tough and they survive everything except boiling. And do not forget the eggs. The sleeping eggs can hatch long after you eradicated the adults.

Keep squishing them!!!

I.

Ah, Looks like an african potatoe plant. Very rare!

Why can't cut the roots off and reroot the bare neck?

It is a good idea - but you still can carry the eggs by touching soil - and may be they left the eggs on the surface of the shelf - they actually walk from pot to pot.

Yuck

irina