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Ornamental Grass
claireplymouth

Cottony Scale on Miscanthus? or Mealybug?

18 years ago

I planted a Miscanthus Malepartus about 2 years ago, but it never did well. Other Miscanthus's are happy in these conditions.

The Malepartus began to flower this fall but the flowers haven't developed well - yesterday I looked closely and the stems are developing dark splotches.

I did some quick searching in this forum and thought that it might be Miscanthus blight, so I went off to a reputable garden center to get some fungicide. I brought a sample of the infected grass with me.

The garden center personnel pulled the sample apart and found a white cottony substance and a beige insect inside. They said it was cottony scale and there was no treatment for ornamental grasses. They suggested I throw out the plant, or try cutting it way down and check it again in the spring. Maybe I'd be lucky and cut the insects off.

I went home and did a search for cottony scale, and a search for Miscanthus Mealybug.

This is what it looked like:

Miscanthus Mealybug

so I'm betting it's the mealybug, not cottony scale.

I'd like to keep the grass if possible, my questions are:

- Is cottony scale common on Miscanthus?

- If this is actually Miscanthus Mealybug, is it reasonable to cut the grass down to a few inches now and drench the soil and plant with imidacloprid in the spring?

The Malepartus is right next to a Miscanthus Little Kitten and several Panicum virgatums, none of which appear to be infected right now.

This clump of grasses is designed to be a wind barrier for a bird feeder, so I'd like to keep it reasonably intact through this winter. I'm in southeastern MA.

Thanks,

Claire

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