Macro plumie mess

12 years ago

I was visiting my mother today who has a huge, old, terra cotta pot with algae growing on it... and she had stuck about 8 plumie cutting in it!!! Other than being wayyyyy over crowed in a not so happy or hygienic home, they did ok last year and threw a lot of inflows. But this year, not so much. She asked me what I thought and to be honest I don't know where to start! Looked like, fungus, mites, thrips, all of the above with beginning of tip rot. I took pics in macro mode and found all this.... plus a hair it seems!

My question is, where should I start? It's still in the mid to upper 80's here and probably will be for another 4 weeks, so do I treat it with fungicide, insecticide.... plutonium??? Or rescue it first from it's toxic home by cutting first then treat?

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Comments (7)

QHeidi
Original Author
12 years ago
Macro zoom
QHeidi
Original Author
12 years ago
another stem
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QHeidi
Original Author
12 years ago
And their "home"
PRO
the_first_kms2
12 years ago
To me it looks like the tips are taking enough damage that they may "seal over" pretty soon. I would start with an application cycle of Bayer 3in1 or Garden Safe 3in1 or anything comparable you can find.

Then I would look for the reason of the mildew on the pot. Is it water retention? If so it needs to dry out. Do not use drip saucers to hold water. In the picture it looks like the container is shared with a fern. That to me would indicate very moist soil and possibly more shade than light.

After the plant shows positive results from the treatment I would then consider moving to a higher direct sunlight location.
QHeidi
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you...
It's actually in the NE corner that gets full sun from 9-3 these days, more in spring. My mom loves to cluster-plant, the more in a pot, the better. I ripped out the ferns, drug it out a few feet which should give another hour or two of sun and I picked her up the bayer 3 in 1 and will treat it this evening. Looking under the leaves I found lacewing eggs... very cool... and evidence of either mealy bugs or whitefly. I also realized the little ant-like critters are ghostants enjoying the honeydew of whatever kind of sapsucker is attacking the leaves.
Regardless, the bayer will wipe them out and hopefully they'll have some time to recover before winterizing.

Ironically, once i got home to my "litter" of 37 - 2 year old seedlings, a few have developed a small amount of rust. Ugh... glad I got the bayer :)

Thank again
PRO
the_first_kms2
12 years ago
good luck with them. Unfortunately the Lacewings may be colateral damage but sometimes that's how it goes.
QHeidi
Original Author
12 years ago
I know what you mean... but she's got an obvious sap-sucker and a colony that's "farming" them. It's too close to bedtime to hope the lacewings get control.

Thanks again for the advice :)