Soil drench question / help.

10 years ago

The soil / root mealybugs are more widespread in the garden than I realized. Just pulled another 2 plants out and I have a big one (black and blue salvia) that is not looking good that I need to dig up and check the roots. Crossing fingers it is just stressed from the heat and humidity.

I have resorted to the big guns, Bayer Advance 3 in 1 rose and flower care.

In the recently treated area I cut all the blooms off the plants and drenched the soil and roots.

But in this other not treated area could I drench the soil (plant hole) without any plant being there. Clean up the soil and leave it be for a while before I replant. I am not sure if the chemicals only work when absorbed by the plant or I could use it to kill any dormant mealybugs that are just hanging out waiting for new roots.

Reminder pic of the soil mealybugs

One of the plants that looked fine 2 weeks ago that I pulled out and trashed today

The area that I have hacked up and treated (before plants started decling and some dying)

And now

all blooms cut, Mexican Petunias chopped to the ground, other plants just pulled and trashed.

Fingers crossed the black and blue has something else bc it is so closely planted to another plant... I don't want to chop every single last flower I have.

it is looking thin and the flowers are small.

Last, not too long ago it was lush.

Featured Answer

whgille

10 years ago

SweetM, when you google food grade DE a lot of options come up, you can either get it locally or by mail, your choice. I only recommend things that have worked for me and are safe for us, the pets and the environment. I use strictly for bugs, it works on a lot of them. Always mix it with the soil that I am treating to be effective and any product that I apply I am cautious not to breathe, those paper masks are cheap, I use them for mixing soil and other things. When in doubt, it is always a good idea to read the instructions in the package.

Silvia

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Comments (7)

oldmangroot
10 years ago
Probably wouldn't help. That insecticide, and most that are effective against mealy's, are systemics. Mealys have a thick waxy coating, so contact insecticide doesn't work well against them, which is what you'd be trying to do.

Best bet is to pretreat any plant with that systemic while still potted, and then put it in the ground a few days later.Mealys will feed, and die when they get hit with the pesticide.

Sorry about your garden - that really stinks.
whgille
10 years ago
If I was you, I would treat the soil with food grade diatomaceous earth and see how it goes.

Silvia
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SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 Tampa
Original Author
10 years ago
Maybe I will get some cheap nonflowering plants to treat and then put in to the holes for a time in hopes that I can clean up that soil from the soil mealybugs and then in a few months try another flowering plant... the balance of kill the soil mealybugs but protect the bees is a hard one. Of course if the soil bugs wipe out my plants I won't have to worry about any bees, I won't have anything to attract them.

The garden area is divided between an old area that runs free, no weed barrier and I let the petunias pop up where they want (but they seem to stay within that old garden area) and just put other plants in for pops of color and the new extension where I ripped up the grass, put weed barrier and mulch down then cut into areas for plantings.

Since the one area had plants everywhere I had to chop them all to put in the chemical,. So for the other area I am trying not to treat every plant unless it needs it, but that might be a mistake... maybe the soil mealybugs will just leave the dug up absent holes and find their way to the other plants. I am sure all that soil in the area has issues.

The up side is it is getting too hot to garden regularly, so if I can stop the infestation now, it will make for a better fall garden and I can spend that time enjoying the plants instead of watching them die off.
SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 Tampa
Original Author
10 years ago
I'll look into getting some, at this point if I have to start over I will, but if I can save some of the plants I would really like that.
SweetMonkeyCheese Z9 Tampa
Original Author
10 years ago
so if I am looking for food grade diatomaceous earth, does that mean there is a nonfood grade. I saw Home depot has some and ppl are raving about it for inside their home (for ants and bedbugs) but I did not see where it said food grade. Is food grade the most common easy to find kind so they dont always advertise it front and center of the bag?
User
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Industrial grade DE is usually sold in the pool supply section. It's used in pool filters. I order mine online from eBay or Amazon. It comes in small lots, but you'll probably want to get a 10-lb. bag.

PLEASE be careful with it when spreading. Use a paper mask over your mouth and nose. You do not want to breathe it in. Also, DE is useless once it's wet, so mix it into dry soil and let it sit for 24 hours before you water.

I know people get angry at me for saying this, but you can use liquid Sevin as a soil drench. That way , it doesn't get into the flowers and harm the bees. It's pretty effective against mealybugs. You can usually find fire ant killer granules that have Sevin in them too -- kill two bugs with one stone. I hate chemicals, but Sevin dust is so safe that you can put it on your pets for fleas, and that's what used to be in flea powder. It's the only chemical I will use except for fire ant killer.

Read up on food grade diatomaceous earth. It has a lot more uses than just for bugs. It's a very healthy medicinal remedy (I take it every day) and is great as a flea treatment for pets.