Nor am I.

They're in the roots, Katrina. You need a systemic. I may try that Bayer as well.

Uh oh, I just bought 2 plants from the same source.

I found little fluffy white specks my Silver Blue - I Q-tipped them with oil. I'm going to buy some DE to try on them, IF they're root mealies. Such is gardening.

Katrina, I would keep your Silver Blue quarantined from your other sans, but I would fight the mealies endlessly rather than trash it. It's too valuable to throw away and you'll beat it if you stay with it.

I'm surprised they came back so quickly after that spray down with the hose, that usually works for me. The Bayer 3 in 1 should be in any of your BB stores.

I know you said you sprayed in all those cracks and crevices, but that's where they are and those few survivors are repopulating. See if you can spread the thick leaves apart to get way down in there with a water spray or insecticide.

One of the problems treating mealy bug is that they have a waxy covering, so water based treatments don't work as well as oil based types. I've thought about trying horticultural oil, which is a very old treatment for scale and some other critters. It covers with a thin coat and plugs their breathing apparatus. I don't think it would bother sans negatively, but I'd experiment on a sans you have plenty of, or just one leaf, to see if the oil has any bad effects.

Alcohol based mouthwash might be something to try. The major brand I used apparently has a small amount of oil in it, after spraying the leaves come out shiny as if I used furniture oil on them.

I've used mouthwash for the leaf rotting disease that's so prevalent right now. Hasn't worked completely on several sans but a severely affected Hahnii Seibert is cured and thriving now. Major brand mouthwash is an expensive treatment but I'm going to follow Stush's advice about getting it from a dollar store.

Russ

Hi so now you have concerned. I have several new plants from the same source. So the mouth wash is better than alcohol and water? Am I looking for some specific ingredient besides the alcohol? When i started reading I ran to a local store. No bayer 3n1 but they sold me a ferti-lome 3 in 1. The ferti-lome has totally different ingredients. It's more natural with neem oil and pyrethrins..Is the neem oil ok on these plants or is it off to a bigger store? I see white specs here and there not sure if its bugs or something else. I just want to be prepared. I have just lost two plants to a rot. Trying not to loose more. Thanks Rob

Russ, thanks for that. I havent given up yet, but These bugs are a real pain. I first sprayed the plant and scraped the bugs off, then I soaked it in that bleach solution. After drying it out a few days, I replanted it and they came back.

Since then , it's been sitting in the far corner of my back yard far away from the others. We've been getting rain almost nonstop the past 2 weeks so it's well soaked, but I don't see bugs. I'll still keep treating it though. If this plant lives after all of this, I'll be over the moon.

Rob, this is my first time dealing with this so idk how to answer your question. Between this thread and one with Bayer 3 in 1 in the title, there's some good information. I hope these pests pass over your plants. Bad experience!

Imidacloprid is the main ingredient in Bayer 3 in 1. It is a systemic which means it travels all thru the plant. I purchased some on Home Depot website much cheaper with free shipping to my nearest store. I also heard they are planing on removing it from the public. So stock up now. 1 gallon should last me a lifetime.

Thanks

Stush, I haven't heard about removing the Bayer from shelves, I wonder if there's a health problem with exposure to it.

Russ

Katrina, it's inevitable that every grower will get a bug at some point, and this probably won't be your last encounter. But once you figure out what works for the mealies, mites, scale, fungi, rotting roots, rotting leaves, yellow leaves, eaten leaves and various other natural calamities that make you want to pull your hair out, it's a piece of cake.

Hang in there with the Silver Blue. Interesting that you put it outside in the rain and weather and the bugs seem to be gone. I've noticed that plants outside of the shadehouse in the weather never, ever get mealies, but those inside under plastic cover sometimes get them.

Regarding being in a rainy period right now with possibility of rotting Silver's roots, a few feet of separation from other plants is probably okay now that it's apparently clean of bugs. Just keep an eye on it every few days.

Russ

RobZ, I'm pretty sure whoever it was that suggested mouthwash as a spray for sans meant it for the leaf rotting disease that's so common now. So give this a try if that rot you mentioned was a leaf rot rather than rotting roots, which is another issue.

But the mouthwash should work for mealy bug given the alcohol in it.

Regarding other ingredients you asked about, the poster said Thymol was important and to be sure it was on the label. The older, 'original' mouthwash was preferred, perhaps for the Thymol but I checked several brands and types and it was in all of them.

I initially used Listerine that I had in the house, then bought another bottle of the same when that ran out. I'll check cheaper brands at dollar stores for Thymol and post back, but even at a dollar a bottle it's still fairly expensive compared to a concentrate of commercial insecticide. But a big HOWEVER here, it stopped the leaf rotting dead in it's tracks on my Hahnii Seibert, so was well worth the money. Also definitely slowed it down drastically on some Golden Hahnii's, probably just need another spray or two to arrest it entirely.

I hope this helps,

Russ

RobZ, here's the thread that includes some explanation about mouthwash as a treatment for leaf rot. Check NextObsession's comments here.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4022712/new-to-sanseverias-soft-spot-in-the-middle-of-a-leaf?n=14

Russ

Thanks Russ, I got some mw and sprayed. Sill no sign of those mealy bugs. I have seen the leaf rot a couple of times. I just cut the leafs off. I thought they got damaged some how. After reading all the attached links. I wonder if I planted the rotted plants to deep? They were new plants each I had less than a month. The majority of my plants all seem well with new off shoots. I have to admit the watering sill freaks me out. I bought a cheep soil tester and water only when dry. I am using the perlite mixed with cactus soil. Here's to happy plants. Rob

Katrina, I just checked to two sans I got from JC, they both have it, I am not too happy right now. Silver blue has it between the leaves and gray lady Aurea has it at the base.

Not a great pic and hard to lift the leaves.

RobZ, if the rot occurs as watery areas on leaf edges or in spots in the interior, it's not mechanical damage. This infection has been common in sansevierias since around 2010 when it devastated stock in some commercial nurseries. No treatments at that time worked well enough to make the damaged plants saleable, so they destroyed the crops and stopped growing sans altogether.

I don't know why sans seem susceptible to this rot now, I've grown them for 20+ years and it wasn't a problem in 'the old days'. I have hundreds of sans so I look for the cheapest treatment that works.

On watering, during the summer water when the top inch or so of soil is dry. I've never used a water meter, but if you're waiting for the entire root ball to dry completely you're probably keeping them too dry and holding back growth. That said, obviously humidity and temps vary, so if you're having success I wouldn't encourage you to change what you're doing.

Many experienced growers don't water at all during winter months, but fine roots will die. I water lightly if leaves start to shrivel, sometimes just misting to keep from getting too dessicated.

Russ

Yeah Nancy, I'm sorry to see this with your rare sans. The Silver Blue isn't bad but they're there, the Gray Lady is obviously worse. Maybe a double whammy with both Bayer and mouthwash.

Interesting all these buggy sans came from JC. I believe his eyesight is almost gone and is relying on help, so they're not doing a good job with overseeing his collection. Maybe feedback to him is in order, he may not be aware of the problem.

Russ

If you pry it open My blue one has it too. I don't see well close up. Bummer.

Russ, I checked both plants over when I got them, they must have been deep down in the leaves. I have never seen mealy look like tiny pieces of rice. The mealy I get here, on a jade and sometimes on my hosta flowers, is fluffy.

I'm glad I read through this thread again, I didn't realize vitorama and Katrina were having issues with their plants from JC, that's why I checked.

Off to homedepot now. Ugh.

And now another plant I got from him has it. I have contacted him and am awaiting a response.

I think you should ALL contact the seller. I didn't mention any of your plants. Hopefully he'll offer some kind of resolution and that way no one would be left out if he does.

I went to the boutique C&S nursery today, owned by several members of the LAC&S Society. I asked about mealy bugs and he said it's something everyone deals with sooner or later because of adding new plants, showing them (exposing to other's plants) and ants farm them and move them between plants in a collection, spreading the bugs. He said they don't like moisture, so keep the plants from becoming bone dry (not soggy, but moist), also Bayer 3 in 1 systemic once a year. Alcohol kills them, soaps smother them...but you have to treat them repeatedly because while you may kill all the adults, then the eggs hatch and you have another infestation, so you have to kill the juveniles before they lay eggs and eventually you have interrupted the population.

With my plants I depotted them, mixed DE in with the soil medium, sprayed the leaves and roots with Listerine and dipped the roots into the DE like breaded chicken before repotting. I also dusted in between the leaves with DE and the channels then segregated them.

Rob: FWIW there is an article in the Sans Journal about a grower in Indonesia who waters his plants (and they are big, in tubs) 3 times per week when it's not the monsoon season there. Of course it's tropical and the temps are consistently high. I am in So Cal and I water my collection at least twice a week, temps are in the 90's and 100's daytime and 60 - 70's at night. Cold and wet will rot them. There has been a discussion of pH (more to the acid side) helping to prevent rot and fungal diseases as well.

Is DE Diatomaceous Earth? I took mine out of the pot sprayed it good with alcohol water and a little baby shampoo. I found a little scale on couple plants from another place too. Treated them all with 3n1 . Thanks everyone for the water bug and fungus tips. I also sent a feedback. Rob

Yes. I will send feedback as well.

I got the Bayer 3-in-1 today and sprayed them and some others.

Another thing the man at the nursery said is anything safe to use on vegetables is OK for Sans pest control.

Wealth of information. Thanks guys. I do see ants from time to time so we'll deal with those more aggressively as well. With all the water we're having here (South Louisiana) the ants are looking for higher ground. It's all out WAR since they may adversely affect my Sans ! :-)

No response from the seller.

When I was blamed of giving a plant with mealies, I felt devastated. I immediately sprayed all my plants with the Bayer product. Myself, I never seen any. The plant in question was told to me after two months after I set it out. I informed everyone I sent plants to about it so they could check theirs. No one else reported any problems. It caused me to not give any plants out for a year. It was a well grown Golden Flame with lots of yellow. She said, Don't do me any more favors and never send me any plants. She bagged it and thru it out. This is always in the back of my mind every time I send out plants. Main reason all my plants are treated with imidacloprid.

Stush I don't blame you for feeling that way. It was very nice of you to share. I'm glad I got the Bayer, thanks for mentioning it.

That's so sad Stush. Plants are alive and imperfect as such. Bugs happen. It doesn't sound like you were treated fairly at all nor was Gold Flame.

Sorry that happened to you Stush. As a popular seller, I feel it's only right to let him know his plants have bugs. What is it? 4 of us who've bought from him and are "bugged out?" I nicely told him I'd bought 2 plants from him and both of them have mealies and that none of my other plants do. I'm upset that I have this problem that could potentially spread to my other lovelies, but I'd never be rude to him about it. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but he needs to know so he can take action. The lady you dealt with could've been nicer about it. It's not like you specifically picked one with bugs just for her!

Interesting thing happened. I had a couple plants on the sun porch. Those are the ones infected. The others I had outside but all my outside plants I've treated twice with Bonide as a preventative, just because, not that I saw anything. Those plants outside I got from that seller are fine, the porch one is infected. I've since treated all the porch plants with Bonide. I also decided to retrieve the one from the garbage and really wash it well. Kills me to get rid of it. I hope everyone else's plants are fairing as well as mine.

Stush, your plants are awesome!

I had these mealies years ago on my a couple Sans, right after I started getting "into" Sans. They multiply fast and are a pain. You will not rid of them with the occasional alcohol spray and you don't want them spreading. The Bayer product is a good one and will kill them. However, there are many below ground on the roots too. I have had good luck, after thoroughly spraying the leaves (get all crevices and leaf undersides), taking the remainder in the spray bottle and drenching the soil with it.....e.g. watering the Sans with the leftover (already diluted) spray material. It doesn't hurt the plant. Make sure you repeat spray in about 2-weeks. I don't like using the stronger chemicals unnecessarily but these guys mean war and you want to rid of them. Viorama I bet your ones in the garden are being kept under control by the natural predators that prey on the mealies, while the protected ones on the porch are free to multiply. However it is doubtful that even those ones in the garden are COMPLETELY free of all the mealies and they will probably come back when those plants are brought inside.

I'm not sure about that, Woodnative, because Bonide is a systemic so any remaining mealies are sucking poison directly from the plants. That's why I prefer a systemic to topical treatments.

Outside my plants get lots of ant action which also contributes to the spread of mealies. That's why I've treated them more than once. Now I'll treat them even more!

Vitorama, Bayer 3-in-1 is a systemic.

Yes it is a systemic which is needed. I wonder how easily it penetrates a plant with a tough outside like a Sans which is why I like to make sure that all the surfaces are covered too! I hate mealies!! Yuck!

Bonide Fruit Tree Spray Concentrate. A complete liquid fruit tree spray containing Captan 12%, Malathion 6%, Carbaryl .3% and a spreader sticker.

Captan is the name of a general use pesticide that belongs to the phthalimide class of fungicides.

Malathion Insect Spray Concentrate is the brand name of a liquid pesticide homeowners can use on flowering and fruiting plants

Carbaryl Insecticide is a suspension of microfine Sevin brand carbaryl insecticide in an aqueous medium.

Which part of Bonide is a systemic? I like what I read up on Bonide. What ever is safe to use on fruit trees is safe for around the house. I just purchased some Bonide on line with free shipping to my house. I am impressed with the reading. Sounds much safer than Bayer. Still with Bayer, I never have a bug problem again.

I don't know what part of this is systemic.

It was recommended to me a long time ago by one of my friends in the trade as a good systemic. I don't have to get involved with spraying or liquids. I sprinkle some power on the top of the soil and water it in. It works well for me. I'm sure the Bayer works as well.

Vitorama, I stand corrected again. The Bonide I saw was 'Bonide Fruit Tree Spray Concentrate'. Not the Bonide Houseplant Insect Control. Didn't know much about it. It is a systemic. But I love the Fruit spray better now because it is much safer to use. The Bonide Houseplant has the same stuff as Bayer does. Imidacloprid; a class of insecticides that share a common mode of action that affect the central nervous system of insects. I purchased a gallon of imidacloprid that will last me a life time. Just a small percentage is used in those products. I think the FDA is trying to ban it due to it's toxic effect on anything that ingest it. Can not use it on any Fruit or vegetables due to it's systemic effect. It kills bees and good insects that eat the affected ones. For my house plants it is fine but not for outside on flowers or even my roses.

I had read that about Bonide as well, in fact, it's very specific about not letting runoff get into waterways where there are fish. That's a bit scary. And if it affects the central nervous system of insects, is it any wonder bee populations are declining? Double scary.

As a side note, I was just looking at my dog's flee and tick prevention product, and there it was, Imidacloprid listed as one of the ingredients. It is also a Bayer product, Advantage II. You don't feed it to the dog, it is a drop that goes on the back or shoulders where they can't lick it off. I just thought it is a good thing that spraying it on our plants shouldn't be harmful to our pets. I don't know about cats or birds though.

I know that some dog pest prevention products are highly toxic to cats. Here in France every commercial for a flee prevention product used on dog is well advertised to not use it on cats.

I just looked here and it seems that permethrin is well tolerated by dogs and highly toxic to cats ! Imidacloprid seems to have a low toxicity though.

Katrina, how's the mealybug situation?

I haven't seen any in quite some time. I started by using listerine right away. Then I treated all my plants with the Bayer. I still haven't put those 2 plants back with my others though. Over abundance of caution.

Just fyi the seller suggested MERIT. I used Bayer too. No sign of them either.

Katrina, I thought Listerine was for treating the bad, oozy spots we've been getting on our sans. Bacterial infection or whatever is causing it. But it does make sense that the alcohol would kill mealies too, so it's multipurpose. The Bayer being a systemic, there's nowhere to hide from it.

I'm glad you found a good solution to the mealies, I hate to see them and I have some on a few of my aglaonemas right now.

Russ

Russ, I was willing to try anything being my first experience with them. I had the Listerine on hand so I used it at the suggestion of one of our friends here. I figured it couldn't hurt any worse than the mealies. Thanks for advising me to keep my silver blue. She's still hanging in there.

As I said, the alcohol in Listerine should do a good job of killing mealies that you can get to. The trick is to get those down in all the nooks and crannies of petioles, leaves etc.

I'm glad you kept your Silver Blue, it's too beautiful and rare to discard over a few creepie crawlies. I don't get excited over mealies any more, it's more of an inconvenience than anything else... getting the treatment materials, separating the plants, checking them later... it all takes time that I'd rather use repotting, grooming, propagating, etc.

Russ