Thanks Rachel! I went ahead and threw the old potting soil away and put the pots in a soapy bleach water solution to clean them. I will let them soak and clean scrub them.

As for the plants, I cleaned them off as best I could and soaked them in a neem oil solution, and also washed them with soapy water. They are now drying out. There was some that are too far gone so I had to toss them.

I am wondering if this guy would be salvageable. It's soft but I wonder if it would just need some water to plump up?

thanks

Mark

Hey Mark, Not a fun thing to deal with, those Mealy bugs. Best to have thrown the soil away, hopefully in a garbage bag to be taken away. Sounds like what you have done to treat the plants will work.

The one you speak of being soft and pictured. There is nothing lost to try and bring it back. I had a few a few years ago that where so wrinkled and dehydrated, that with some careful watering and out of direct sunlight. Also a soak in Superthrive or other root stimulator will assist. They bounced back and became very plump.

Rick

Thanks Rick! I really hope it works and I don't lose anymore. Yea I made sure to separate the bad soil and get rid of it.

I'll try soaking the soft ones and hope they make it. In a way it's s good thing because the plants needed a repotting, but not under these circumstances.

Should I keep treating the plants just to be sure the pests are gone?

Mark

Hi Mark, As Rick said, it may be possible to save your soft plant, I would give it a go too. Good luck. Rachel :)

Mark, if you have them in New soil and sanitized pots. I would just isolate them away from other plants. For two reasons, one being that if still effected (which I doubt) they will not transfer to other plants and the reverse. Those other plants having been effected.

I would think watching for any signs on the stems, leaves and if signs, then treat.

When I potted the big plant that was dehrated. I planted it in a mix of Coconut husk chunks and perlite, just slightly moist until new roots where established.

A friend uses this method with any new bare root plants, then pots up into other soil.

Rick

Root mealies are not hard to get rid of if you are aggressive in your treatment. I depot and as mentioned, get rid of the old mix entirely. Wash the roots very thoroughly, then I soak the entire plant (roots and all) in a 10% bleach solution for 5 to 10 minutes. If you reuse pots, wash them with soap and water and then give them a bleach soak as well. Rinse your plant clean with plain water afterwards and allow to dry before repotting.

Others prefer to do a brief soak in malathion solution (very smelly stuff) so you have some options. I've used both with great success but simply treating existing plant and soil with malathion requires many treatments to be effective.

When you repot, add systematic granules to your mix. I use Hi-Yield's and you can order it through Walmart (if you are in the USA) for about $5 a lb. The granules are good for about 2 months. /Usually/ this works great and requires only a single treatment with the granules being insurance against any eggs that happen to survive in crannies to hatch out later.

How about just soaking your pots soil and all in imidicloprid for 10 mins.