Has anyone else noticed an increase in mealy bugs this summer? I have too many to just pick them off. Do ladybugs eat them? Is there any safe and easy way to get rid of them? I have a "pet" bumble bee that I don't want to harm. The bugs are not real choosy about what they eat, and they're spreading! I haven't found much information online. Makes me wonder if they're not as common as aphids, and such.
Mealy bugs due to heat?
What do they look like? Do you have a pic? I've heard the name, but have no idea what people are talking about when they are mentioned.
Are they on everything or just some things? I've noticed an increased presence of I think aphids (yellow--small--I guess they move too small for my eyes or bifocals!) on the butterfly weed; but few other insect problems. My porterweed doesn't seem to want to bloom...sorry off task here!
Debbie
The mealy bugs were the worst I have ever had this year. I have 2 sagos at the front porch entrance...one on each side of the walkway. 1 had maybe 20 or 30 bugs at the most but the other was covered. I try not to use chemicals so the first thing that I used was Murphys Oil Soap mixed with water and a Pump sprayer...It completely took care of the minor infestation on the 1st one and got rid of the black sooty mold that comes along with it. On the 2nd it helped a great deal, however I did have to follow up with an application of a chem. pest. spray a week later. However, I did see more that a 60% improvement just with the Oil Soap.
Oh, the mealy bugs look like little white cotton specks. As far as I know ladybugs do not eat mealy bugs. Now as for the aphids and butterfly weed, I make a point of planting the butterfly weed all around because I attracts the aphids, which keeps them off of everything else. I have even started planting the butterfly weed in with my veggie's.
txgrdngeek-- I'm glad it's not just me! I was beginning to feel like I had been sent a plague of mealy bugs! I found a spray at Lowes that has soap and sulfur in it. I sprayed a bit judiciously last night. We'll see if it helps. I already have murphy's oil soap. Wish I had known to just use that and save the money... next time!
I never thought to take a picture. They're just so gross, I almost hate to glorify them! I'll get a pic tonight when I get home from work. If you don't have them, be thankful. I have a hanging basket of "wish-bone flower", and half of it is turning brown. They're having quite the effect on that one, not to mention my hibiscus. I noticed another infested plant this morning, too... my Sonrise Lantana. EEEYYYEEWWWW! This is not one of those things that will "just go away."
Little white specks of cotton? Kind of like little pieces of moving fuzz? (And they hop sometimes?) If they are what I think they are, I don't have any now, but did in Spring. I always thought they were kind of neat looking, except I was certain they didn't mean any good to my plants!
That sounds like them....
Here's a photo of the mealy bugs...nasty devils. I had to throw away one hanging basket. The bugs were climbing up the hanger to the roof! I tried a high pressure spray this morning. They drop off quick enough, but I wonder where they'll go??? I garden in pots on a stone patio, so I tried to wash them down a drain... We'll see.
another pic...YUK!
You know, I always hear people say to just spray certain bugs off with water, but it seems to me I would almost obliterate the plant to be spraying it with enough pressure to do the job. Am I missing something? (I usually am, lol.)
Hi Maggie..... Well, it wasn't really a high pressure stream. Just a regular hose nozzel that made a pressure spray. It was high pressure for me, though, because I'm a gentle, sprinkle kind of gal! ha! The bugs just fell off, but then I thought...well, they'll just crawl back up. So, I tried to wash down the patio. I'll give it more effort tonight after the sun sets. I ran across a few pictures of my patio in early May. Things were so pretty then when we were having all the mild weather. It's awful what some bugs and a couple of months of 95+ weather will do to your plants. Everything's bigger, but not necessarily better. I'm dreaming of some 50 degree, blue-sky, late October days. Ahhhh....
I'm trying to keep in mind that we really have three growing seasons - before the heat, after the heat, and the winter. Summer is just a survival time. I was looking at some pictures from earlier in the year too, it was good to be reminded that I once did have a garden. :-)
You might try garlic or pepper spray for those bugs. You can find organic gardening solutions in so many places these days. But be careful with it. When it's full strength it's really potent. And don't spray when it's hot. Spray early in the morning or late in the day when it's cooled off. I think you can also mix it with liquid seaweed or fish emulsion for fertilizer. Or the fish emulsion might be enough by itself to keep the bugs off.
TXgardengeek, you don't have mealy bugs on your sago, you have cycad scale. It will kill your plant if you don't get it under control. Here's what to do:
Cut off and bag(don't burn or compost)the fronds, except for the very newest ones in the top. Spray the remaining fronds, trunk and the ground around the plant with Organicide if you are into organic/environmentally friendly gardening, or Orthene if you are not. You will have to spray once a month for several months even if you don't see more scale.
The Organicide smells like fish oil, works on mealies and does burn leaves on tender stuff, especially if it's over 80 degrees outside.
There is also an organic plant wash, some new kind of organic soap, that works, but I can't remember the name of it. My friend is also experimenting with orange oil and is having some success.
No, It was Mealy Bugs...but they are gone now. I have been checking every 3 or 4 days and the sagos look great. I have deal with scale before though, last year on my hollys and did have to use Orthene to get rid of them. (lost 2 of them in the process)...
I would much rather deal with the mealy bugs. They are much easier to get rid of.
Whew, glad they were only mealies(never thought I'd say that, lol). I agree, I'll take mealies over scale any day.
Tell me, those things are evil...
The good news in that I learned that the Murphys oil soap will handle a small outbreak of mealies. I didnt have anything else except the "strong' stuff around and I really did not want to use it (last resort..ya know) We have hard wood floors through out the house so Murphys is something that I always have around. Now that I know its good for more than just the floors, I have one less product to buy.
What exactly is scale anyway? I know its an insect, but I have never seen them move so how is it transmitted?
When they first hatch, they can crawl. Ants also move them around, sort of "herding" them to get the honeydew they produce. Wind blows them around too.
won't insecticidal soap work on mealybugs?
Hi everyone, I am new to DG but I had a bad time this summer with mealy bugs and I used Dawn dish detergent mixed one tsp to one cup and sprayed the entire plant with it and washed with hands, then I washed them off with plain water, then I sprayed the entire plant with 1/2 strength plain old rubbing alcohol, rinsed it off and It worked for me, saved my plants.
Hey there! About your mealy bug infestation....I have gardened in the same spot for 15 years here in Houston. I have *never* seen so many mealy bugs in all my life. In past years I might see one here or there and in fact usually never see them. This year, however, is insane. I don't know what to chalk it up to. It sure is aggravating!
Hi all. So, I'm not crazy...it IS a bad year for mealy bugs! I seem to have them under control, now. I did it with a commercial sulfur/soap spray (wouldn't recommend it, though...I had a lot of yellowing leaves afterward), and pruning back the branches that were covered the worst. I felt so helpless before I got them undercontrol...like it was warfare! I'll keep in mind the homemade mixes with soap for next time. Although, I hope and pray I never see another infestation like that one!
Wow, I've had the same problem I have been at total combat for the past month and a half! that was interesting about the murphys oil soap. Is it the same murphys I use to clean with? I alway have that around.
I did buy a special wand that attaches to the hose from gardeners supply that allows you to get up there in the high leaves with enough pressure to get the buggers at the same time not blowing the leaves away. It was a very wet ordeal though and the bugs come back at a quick pace but it did work. I have been out with my rubbing alcohol and cotton balls on some of the more heavily infested plant. I especially swab the stems which seems to help. brugs, daturas were my main problems
Found some helpful and interesting recipes for scales on the datura thread. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/423312/
.
Rj
This message was edited Aug 31, 2005 7:48 PM
I was blissfully ignorant of them until this year. Head the name but totally clueless. I first noticed some specks on a large pot of impatiens. Didn't think much of it, assumed it was sawdust that fell of the pieces of an arbor DH built us. Then I thought it was bird do. Then I realized the stems on all the plants had white globs. I ended up tossing all of that pot into the trash. I was able to pinch down the other pot and some in a bed.
I then sprayed with insecticidal soap that I added orange oil to. Don't ask me why the latter, I just followed instructions and they are blooming now, just smaller than they should have been.
Just last week I noticed something with a pot of New
Guinea Imps. At first I foolishly thought they had just gotten too much sun. Wrong again. They only hit the imps. Maybe I'm still being foolish
Zone 8b, Southeast, TX near Nacogdoches, TX
AwShucks, I like your "handle".
You may have heard of Wolf Nursery in Dallas, TX. One of their experts gave me great advice on ridding my potted plants of unwanted critters after spending summer outside:
In a large container, make a mixture of Diaznon/or similiar bug killer. Sit your potted plant down into this mixture and thoroughly drench your plant. Let potted plant sit in solution for about `15 minutes.
Each fall before I move potted plants into greenhouse, I go through this process to kill: eggs in soil, snails, mealy bugs, and any pathogens in soil that cause bacteria or virus.
If your plants are in ground. You could saturate your soil with a mealy bug preventive. Good luck.
Heaven is where there are not bugs. The only GOOD bug is a dead bug!
I feel the same way about SNAKES. TO EACH, HIS OWN. LOL
So...I could use this diaznon with plants that are in the ground- If not what is the mealy bug preventive?
Might not make a difference if that hurricane Rita hits here..it'll blow em off along with the leaves!
Rj