What is this?

I bought this Optimara variegated AV in May. I guess it had thrips. I thought I looked at it well in the store, but maybe I didn't. Anyway, when we got back to the condo, there was spilled pollen on one of the blooms. It could have been thrips, it could have been from being jostled on the ride back. Either way, into a ziplock bag she went. When we got home, I repotted it and right back into a ziplock bag and into my isolation area it went.
One leaf has a whitish powdery substance on it. None of the other leaves have it (any other white spots you see on leaves is a speck of perlite - I checked closely). Do any of you have any idea what this could be?
Here's a picture progression of this plant so you can see how it's growing. Maybe these will help determine what that is, and if it's anything I need to worry about.
This picture was taken May 30th.

This message was edited Jul 7, 2006 10:07 AM

This picture was taken July 5th. I have not moved the plant tag, and the orientation of the plant seems to be just about the same in both pictures, so you can compare individual leaf growth. In this picture, the white substance is on the leaf pointing to about 4 o'clock or Southeast, whichever you prefer. ;o)

Forgot the picture...

Here's a closeup of that particular leaf.

This is as close as I can get to the white substance. Any ideas at all of what this could be?

Does it wash, rub, flick off?

All of the above. I blew on it and some blew away, flicking it with my nail moved some of it, and the rest washed right off. It actually looked like I had put just a few cigarette ashes on the leaf. That's the best way I can think of to describe it.

I hate to nag, but does anyone have any ideas for me? If it's something bad, don't worry if I have or will be sending you plants. This is far away from my healthy plants and I rarely touch it, but if I do, it's the very last plant I do anything with that day. I just really want to know if it's something I need to be worried about, or if I can relax a little about it. I'm still going to keep it in isolation for quite a while longer, but I don't do well with suspense and mystery. :o)

Is it powdery mildew ? Is any of it sticky, in crowns, axels ? Anything move could be foliage mealies, Have you check plant out of pot ?

I guess it could be powdery mildew, but I don't think so. Not in just a few spots on one leaf. I've had powdery mildew on a couple leaves I put down, and this doesn't look like that.
None of the plant is sticky, and the "ashes" don't move on their own, just when I blew on them, or pushed them with my fingernail. I've had mealy bugs on a hoya and a pothos, so I know exactly what they look like and this is not them, nor does it resemble anything that went along with them on aforementioned plants. I don't see any pests, or evidence of them. I've looked at it with a regular handheld magnifying glass, but I don't have a loupe. 30x is what is recommended for looking for pests, right?
I checked the roots of the plant when I repotted it on 5-27, and everything looked fine, but I haven't taken it out of the pot since then.
I just can't figure this out, especially since it's been in a ziploc bag the whole time.

I'm with Allison,but it's really hard to tell.
Looks closest to foliar mealies???
Dump the rootball & check it too. I'd repot it & keep it bagged just for good measure.

MsC

Not to go against you, but I feel certain it's not mealies. I won't completely dismiss the idea, but I've seen too many of those, and these just aren't the same. It looks like ashes or Splenda, the non-sugar sweetner. Sorty of powdery or grainy, but not perfectly square like grains of salt. I'm trying to come up with something else to compare it to, but those are the closest things I can think of. It's much smaller than mealies, too. And the look just isn't right for it to be mealies and this stuff doesn't move. I'll repot it tomorrow night and see what I find in the rootball.
Thank you all for helping me. I was so tickled to find this variegated Optimara, and so crushed to find this on it. :o(

I was looking at the picture of this plant again and thought I should include that the outer leaves are wilted because they've been touching the sides of the plastic bag.
Could I take a leaf from this plant, swish it in a 10:1 water:bleach solution to kill anything that might be on it, rinse it well, and put it down to grow babies from? Would the bleach kill anything that might be on it, be it pests, mildew, or anything else? I guess the bleach solution might kill the leaf, but it might be worth a try...

I've had that before and I remember puzzling over it. I think I ended up deciding that they were, indeed, mealy bugs even though I was sure they weren't (and believe you me, I'd had plenty of experience with MBs - up close and personal). But of course, I'm not 100% sure that I'm remembering all this right.

I believe I ended up unpotting the plant and checking for root mealies, and then washing the foliage by dunking the everything but the rootball in a bowl of warm insecticide solution. (Turn it upside down and dunk) I figured if it was going to die from me doing nothing, I might as well......

I actually gently rubbed all the leaves so that the fuzz didn't protect any pests from the solution. Then I used a bit of kitchen paper to soak up the water out of the crown and placed it in a warm spot to dry.

I don't recall if I added some fungicide for good measure, but I could have sprayed with a mixture of neem oil and CocoWet after it was dry.

Do you visit your plant at the same time of day every day? Mealies are more active at certain hours than others.....

bleach should take care of most things, and it shouldn't kill the leaf - but don't leave it in there too long. I would even rinse the leaf after and then let it dry out a bit before planting.

What type of insecticide did you use, Key? I don't think I've got anything left except for Neem Oil. I used what I had on some of my outside plants. I've got Bayer Tree and Shrub drench, but I'm not sure if I could dunk an AV in that, and it's not made for foliage dunks anyway, I don't think. Is it?

The part of me that loves to do experments wonders if dunking the whole plant, rootball and all, in a mild bleach solution (and a good rinse, towel-wicking the water out of the crown, and drying upside down) might solve the problem. I wish this was just one of my NOIDs that I wasn't worried so much about losing.

I'll do a search for mealy bug pictures and see what I find. It still doesn't fit for me, but all of you have a lot more experience than I do. I do think it must be some type of pest, because it was sealed in the plastic bag, so the white stuff had to come from something sealed inside the bag as well.

I check on it at different times of day. Those specks have been there for several days, in the same place on that one leaf. I just haven't had time to deal with it til today. I rinsed them off, so I'll be interested to see if they come back by tomorrow.

http://www.plantsonpurpose.com/mealy%20bugs.htm

I'm not ruling out PM because the humid stagnant air would make that worse too. I think a warm shower/bath and a neem spray might be good. I'd give it some treatment and keep isolated, and then see if it gets any better.

Bayer Tree and Shrub... well, I've used it as a spray (weaker solution - but don't ask how much - I dunno) as well as a drench, so I'd think you could dunk.....

My motto is, when in doubt, (1) water the plant first (and sometimes even mist) so that it's absorbed water already (2) treat and (3) rinse off the chemical. Of course, this defeats the purpose when using a systemic chemical like BT&S.....

It's totally your call.

If it were me, I'd probably go with the warm wash, root inspection, and regular neem spray using a good wetter/spreader for maximum effectiveness.

The name "Leaf Mealy Bug" is given to a category of several species. Some of the more common ones which might threaten African Violets are Citrus Mealy Bugs (Planococcus citri), Citrophilus Mealy Bugs (Pseudococcus calceolariae), Long-Tailed Mealy Bugs (Pseudococcus longispinus), Bakers or Grape Mealy Bugs (Pseudococcus maritimus) and Pseudococcus viburni (no common name).

http://www.optimara.com/doctoroptimara/diagnosis/leafmealybugs.html

a bit of a revision. I would probably:

put down a leaf before anything.

then
1. water it
2. inspect the roots for mealies - if no root mealies
3. dunk the foliage in a very mild warm bleach solution
4. neem spray with the good wetter/spreader every 7-10 days.

Powdery Mildew

Description
http://www.optimara.com/doctoroptimara/diagnosis/powderymildew.html

Hey,no problem, as far as disagreeing with us.
You have the plant and we can only see the pic so it's just our best guess to try to help.

It kinda reminds me of the soft cottony stuff they put around some AV's when they get shipped.

If nothing esles just wipe it off & see if it returns.It's possible it's just "stuff" from hangin out in the garden center.???
It will be interesting to find out just what it is.



Keep us posted.

MsC

Allison I am so lazy that I am always grateful for the links you provide. Thank you.

I don't like insecticides. If it is mealy bugs, a Qtip dipped in rubbing alchol and gently wiping all the little white things away. Repeat daily until no more appear.

That's how I got rid of mealy bugs. You need to be diligent and look every day.

Seperate the plant.

Hope everyone's suggestions help.

I washed it off that day and didn't see anymore on it yesterday. I haven't had time to repot it and haven't looked at it this morning. I'm going to leave it as is til I have time to repot it. Then I may do some type of treatment going with the idea that it is either mealy bugs or powdery mildew. I have looked at all the pictures I can find of powdery mildew and mealy bugs and it doesn't look like any of them. Truly, I don't know what it is and guess it could be anything.
I don't like insecticides either, nanna. I'm not totally against Neem Oil, but I don't really like using any of them on my house plants. My dogs and kids don't bother my plants, but I worry that if there's a different smell to them, one of the dogs might be enticed to nibble and I'm afraid it would cause them harm. That's why I said above I wondered if a dunk in a mild bleach solution for the whole plant and rootball might do some good. More than anything, I think I'll take a wait and see approach and treat accordingly if I see anything else. I'll still check for root mealies whenever I get the time to repot it.
Thank you all for your help. Again, I was not dismissing any ideas, and I know that pictures don't always accurately represent the object in question. I just can't find any information that makes me say, "Yep, that's exactly what is on this plant." I'll keep you all updated with any changes, and hopefully we'll come to some type of conclusion eventually so we can help anyone who might have this happen in the future.