I noticed that two of my Avs have a white powder, just like crushed perlite in the middle of their crowns. They are wilting and some leaves are going mushy and brown. What is the problem with them? I am not overwatering them.
thank you
what is wrong with my AVs?
Without a photo....hard to tell. Might be foliar mealy bugs.
Check out this link and let us know.
http://www.optimara.com/doctoroptimara/diagnosis/leafmealybugs.html
thank you very much Snowrose. That is it! I don't know where they came from. i haven't had any new plants for months.
Those icky creatures could possibly have been transferred from outdoor plants or may have been there when purchased. Sounds like there are great numbers now and are taking their toll on your plant.
Personally, I would toss it rather than mess around with pesticides.
Stopped at a local nursery today and looked at their coleus....loaded with foliar mealies! I feel sorry for any unsuspecting buyer.
Sorry about your plant. My recommendation is to get yourself a new healthy beauty.
thank you Snowrose. i will do that.
I think nannanavaro had good luck isolating a couple of plants that got mealie bugs and treating them repeatedly by wiping them away with a q-tip saturated with rubbing alcohol. But if they're not irreplacable, it's probably easiest to toss them (garbage not compost heap) and start again. If there are some leaves that look unaffected, you might be able to treat the leaves with an insecticide before putting them down, but again you would need to isolate them, and it may not be worthwhile... leaves from a really stressed plant don't tend to do well for me.
Eunice Mealie bugs can hide in a healthy plant for even a year or longer.
I know you bought a lot of plants from Selective Gardner and I have heard from others plants came with mealie bugs and one person theirs had thrips. I only got Annabelle and was lucky.
Good luck getting rid of them.
OH and yes many outdoor and Nursery plants have them. You will have to spray in rounds three times every 7-10 days. Even if your working in the yard you can bring them in.