Hello everyone,
Today I was at our local greenhouse/nursery. I am there all the time so I can't believe I missed them. There were 2 pretty full hanging baskets I found and both of them had mealies, needless to say I took home the one with the least buggies. They charged me $5.00 for a 6" pot, I thought that was pretty good. Aside from the mealies it is in very good shape and loaded with buds and a couple flowers.
I sat there tonight with Qtips and alcohol and I got as many as I could find. I know there were more I didn't see so I took the whole thing out of the pot and took off a whole bunch of old dirt and put it in another pot with fresh dirt under and around the sides of the old dirt ( I didn't want to disturb the roots too much). I then took a spray bottle of alcohol and sprayed the whole plant, under the leaves and I tried to get it in the buds to kill any that may be hiding in them.
Should I run water through the pot, without rinsing off the actual plant to get the alcohol off the dirt or should it be ok?
I also plan to use Bayer Advanced Garden- Rose and flower as a systemic. I have a gallon of fertilizer water with an ounce of Bayer in it. Will that work to keep them away in the future?
I will keep the plant in my Son's room in a South window where there are no other plants and keep a good eye on it, when I'm sure it is clean I will move it in with the other plant community.
Does this sound like I did the right thing so far?
Sorry it was so long, I just wanted to explain everything I did.
Thank you soooo much,
Sandi
Alcohol for Mealy bugs on a Nematanthus(goldfish plant)
I have used the alcohol on my goldfish with great success. I worry about them also. Since the alcohol kills the mealies as soon as they are touched...they just melt..lol...I take the plant and rinse it in the shower quick.
Hi Sandi, nice find! And kudos for not letting the mealies stop you.
Sounds like you are taking good care of it. The alcohol spray would have evaporated off the leaves by now, so no need to even think about it. Alcohol is an immediate contact killer for mealies and has no residual effect.
I am not sure about the Bayer concentration. Isn't that the amount they are using in the hoya forum? I believe they use Tree and Shrub over there, which is more concentrated than the flower one..... but you might want to look into it.
As an aside, and maybe a suggestion for when you run out of the Bayer, another option I recently saw is the granular form of Tree and Shrub. I think it would work well mixed into the potting mix and would generally be easier to use than the liquid form.
As alcohol dries out the plant, consider misting your plant down. If you happen to have seaweed or fish fertilizer, I would use it. Otherwise, just a water spray.
This message was edited Jun 8, 2007 11:18 PM
I guess I did the right thing, but what about the dirt? The top layer may have some alcohol, will it hurt anything?
Thanks,
Sandi
it's probably evaporated by now, so don't worry about it.
Thank you, Thank you,
Sandi
Sandi,
I did the same thing with a Fuchia I bought & I used the granules Bayer Advanced Garden- Rose and flower on it after I did the Qtip thing.
That was about 1 week ago and the mealies I see on it now are brown & dead in their tracks... I also treated everything else in the yard with it ,too.
I also have used it on the indoor Av's as a prebventative.I just sprinkle it on the soil around the plant...maybe a total of an 1/8 of tsp and water it in...So far in 2 years I haven't seen any ill effects on anything.
MsC
My Mom is having trouble with mealies on her AV's, I will have to tell her to do that.
Sandi
Great find Sandi. I was wondering the same thing when it come to Gesneriads and mealies bugs. Thanks for asking the question Sandi , and to everyone who helped answer her question. Thanks,
Patti
MrsC
If we have only the rose liquid, how much should she be using per gallon of water and how often should she do it.
She is sick of dealing with them.
I found more on my nematanthus, guess I will either spray with alcohol or maybe try Safer soap. My philo brasil had them and I used that and they seem to be gone.
Darn little buggers!!
Sandi
Sandi,
I believe the hoya folks are using the liquid at 1 tsp to a gallon...that's the rate I've been using it for the AV's & house plants too...so far I've not had any problems with it with one exception...I used to strong a fertilizer solution on one plant shortly after I had dosed it & it scorched it pretty good..so I'd wait to fertilize a week or so...the rose kind has fertilizer in it but I don't have my package hand to tell you what it 's components are...just an FYI..
MsC
Ok Am I understanding this You can spray Alcohol on the AV the leaves or is it the dirt? I don't know if I have Mealy bugs but I do have some that fly tiny like Nates will the Alcohol also kill them?and can you use the alcohol on all the plants? after you spray should you then Mist so the leaves are not dryed out? What to do what to do I just don't Know (LOL...)
Kim
Kim,
I wouldn't spray the alcohol on the Av's. I will burn the leaves. I put it on a nematanthus(goldfish plant). What Mrs C is talking about is putting it in the water or on the dirt so it goes in when you water. I wick everything so I put it in the water.
I still wonder if it needs to be done every time you water or once every six months like they do in the hoya forum?
The flying gnats are harmless just annoying. I have read in another forum you can use fly tape because they are attracted to yellow.
Sandi
Ok, sorry to beat this with a stick, but I think I have taken care of the mealies, now some of the top inch or so of some of the branches are getting brown and mushy and the leaves are dropping.
Any ideas?
Sandi