Well,I dodge the bullet on the mites but now I'm doing battle w/ soil mealies. I've sprayed and sprayed the plants and did soil drench w/ Safer Soap and Murphy's Oil Soap but the battle continues. Do I really need to un-pot all these plant wash off all the potting mix,re-spray and repot? Is there a product that safe to use inside around children and pets so I don't have to do this?
P
What fresh H...heck is this!
I have only encountered soil mealies once in my life and they were on a cactus I have.
I know absolutely NOTHING about soil mealies but this is what I did:
I took the plant out of it's pot, filled the sink with dishsoap and a DAB of bleach. Washed off all the soil and "swished" the roots around real good. I then rinsed the plant in nice warm water, took paper towels, gave the roots a little squeeze (very lightly), repotted in new soil and gave it a little drink of superthrive water.
I waited about a month and a half and unpotted the cactus to check on what was happening under the soil and low and behold, not one root mealie.
This morning I am sitting here typing this and admiring my little cactus (which I think is an optunia of some sort but has never been ID'd) and there is a new little "pad" coming off the top.
Again, this has been my only experience with the little buggers.
I have heard of putting plants in a rubbermaid container, wetting paper towels with RAID, putting the cover on the container and leaving the plants in the container for a day or two. If I remember right, this was to treat for mites and/or thrips though.
Sorry I couldn't be of more help :(
Kim
Mealy bugs in the soil are not a good thing..............You can order Marathon (no longer can order from Cedar Creek) or Admire Pro .............Admire Pro is a drench and Marathon are granules.
sorry about that...........big problem and not easy to treat..........to avoid mealy bugs on my streps, I just use a pinch of marathon when I pot them up. I don't seem to have a problem with african violets...............
I know there are some home remedies but I don't know what they are...........maybe Keyring or someone will come along that knows
Sorry it took so long to get back with ya'll. Been getting ready for garden swap party next Sat. and doing farmer's market.
Where can I order either of these products? I think I'll re-pot smaller plants w/ Kim's diluted bleach solution and a touch of safer's and tear down the bigger plants, clean up the usable leaves and strike them. Once I've located and order one of the above products,I'll start using them.
P