Critter Help

[Corbin]

have a small collection of long tailed mealies, scale, and what I think are mites. The mite conclusion is based on the pitting on the underside of the leaves and comparisons to pictures in books. I also have some small orange/reddish brown little bugs that zip across the leaves and down into the media. They are too big I think to be mites as from what I have read you have to have a magnifying glass to see the mites.

I have been doing the alcohol and Q-tip thing but the infestations are getting out of control what with the introduction of the “mites” on a plant I recently acquired from what I thought was supposed to be a very reputable dealer.

Anyway I have been reading several threads on our forum and think, from what I have read and from one member I PM-ed, that a Bayer product with Imidacloprid will be safe enough to use on my apartment and being systemic, should enable me to get the infestations under control. BUT and this is really the main question, there were several remarks in the thread, from regular contributors, that indicated this product should not be used if you had mites. Here are some examples:

An example: “and definitely don’t use if there is any mite issue.”
“and yes, it did cause a mite explosion on my phals!”
“it is a combination of fertility drugs and Viagra for spider mites”

Is this really the case and if so what do I use when I have mites and other critters too?

 

[goldenrose]

Sorry, I have no idea what small orange/reddish brown little bugs that zip across the leaves and down into the media could be & I'm thankful I haven't experienced them. I don't have experience with the Bayer product, I've heard the results go both ways. One product may not get them all, just as one antibiotic doesn't get all the different bacterias. It's time to bring out the big guns. If you want to keep chasing, I'd try neem oil, that ought to smother them plus a few drops of dishwashing soap won't hurt either.

 

[Candace]

You would want to use a miticide. I've got Mavrik Aquaflow but have never used it since mites aren't a problem for me.

Personally, and I've said this before, I think the Bayer products aren't worth the packaging they're sent out in-but if you've read the other threads you know my opinion. If you're having a huge problem with critters don't you want stop it now?? Forget the Home Depot products that have less than 1% active ingredient,are mostly glycerine and water, and buy what kills them dead right away. Not 6 months from now.

I would move all your plants outside or into your garage and spray them. Then in 7-10 days depending on the directions of the product, move them back out and do again. Orthene WP is a systemic and works great, but stinks to high heaven. But, who cares if you do it outside. Merit75(Imidacloprid), a systemic used in conjunction with a miticide or Enstar(insect growth inhibitor) will do the trick effectively. And if effective is what you want then use the correct tool;>

Go to www.rosemania.com

 

[rdhed]

Ed...Are the mites possibly 'false mites'? Damage shows up as silvery pitting on the leaves. I had an outbreak a couple years ago and treated with a product called Triazicide and treated every 10-14 days for approx. 8 to 12 weeks. Also making sure my plants did not touch when placing them back in my grow area. Everything was taken to the bathroom and treated while wearing a mask with the window open and door closed before and after treating until air clears. I am now pest free. If I see anything I now hit the 'hot spot' with Murphy's Oil Soap/Alcohol/Water mixed in equal parts. Also, at the time they attacked my phals. and the population seemed to explode I unpotted them all and made a dip of Neem Oil w/dish detergent. After unpotting they got forcefully rinsed under the tap, dipped, and repotted. That is when I started treatment with the Triazicide on next watering. Seems like alot of work but I only lost one phal. Good luck...pests are a pain.

--Allen--

 

[NYEric]

Orthene WP, Triazicide, where's a city boy to get this stuff from???

 

[Heather]

Orthene WP, Triazicide, where's a city boy to get this stuff from???

Ever heard of something called the internet, Eric?

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

How many plants are we talking about here?

I've been through all the pesticides you can imagine with surprisingly poor results. I'd usually cycle through Malathion, Diazinon, and Chlordane and still have bugs. I've used alcohol and the Bayer...both worthless on my collection but apparently work for some.

My best so far and current treatment is to wash the plants with warm water as thoroughly as possible in the sink to remove all the bugs I can see, and then hose them down with Safer Insecticidal Soap. It doesn't eliminate them but keeps their population down much more than any other things I've done.

Ant killing syrups are also a must since those little %&^$!@ will be the scale and mealies personal chauffeur to new and unaffected plants.

 

[Candace]

Eric, I gave you a link. They carry the Merit65 and OrtheneWP. I don't know about the others.

 

[Leo Schordje]

I buy all my toxic chemicals from

http://www.hummert.com/catalog.asp?C=65&SC=1

My prefernce is for Mavrik & Enstar II cocktail. It is pricey, but it works, if you save 4 Paph seedlings @ $25 each you have the cost of the two pestacides combined. The Mavrik is relatively cheap, the Enstar is pricey but I feel it has really cut down on how often I have to spray. I'm down to two fall sprayings, 10 days apart. That's it, the rest of the year the collection stays clean. I put plants outside in summer, the fall spraying is to clean up as they come in.

Do not use Enstar II alone. It was designed to be part of a cocktail. You must use it as a Mixed spray with some other pesticide that does the quick kill. Enstar works well with most of the modern pesticides. Mavrik and Decathalon are the 2 that I use most often.

 

[PaphMadMan]

I've been through all the pesticides you can imagine with surprisingly poor results. I'd usually cycle through Malathion, Diazinon, and Chlordane and still have bugs. I've used alcohol and the Bayer...both worthless on my collection but apparently work for some.

Chlordane? Seriously? Not since 1988 I hope... :sob:

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

I don't mess around lol

 

[PaphMadMan]

I don't mess around lol

I suppose you can assert a right to use it in small quantity on your own property with due care, but I must remind everyone else that there is no legal use of Chlordane in the US, and no safe exposure level.

 

[Candace]

Jon, be sure not to confuse that with your moonshine jug.

 

[Heather]

:rollhappy:

 

[rdhed]

Funny Candace...I had the same thought as I started to scroll down and caught sight of the neck of that glass jug. :rollhappy::rollhappy::rollhappy:

--Allen--

 

[NYEric]

Love this forum!

 

[Candace]

Oh, and I forgot to say something about dipping plants. That's not a good idea. It spreads virus and other pathogens. Especially if you are dipping phals and cattleyas and most importantly if they are from Taiwan. Researchers trying to test for a new "Taiwan Virus" found 33% of the phal crop from Taiwan they tested were infected with either OSRV and/or CymMV present.

http://www.floracultureinternationa...n=com_content&task=view&id=436&Itemid=7&ed=40

 

[goldenrose]

YIKES! Remember this poor guy is in an apartment and we don't know how many plants he's dealing with! He's stuck between a rock & a hard place. The so called 'safer' products don't work as well but the 'big guns' that are recommended come with - wear protective clothing, eye protection, a respirator & don't re-enter for 12-24 hours! The best advice was to move them outside or do you have more than 1 bathroom? A bath tub or shower stall, depending on the numbers, might make it easier, as long as you have someplace to GO for the next 12-24 hrs.!

 

[cnycharles]

one point; if you have a chemical in your possession that you bought legally, you can have and use it forever as per the instructions on the last legal label. you can't sell it, and you would have a hard time properly disposing of it unless the local trash and other collection service had an amnesty collection of things not otherwise able to dispose of, as long as you could accurately label and identify what it was. means you can use ddt if *you* bought it when it was still legal.

enstar II is labeled for use in interiorscapes, hence an apartment is okay. the bayer rose and flower is also labeled for use indoors. neem oil also of course is allowable indoors. can mix enstar with just about anything; enstar itself is not toxic, insect pheremones and such. what is nasty is the petroleum carrier that makes the enstar mixable in water. there are also some bonide systemic houseplant insecticides that are labeled for in house use, but it is very strong and must use very carefully especially if animals or children could chew on plants or come in contact with spots or splashes from application.

i've been told that if you see something that is mite-like but is moving very quickly, that they are predatory mites. now I don't have enough experience or info about flat or false mites to know if they move quickly or not...

usually the best first thing to do before spraying plants, is to take them to your bathtub or shower and blast them as hard as you can with water, such that the plant can take without damage. that will get rid of as many bugs before you have to treat. maybe you do this a few times, then spray. you could put them in the tub, blast away for a while, then let them sit. the remaining ones will likely look for higher ground, then you can blast again. this works for mealybugs especially if you spray into the crevices where they hide; they will want to get some air and then you can get after them as well. safer's soaps are irritants, and often are used when fogging plants to get the bugs to move around so that they are more likely to come in contact with the chemicals to kill them

hope some of this helps

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

Forgot about the small fast movers. In my collection those are harmless Springtails.