Last season of hot and dry gave those bugs the foothold on nearly every CP group I have at my balcony.
Two weeks ago, I found out that nearly all my Cephs have got root mealies. From then onwards, I found that my Sundews had them, my Neps had them and the Sarracenia had them. Today, my latest discovery is the D. hamiltonii. The plants looked dormant. Dewless, stopped all growth but not dead. I thought "what the heck" and pushed aside some media. True enough, another infection!
I have not used insecticide to such a large extent before ever since I moved to my new place. And I thought "sheesh", my place is now infested with mealybugs and I don't see them because they are in the roots. Then I found out that a fellow grower here too have root mealies in all his petiolaris-complex pots! And he kept thinking that his plants were dormant from the heat. Another grower in Indonesia has got mealy bugs on all his Sundews and even on Byblis liniflora too!
Out of desperation, I used Provado Ultimate Bug Killer which proved to be an excellent insecticide for CPs. It is systemic and doesn't hurt the Sundews. The Cephs are recovering and coming back, producing larger pitchers and more side shoots. Some sundews like D. kenneallyii came back a week after the application.
Signs to check for root mealies.
1. Cephs start turning yellow and new leaves and pitchers go limp overnight.
2. Sundews, particularly the petiolaris-complex, look like they are dormant.
3. Neps are least affected but generally, the newest leaf is not as healthy as before and looks crappy. There may be mealies found on the leaves as well.
Thanks for reading and I feel a whole lot better now.
Two weeks ago, I found out that nearly all my Cephs have got root mealies. From then onwards, I found that my Sundews had them, my Neps had them and the Sarracenia had them. Today, my latest discovery is the D. hamiltonii. The plants looked dormant. Dewless, stopped all growth but not dead. I thought "what the heck" and pushed aside some media. True enough, another infection!
I have not used insecticide to such a large extent before ever since I moved to my new place. And I thought "sheesh", my place is now infested with mealybugs and I don't see them because they are in the roots. Then I found out that a fellow grower here too have root mealies in all his petiolaris-complex pots! And he kept thinking that his plants were dormant from the heat. Another grower in Indonesia has got mealy bugs on all his Sundews and even on Byblis liniflora too!
Out of desperation, I used Provado Ultimate Bug Killer which proved to be an excellent insecticide for CPs. It is systemic and doesn't hurt the Sundews. The Cephs are recovering and coming back, producing larger pitchers and more side shoots. Some sundews like D. kenneallyii came back a week after the application.
Signs to check for root mealies.
1. Cephs start turning yellow and new leaves and pitchers go limp overnight.
2. Sundews, particularly the petiolaris-complex, look like they are dormant.
3. Neps are least affected but generally, the newest leaf is not as healthy as before and looks crappy. There may be mealies found on the leaves as well.
Thanks for reading and I feel a whole lot better now.
