No wonder my H. minor was stalled

[vraev]

Hey guys,

I noticed that my H. minor hasn't grown since january. I thought the best thing is to leave it alone and see if it comes back. Today... I noticed something crawling on the pitcher spoons. A closer look revealed something like this.

excuse the big pics and crappy quality. The iphone is useless in this dept.

is this the soft brown scale? is multiple treatments with orthenex ok?

thanks,

V

 

[Capensis]

They look like mealy bugs to me, but I'm probably wrong.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Soft brown scale yes

Orthenex on Heliamphora probably ok but I haven't used it personally. I would be careful not to fill the pitchers up with the stuff though.

 

[Capensis]

Exactly, I was wrong. :x No experience in pests.

 

[BigBella]

Whoah, I agree with Tony in going the Orthenex route (I've used it myself); a more minor infestation may be corrected with a neem oil solution, but you have to go the big guns here. Heliamphora are tougher than they look . . .

 

[vraev]

guys! I just tried this:

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/Dual-Action-Rose-Flower-Insect-Killer/rtu.html

It has the same active ingredient as Merit. Do u think I should first remove all that scale females and then keep treating with the insecticide? All insecticides only effect crawler stages. This one is systemic though. I am trying to get orthenex spray as we speak.

Is it normal that same species of scale can have different appearance on different plants? The reason I ask is...this was the only scale that I actually got:

this was the plant which started it all. I threw it away....but it has passed to my other neps. I thought the neps were the only contained plants that had the pests...but now I notice for the first time...these things on my heli.

Are these both the same? That would just make matters atleast easier to treat. can scale change apperance on the plant that it feeds on? I am sure that is not whitefly. Whitefly moves when touched...its adults are easily seen when the plant is disturbed. These are non-moving static bugs.

thanks for the help guys.

 

[BigBella]

I would first remove all that is feasible before going the nuclear route, making sure that the compost is also treated . . .

"The missiles are flying, hallelujah, hallelujah . . ."

 

[Tony Paroubek]

The soft brown scale on your Heliamphora is not the same thing that was on the Nepenthes.

I would agree that you should wipe off as much of the pest as possible. The soft brown scale wipe off fairly easily and the more you wipe off the less you will have to kill off. It will also be easier to see if the buggers are still active and return.

 

[MrFlyTrap2]

Not to be overly critical, just my own advice. If you plan on growing CP's for quite some time, which it appears you do... culling a plant over a pest should really be your last option. Mites, scale, aphids, etc are all natural, are everywhere and can happen really at any moment. As a grower, it's just a stage of learning on how to combat the problem.

I had the white ones just like you, and orthenex took care of the issue.

-Nathan

 

[vraev]

Darn it!!! I don't know where i am getting all these pests from. Ok! I will wipe the plant off after dinner and then get back to you guys. Would u guys say cedar is a good pest repellent? I am considering using some mulch to line up as a layer under neath the pots and between pots.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

9 times out of 10 when a new pest problem pops up they arrived as hitchhikers with a recent addition.

 

[Clue]

Whoa! That's a LOT of mealybug (white) and scale. You know, they're cousins.

-Clue

 

[bucky78]

Correct me if I am wrong but I think that it is best to treat the infected plants every 5-7 days to ensure that you got all of them including the eggs that may have hatched, of course you can quit after 14-21 days if you don't see anymore!

 

[vraev]

Is it possible that the carpet in a house can hold scale eggs? Seriously.... since october....pests have been popping up everywhere on all my plants.

Anyways.... heck...my cephs are also showing a wierd leaf necrosis. THere is nothing under the leaf. It looks like in the upper tissue of the leaf. It certainly is a disease as it has spread to another ceph's pitcher that is directionally closer to the plant in question.

On topic wiht the heli again...I jsut used a Q-tip to remove the scale. YUCK!!! disgusting critters. There are soooooo many. Sheesh!! I tried wiping as many pitchers as i can. I tried using alcohol to wipe...but the pitchers got leaf burn on contact.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Can you get a closeup shot of the center of the Ceph? I would like to see those light greenish specks at the base of the leaf that is pointing to the right. As for the brown.. perhaps the leaves were too wet? Cephs are notorious for fungal problems.

It isn't necessary to use chemicals when wiping the scale off. Simply removing them will kill them.

 

[vraev]

Here are new ceph pics tony. This is the best I can do with the iphone and a magnifying glass. thanks very much for patiently trying to help me out everyone.

here is the high res pic of the closeup you wanted: <just click="" on="" the="" image="">{ CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW HIGH RES }


Here is my main ceph and the one I am showing above and the little ceph above the huuuge ceph are both repotted cephs from a couple of months ago. They are still in adjustment phase and healthy but not yet growing. I am not worried as I know they will perk back. My concern is the little LEAF necrosis pattern I am seeing.

it looks like some sort of pest damage. LOL! what else do I have? whitefly, scale, mites, aphids, thrips.... lol! throw em all in. LOL!

thanks,

V</just>

 

[Halt]

i feel really sorry for you ... :[ hope everything turns out okay.;]

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Leaf miner!! hah I am kidding.. The blurry specks in the first picture look like nothing more than specks of dirt in the high res. shot. Nice work with the Iphone and magnifying glass hehe.

I would just keep an eye on the trouble leaves and see that it doesn't spread anymore. They look quite healthy aside from that. Try not to get the leaves wet or splash water on them. If it is fungal that could spread it. If worse comes to worse you could clip the questionable parts off.

 

[vraev]

here is something interesting I got:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3q2PEB9MAI

This will prove that the nep pest isn't whitefly but something else and my bet is on scale.

LOL! yeah! iphone is basically a jack of all trades but master of none. thanks. lol!

yeah! The thing is I have never seen that leaf necrosis on my cephs before this whole repotting and pest problem. My concern is if the scale has actually spread to it. As of now I don't see any signs and cephs are insanely slow growers so its hard to know if they are infected.

Good news is that the bayer insecticide didn't harm the heli. It was disgusting to pick the scale off it. YUCK!!! but I will keep up with the treatments.... a treatment every 2 weeks as you suggested. Lets see if the plant recovers. If not...too bad. I rather concentrate on my neps. they are my life.

 

[CPlantaholic]

geez, that's a nightmare, man. On the bright side, your big ceph looks awesome.
From the pics, the soil moisture looks okay, but I know that when my plants are too waterlogged, pests develop. I actually stopped using perlite, since it really seems to increase algae/ fungus and bugs.

That whitefly video was actually pretty awesome, lol. However, I still don't think I'd want those infesting my plants.

WildBill uses neem oil on all his CPs- especially cephs. He said that he gives his plants a dose of it once a week to avoid any problems. It is pretty much your all-purpose insecticide, fungicide, miticide. From the insane amount of problems you're getting right now, I think you might want to get into a routine lack that.