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infestation

3 of my sundews have been infested with a bunch of little white things that look kinda like tiny grains of rice....one person said they were probably mealybugs........talk about a bummer!

So my question is how should I get rid of them???? It was suggested to me to try a product called Bayer advanced rose and flower spray but it is not sold in my area....I am going to do a websearch to see if I can get it online.

I also read to try getting them off with rubbing alcohol so I will give that a try tonight.....the same site said that you can submerge the plants in water for several days to get rid of them.....

Are the rest of my CPs at risk of becoming infested as well? My houseplants are also in the same room as the CPs and I dont really want them to get infested as well...

Thanks for any tips and suggestions!!
Victoria
 
EASY! Use ortho's Isotox. Any spray with a base of acetephate (sp) will kill aphids, thrips, scale, and whitefly. It is systemic, and will help protect the plants as well. I have used it for years, and won't stop now.
 
Thanks! Is it safe to use around pets? With 70+ parrots in our home we have to be very careful with what chemecals we use.
 
Since almost any pesticide and many household chemicals can quickly be fatal for most birds. I would get some q-tips and get busy rubbing them off by hand. Mealy bugs can hide underground feeding on the root systems, so a temporary submergence in pure water may also be helpful.
 
How long should I submerge them?
 
I haven't had to deal with mealy bugs.... yet.... but have dealt with aphids on a few occasions, all on sundews. Taking what Joseph said, I have submerged their pots for as little as 2 days and as much as a week. Seems the 2 days was sufficient to drown those critters. I would just get a glass or plastic container and place the infected pot in it, overfilling it with distilled water. And then wait a couple days. The plants will look like "drowned rats", but they recover. Haven't lost a plant from intentional drowning yet.
 
Ok, so I need to submerse the whole pot with soil, plant and all, instead of throwing all the soil away, submersing the bare root plant, then after a couple days of submersion repot them in new soil....

Thanks for all the help, I just want to make sure I do things right and dont kill my plants. Its comforting to know you have had success with this method!

Victoria
 
Victoria, Merit is safe for indoor use. It is the same stuff as frontline. So this is why I like using it. It is safe for indoor use. Now unless you know something different about it and the safeness of it with Birds then be vigilent with spot treatment. I tried the submerging the plants trick, but never had luck with it for me. Now maybe I did not leave them underwater ehough.

Again the stuff I recoment is Bayer Advance rose and flower spray. It is sold at lowes and walmart. It is also a systemic like bugs recommendation.
 
Hello Josh! I looked for the Bayer advanced rose and flower spray here in town and they dont sell it.....I am a couple hours away from a Walmart or Lowes and with feeding young babies it is impossible for me to get away for more than 1 hour at a time.....I also looked for it online but couldnt find it....so Im not sure I can get ahold of any for at least a month which means I need to do something now to get a handle on these little beasts.....so that is why I posted here to see if there are any alternate methods of controling them.

As far as the safeness of it I dont know I havent checked into it yet. But to tell you how sensitive parrots respratory system is here is a list of things I cant use:
Dishwasher soap
ANY spray cleaner
ANY airosaul (sp?) spray
candles
incense
air feshener
Tephlon pans

I could keep going but that will give you a good idea of how careful i have to be around them. We cant even have anyone come to the house and spray for bugs!! And the spray they use is deamed "house safe" and even "animal safe" but NOT Bird safe.

i will do some research about it because that would obviously be the easiest solution but I am willing to dunk them if I have to.
 
  • #10
You could dunk them or put them in a plastic bag with a fleacollar.

I like Schultz insecticide/miticide/fungicide.
 
  • #11
How long would they need to be in a plastic bag?
 
  • #12
Oh I dunno. It won't hurt them. 48 hours should do it.
 
  • #13
how long should I keep them in the plastic bag w/flea collar?
 
  • #14
I said 2 days should be good.
 
  • #15
48 to 72 hours. Mealy bugs can get into the roots and it will take longer for the imidocloprid (Merit, the active ingredient) vapors to diffuse into the potting medium.

Make sure the flea collars do not have deoderants added. And do not let the collar come in contact with the water saucers, planting medium or plants.
 
  • #16
Sorry about that justlikeapill....I didnt realize it posted the question already.

Thanks for the help everyone....I will try the flea collar first...
 
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