edthegreen wrote:Vine weevils are my most hated pests with Sempervivums. I'm surprised they are not on the list. So far they don't seem attracted to Lithops. Drenching with Provado seems effective on most plants...and vine weevils do have wide-ranging tastes. The problem with succulents in winter is one doesn't want to be drenching pots. Those sneaky little grubs go about their evil destruction of root systems most earnestly at that time
gah! last autumn was the first time I'd ever seen these nasties and duely applied the correct nematode EVERYWHERE
so far no plants have keeled over and have overwintered fine
they should definitely be on the list in my mind after reading about what they can do
Interesting... must be the country, or the type of collection... none of my four worst pests here in southern California are on your list:
1- rabbits
2- gophers
3- aloe mite
4- agave mite... then comes easy to kill/control stuff like mealy bugs, aphids etc. But these four pests have destroyed or damaged hundreds of my plants and they are near impossible to control or thwart. But I try for some stupid reason. I have hardly ever had a root mealy problem, but then 99% of my stuff is outdoors in the ground. Fungus is only a problem for growing things from seed which I hardly ever do. Rare anything gets fungus in my climate (about 2% relative humidity). You simply cannot overwater a plant here... underwatering is a cinch and an unfortunate daily battle... even the cacti get sunken and sad if not watered weekly. Another day of 100F and another day of winds over 40mph. Another day of seeing what the rabbits have eaten -here, rabbits are desperate creatures and have destroyed a number of cacti, dasylirion (Dasylirion wheeleri is particular favorite of theirs), Dyckias (another favorite), Agaves, Aloes, Deuterocohnias, Echeveria, cycads and other things I would think they would normally not want to eat. Interestingly they leave succulent 'tasty looking' things like Dudleya brittonii completely alone. And they do not do much damage to my Euphorbias (a nibble here and there). Something eats yucca leaves, too, but it's taller (at least 3' tall)... we have no deer here in the middle of the Antelope Valley, and no one has seen an antelope in decades... Jack Rabbits? Someone's wandering horse? I don't know yet.
N.D. wrote:I noticed 0.5mm black spiders running over my mesembs. They seem harmless, but ... any knows what they eat on plants and dry soil?
It's a mite. Not sure which one, but if it moves fairly quickly then it probably isn't eating your plant, just looking for some other nibble, perhaps even a pest or its eggs. Pest mites sit there much of the time sucking on the plant, then ambling off to find another good spot.
iann wrote:It's a mite. Not sure which one, but if it moves fairly quickly then it probably isn't eating your plant, just looking for some other nibble, perhaps even a pest or its eggs. Pest mites sit there much of the time sucking on the plant, then ambling off to find another good spot.
Thank you Ian for reassurance. I suspected it was a carnivorous mite, but wasn't sure, because it runs VERY quickly for its size (about 5mm per second). I have another type of mite, also dark, also moving around very actively, especially after watering, but not as quickly as this one. I just could not figure out what they could be eating there, as it is very dry, there is no mold, and no decaying matter.