In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulents?

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In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulents?

Aphids
16
2%
Fungus/Rot/Damping off
136
14%
Mealy bugs
241
26%
Mice
13
1%
Red spider mite
187
20%
Root mealy bugs
171
18%
Scale insects
41
4%
Sciarid fly
52
6%
Snails
50
5%
Western flower thrip
35
4%
 
Total votes: 942
Mawa
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Bayer 3-in-1 insecticide: how often to treat scale?

Post by Mawa »

I have noticed that one of the plants in my apartment (not my plant) is covered with scale and mites. I am really worried they might spread to my mesembs. We have treated it with Bayer 3-in-1 insecticide (Imidacloprid 0.012%, Tau-Fluvalinate 0.014%, Tebuconzaloe 0.015%). Does anyone have an idea on:

1.How many times to treat? Is one treatment enough or do I need to repeat it in 2-4 weeks?
2.How much to dilute this stuff? Mine comes in a bottle that's supposed to be connected to a hose to dilute it automatically. I dilute it 3-to-1, and the smell still packs a punch.
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iann
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Re: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulen

Post by iann »

Imidacloprid will kill scale. Used correctly, you should only need a single treatment. You can check again in spring to see if you need to treat again. Used incorrectly, you might seriously burn the plant. Check your dilution, which should be to approx 100ppm.

The second ingredient might kill mites. It is a contact miticide, so you will have to treat again, and possibly again until the mites are gone. In practice spider mites will keep coming back because you aren't going to drive them to extinction. Some mesembs are extreme spider mite magnets and you'll have to keep a close eye on them. Luckily Lithops aren't their favourite food.

The third ingredient is a fungicide, so you are poisoning your house unnecessarily ;)

I intensely dislike these "kill everything" sprays. They are less effective than using the correct spray for the pest you have, encourage resistance from the pests, and force you to use more chemicals than you need to.
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Re: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulen

Post by Mawa »

iann wrote:The third ingredient is a fungicide, so you are poisoning your house unnecessarily ;)

I intensely dislike these "kill everything" sprays. They are less effective than using the correct spray for the pest you have, encourage resistance from the pests, and force you to use more chemicals than you need to.
Fungicide is actually welcomed, since some house plants have a bit of mold on the soil.
What acaricides would you recommend? I am in Canada, and anything that kills anyone is banned here :) But I live within 1-hour drive of the US, where you can buy a lot of good stuff :)

Also what is your opinion on eradicating mites by spraying plants with water 4-5 times a day? I have read that increasing humidity actually eradicates them, not just controls. And since mites are not on the mesembs yet, I only have to spray the other plants, thus avoiding rot on Lithops.
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Re: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulen

Post by iann »

Mawa wrote: Fungicide is actually welcomed, since some house plants have a bit of mold on the soil.
I disagree. There is fungus everywhere and it doesn't generally cause any harm. Some of it is actively useful and killing it all just on the off chance isn't a good idea.
Mawa wrote: What acaricides would you recommend? I am in Canada, and anything that kills anyone is banned here :) But I live within 1-hour drive of the US, where you can buy a lot of good stuff :)
Most of the good stuff isn't available here either. No legally available systemic miticides. Perhaps for the best because they'd probably only become resistant to them :) We have Methiocarb, various pyrethroids (not all effective against mites, check the label), soap sprays, and oils. Then there are a few specialist mite killers, not usually found in garden centres, and you can even buy malathion if you don't mind spraying children's shampoo on your plants :) Check eBay for them, but mostly just be vigilant. Spray promptly, spray several times until the problem is gone, and protect the plants when you spray them or you'll cause more damage than you prevent.
Mawa wrote: Also what is your opinion on eradicating mites by spraying plants with water 4-5 times a day? I have read that increasing humidity actually eradicates them, not just controls. And since mites are not on the mesembs yet, I only have to spray the other plants, thus avoiding rot on Lithops.
Probably not effective. How humid are you prepared to keep your plants? High enough to affect spider mites is impractical for succulents and probably not good for them either. You can bake spider mites into submission though, with a greenhouse a decent ventilation. There are also other pest mites and they love the humidity, so overall I'd say it isn't a good plan. Some of the mesembs that mites love can be grown in the open and this will usually prevent outbreaks. Some of them can be stuck on the top shelf of a greenhouse and this will fry the mites, but don't try it with Lithops.
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Re: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulen

Post by Mawa »

iann wrote:Then there are a few specialist mite killers, not usually found in garden centres, and you can even buy malathion if you don't mind spraying children's shampoo on your plants :)
Does Malathion have acaricidal activity? I thought of it as a pure insecticide. That would be great. It is available in the US. It is sold as a powder, and I don't think it is very water-soluble, so I will have to figure out what to dissolve it in.
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Re: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulen

Post by Mawa »

Now I am recalling that Malathion is used to treat scabies, not just lice, so yeah, it should be an acaricide.
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Re: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulen

Post by iann »

Malathion is pretty wide-spectrum. Here it is (was) sold as a liquid, usually a concentrate. I think it was just in buffered water. The powder stores better. A quick check shows around 140mg/l solubility in water. You would only want around 1mg/l to spray on plants. I don't know what is in the powder. If it doesn't dissolve, there may be insoluble filler.
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Re: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulen

Post by rodsmith »

Mealy bugs
Damping off
Sciarid fly
Rod Smith

Growing a mixed collection of cacti & other succulents; mainly smaller species with a current emphasis on lithops & conophytum.
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Re: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulen

Post by anttisepp »

I voted for
root mealy bugs,
rot
and mice :D. (they've really made so much hurt for my cacti)
But when I fortified ( ;) ) last autumn the base my greenhouse I think the last shouldn't disturb any more.
Good fungicides are very rare here and it difficult to buy. The same problem is with effective insecticides.
Etelä-Karjala, Suomi-Finland
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Re: In your opinion, which are the 3 worst pests in succulen

Post by Darren S »

Thrips have gone to the top of my list. They have ruined my conophytum flowers for the last two months. They must have been introduced on something in late october as the flowers before that were unaffected and I didn't see any. Nothing I've tried seems to be effective so far. :sad:
Darren nr Lancaster UK. Growing Conophytum, Lobivia, Sulcorebutia, bulbs etc.
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