I've just been having an early-morning poke around in the greenhouse and noticed that the stock of the Pygmaeocereus bieblii graft that I bought at the National had suddenly changed colour to an unpleasant off-brown. Lovely.
I've taken a knife to it and removed the scion, which seems thankfully unharmed. I just hope, after what I've heard about P. bieblii being a bit touchy on its own roots, that I can coax it into putting some out...
Hey ho. It's all a good learning experience, I suppose
I've had to put bait down Phil, as there was an unfortunate Blossfeldia vs. slug incident this week. Needless to say, the Blossfeldia lost, but it's relatively minor damage...
Found a couple of Mealies yesterday sat on top my Euphorbia Obesa but it's near the enterance so I'm hoping they just came in. I impaled them off with a cocktail stick (they were big mealies!) and removed their fluffy little egg nest they were starting and they'd caused no damage. Gave a bit of provado spray around the area, hopefully that'll sort it! No signs elsewhere of the little buggers but going to have to keep a close eye!
wish I knew where they came from they seem to have a habit of just randomly appearing one day. I don't like having to use provado if I can help it, it removes the blue hue from pilosocereus I notice and sends them very green. If I wanted green columnars I'd double up on Trichocereus!
In fact, one of the best ways to rid a heavily infested plant of Mealy Bug is to place it near an ants nest. Within a couple of days you'll have a totally clean plant without the use of chemicals. It really does work every time (assuming that it's warm enough for the ants to be active).
Ross
Dunbar, SE Scotland.
BCSS member #46264 (originally joined 1983).
Growing cacti since 1978, with a particular interest in Sulcorebutia and Rebutia.
You seem sure of this, but I have never heard a whisper of it before.
Do you also get an ant's nest in the flower pot?
Len Bell, Born-again Colchester member of the Clacton Branch BCSS; Mesemb Study Group; Mamm Soc & Haworthia Soc.
On the Forum since Sept 2007. Particularly keen on ... Lithops; Adros; Haworthias; Mamms;Lobivias;
Eriosyce; Euphorbias; Astros; Notos; Conos; Aloes; Agaves; Feros; Stenos; Echinocerei; Etc.; Etc.; ...
View a few at: http://picasaweb.google.com/len84bell/
Fellow Forum followers' visitations welcome. Please PM first.
Strange, as many claim ants tend mealy bugs. Here is a comment from a Vine growers website in the USA:-
"Not only were mealybug populations elevated in 2005 in the Napa and Sonoma region, but the population of ants tending mealybugs in vines was also noticeably higher. In many older vineyards that I monitor, GMB (and less commonly OMb) is an innocuous part of the bioscape and rarely an economic pest. When monitoring mealybug nymph populations in the future, I will be more likely to trust noticeable increases in ant activity as an additional indicator of unusually elevated mealybug populations."
But then I suppose there are many species of ants. I can't find any reports of them preying on mealies on the web however. I do have an ants nest in my centre bed, and though I have had mealies on the stagings, the centre bed hardly has ever had any.
DaveW
Nottingham Branch BCSS. Joined the then NCSS in 1961, Membership number 11944. Cactus only collection.
