HI marcella , thanks for the welcome, I am new here but really tryin to dive in, I made a post in aroids introducing myself, it explains my interests a bit, and my flickr reflects my interests as well, i really have the aroid bug...big time Im quite interested in the odd and unusual, but it needs to be tough, no pansies...literally or figuratively. Id be open to any offers as i really want more plants, but aroids, tropicals, houseplants and succulents, or weirdos. I didnt see anythin that jumped off your trade list at me, but i see you have sanseveria marked as fav forum, i do love them if you have any for trade, I bet we can trade something if you really want some of my plants, if not i can send you some for postage. I just unpotted my alocasia frydek today, it had an easter basket of bulbils inside, theres about a dozen or so nice sized bulbils that would ship easy, about quarter sized, good starts, really vigorous selection of a beautiful plant. Bulletproof too, despite its fragile look. Here is a link that might be useful: alocasia frydek

Thank you for all your replies! I am guessing at this point that it is fern scale and we are trying a treatment of Organocide. It may end up killing the plant - it's a gamble, I guess. Did I mention I have a Houseplant Store! I have been having trouple with aphids on a Dracaena and some brown patching on leaves of a Aralia - which the Organocide seems to be working on but we have had to do 3 applications. The funny thing on these ferns is that the plant looks very healthy. I took a picture of the white specks with my digital camera. When we zoomed in on it we could see the brown specks. But everything is only on the stems, not the fronds. Thanks again. So many bugs this spring!

I've found the yellow sticky cards not useful for killing fungus gnats---they just aren't that attracted to them, unlike whitefly. I also gave up the cards cuz I would have my house all clean and beautifully decorated with my favorite plants, and then see dead bugs stuck to bright yellow cards everywhere. ICK ICK ICK! My ZZ plant really suffers from gnats too because there is a lot of dirt available around the stems. My favorite product is Gnatrol----it is a naturally occuring bacteria that is only harmful to the gnats. You'll probably have to get it off the internet cuz I've never seen it in stores. It's not expensive---maybe $25 dollars per liter, which will last a LONG time. You mix a small bit of it with water and then just wet down the top inch of soil (do not actually water the plant with it---you'll rot the ZZ and waste the Gnatrol). When you first put it on it'll smell like a ....a bad fart (excuse the language, but that's what my husband thought I was doing in the growing room when I used it---I almost died laughing!). Once it dries there will be no odor at all. :) Happy gnat killing, as I hate those disgusting little buggers. ;) Oh, one more thing. An inch of fine sand on top of your soil will prevent gants too, but it makes it harder to test moisture levels. Personally it's too much mess for me but I know others who successfully use that technique.

Effective Organic Control to use is Diatect V. This is from the Natural Gardener website: Protect your new vegetable transplants from trouble. Have you ever had a wonderful day of gardening only to return the next morning to find half your transplants have been cut off at the base? Well, there are two possible culprits, the cutworm or pill bugs (aka rolly-pollies). A cutworm is a caterpillar that lives in the soil and will wrap itself around a new transplant at the base and cut it off. You can either protect the plant with a collar around the base or place a stick next to the stem so the cutworm will wrap around the stick along with the stem and not be able to cut through. Once the plant is established, the cutworm is not affective. The Pill Bug will gnaw at the base of a seedling or a new transplant. Once the seedling or transplant is established, the pill bug will generally leave the plant alone, so you need to be diligent about protection for only a short period of time. First for pill bug control keep the area on the drier side. Water early in the morning. This allows the top part of the soil to dry before night, when the pill bugs are active. Also keep mulch away from plants during this period of time. In the evening dust with Diatect V, diatomaceous earth (D.E.) and pyrethrin, around base of plants. Set up boards, grapefruit halves or banana peels as traps for the pill bugs and scoop them up every morning and dump into soapy water to get the population down. Pill bugs, like many pests, have their place in life as decomposers of dead plants or weak plants, so control is only needed during the early stages of the plant's life. The rest of the time let the pill bugs do their work. Roger and John have been doing tests here at the nursery and have been having great success with the certified organic pesticide Diatect V. It is a mixture of Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.) and pyrethrin. It does not have piperonyl butoxide as many other D.E./ Pyrethrin mixes do. Some of the harder to control bugs that we have success with include four-line bugs, squash bugs, stink bugs, harlequin bugs and other hard-shell bugs. It is best applied with an applicator to really get the dust where the bugs are - on the underside of leaves and the ground where they jump when they are disturbed. We have several different types. RogerÂs and JohnÂs favorites include the pest pistol, which is a simple accordion style pump bottle, and the dustin-mizer which is a hand-crank applicator that electrically charges the dust particle so it is attracted and sticks the plant - a must for large gardens. When you apply this product, you must take care not to inhale the very sharp silica particles of the D.E. Here is a link that might be useful: Organic pest control