I will add that you should be careful where you buy plants. I get all of my stuff from the same greenhouse, because they know their stuff, and keep the place clean. I've never seen a pest on any plants there, and the employees all seem to care about the plants, and especially, the customers. On the other hand, there are some chain stores that either sell plants, or have plant rooms, but the employees never seem to know anything and don't seem to care much. The plants always seem wet, and there are fungus gnats flying around.

In short, take a look around the store you're at, and make sure things are kept up well. Resist the urge to buy something from a shoddy looking place, especially if you see any bugs on any plants.

Also, be careful of seasonal plants like Easter lilies and pointsettas, cut flowers for birthdays and/or anniversaries, and anything from outside.

Another tip I have is to never place your plants outside underneath any trees or near any shrubs; they may have aphids, which will drop down on your plants. Be wary of ants too, particularly black ants, who like to farm aphids for their honeydew. They will move aphids onto plants to start their "farm".

Joe

I think you may be missing the obvious, which would be to thoroughly examine the plant BEFORE you purchase it. If you do this, a quarantine would not really be necessary. Healthy plants are less susceptible to attack by mealies.

Christopher

Hey joe and Chris, thanks for both your input. I guess when you do online purchases for rarer plants via such as ebay, you don't really have the chance or opportunity to examine the plants. Sometimes you might even get plants that are not exactly as shown in pictures. Do you guys have other experiences from buying plants online?

I buy a good deal of my plants on ebay. Every single one of them, with the exception of plants from one seller have arrived with hitchhikers.

Specifically, mealies.

I started with quarantine & visual examinations, treating with alcohol & cotton tipped applicators, washing roots of old soil in solution of insecticidal soap, using neem oil etc.

You name it, I tried it. In the end, I just couldn't keep ahead of the infestation.

My collection is 3-4 dozen strong & I opted for Imidacloprid treatment. Stopped mealies dead in their tracks, haven't seen one since. Although I still examine plants before I buy them, and treat, then quarantine as needed, I am no longer offended when buying plants online (or on the ground for that matter) & find they arrive with company.

I have both granules & a prepared spray, but I use the prepared spray & treat once when plants come in for Fall. Treat once again in Spring just before or as they go outside to summer on the patio.

So far, easy peasy & I can get on with my life, spending up my $$ on pretty & unusual green things 8D

Fortunately I haven't had any issues with hitchhikers off eBay or Etsy. There is one shop in particular which sells on both that I have gotten numerous plants from with no issues. That's why I keep going back to them. It's definitely hard to know what condition a plant will come in when you get it but the seller knows they need quality product for quality positive feedback. I always check feedback before I purchase from a new seller. Unless I am buying them at a physical store I try to avoid wholesalers.

There is a garden center near me that I have never gotten a plant from that was not infested with something. I stopped going and gave it a negative review but people seem to love their infested and over-priced plants; they keep going back for more (including my co-worker..).

I also usually don't leave new acquisitions in the container I got them in for very long. I make sure I clean the roots off really well which gives me the opportunity to inspect the roots. I never reuse the dirt it came in, that gets thrown away.

-Erica

Wow, hookilau - I've read your nightmare ordeal with these pest over at your post for quite a bit; and I'm getting afraid of falling into the same situation with my new ebay plants. Hence this post, to give me and people the necessary information.

Do you mind sharing the name of the seller you prefer from ebay?

So far, I've repotted the new plants in my fav medium (gritty mix); I tried to remove as much old compost/soil from the roots as possible, but I did not soak the roots in insecticidal soap or neem oil. Do you think I should do that?

What are some of the Imidacloprid you have used so far, could you share some of your secret weapons in your arsenal?

I've been visually scanning my plants for the past few days, they seemed pretty healthy and fine to me. But I've also heard from other posts ie here: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1765281/painful-lesson-new-to-hobby

How these unsuspecting creepers can wipe an entire collection if you don't take precaution, and these things lay eggs which have life cycles up to a month!

Erica - would you mind sharing your sources too? ;)

It is always easier to inspect plants in person, you can feel, see and give critical assessments on the plants health and well-being.

I've cleaned a fair amount of roots whenever I bring new plants home, but how do you actually detect root mealys? (I mean touch wood, not that I want to encounter some) Are they extremely obvious sprawling around? Or do you have to give specific attention to spot them.

Does any of your friends/co-workers see/know the pest they bring home along with their overpriced plants?

- Bernard

I have bought a lot of plants from CTSairplants on Etsy, he has a shop on eBay but I can't think of the name. Same exact plants for sale, I prefer to utilize Etsy because I feel like it supports personal businesses and shops more and is more personable.

I have never seen mealys in roots, but I would imagine you look for the same signs as they give when they are on the leaves; they leave a white sticky substance behind.

He is aware that Ott's plants come with infestations but continually goes back. They have some rare and exotic plants that are hard to find anywhere else, even other garden centers. He hasn't mentioned any pest in particular, but did mention a recent one was starting to get holes in the leaves.

-Erica

It's been my experience that there are people who buy & have NO idea that the plant is infested with anything. They just aren't that observant or don't know what to look for. There's also that thing where people expect plants they purchase to be healthy & pest free, so they never check. Then of course, there are those who don't really care.

If and when the plant fails to thrive, they believe they killed it somehow by over or under watering. This is usually the case when people have one or two plants. However, when you have a collection of 6 or more, and ALL of them seem to be going downhill, dropping leaves etc. and upon closer examination, you see something is amiss. You check the Google & find you've got house guests.

The product I use is Bonide brand. Click link for a picture of the product. Also, it's worth noting that the life cycle varies from species to species of MB. If you're lucky enough to eradicate all adults, and miss some eggs, BAM!...just like that, you've got 'em again.

This is why I chose to break the cycle through chemical means. Technically, I should re-treat every 3 months, but I choose to only do so as needed, so twice a year it is.

I used to (upon bringing new succulents home) remove all old soil & re-pot in preferred mix. However, some of them didn't appreciate having to acclimate to a new home as well as new soil. Now I bring them home & let them sit for a bit while I hunt down a suitable pot. I usually re-pot after about a month.

Some folks have good results with Neem oil. I did not =/

But I admit to being somewhat of a type 'A' person, I hail from NY, soooo, there's that 8D

Some folks have also had good results with simply removing old soil & rinsing roots in insecticidal soap solution, again, I did not.

Different approaches yield varying results, some quite satisfactory. It's just too variable to predict with certainty, unless using a product with imidacloprid.

The seller I was most happy with on Ebay is ricklogeesrareplants (clickable link) and coastaltil1. Be warned, not the cheapest option out there. However, I don't sweat where I get my plants anymore, now that I've found a reliable way to eradicate these pests.

There's a large greenhouse near me and they have a great selection of mature plants, but ALLLLLL are infested with mealies. Despite this, I choose plants according to what pleases me & I treat liberally with imidacloprid before adding to my collection.

yup yup.

I totally agree with Erica. All the plants I got from coastill1 were healthy, larger than expected and pest free. Very good selection too =) That's always a plus!

Oh god, with the thought of bugs crawling among my plants in my bedroom, nesting with EGGS! Just totally creeps me out!

Erica - I've checked up on coastaltil1 and CTSairplants both on ebay and ETSY before. Glad to know he is providing quality plants and really care about them. So far, I've made a few purchases from ricklogeesrareplants, jmtropicals, shebearz and rennys_haworthia. I'm a little upset with my purchase from jmtropicals, they had listed a plant that isn't what it's supposed to be called. Now I ended up with a different type of plant I thought I had bought.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pink-Moonstone-Pachyveria-Oviferum-Roseum-Cactus-Succulent-3-034-Pot-/291445051727 ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=2bhWd83mkSdqLRkdKHcLZqljVbs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

Hookilau - We are both in NY, I'm pretty sure "IF" I were to have some house guest, they will probably be adapting to the same environment. I'm getting the Bonide right away on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Bonide-110-Ready--Insect-12-Ounce/dp/B002LFGHXG/ref=sr_1_3?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1431116243&sr=1-3&keywords=bonide+eight+insect+control

Do you use bonide on the roots when repotting? or washing the roots too? I want to set up a foolproof system in place, for all my new plants. At least having the plan, makes me feel better that I'm as risk free as possible.