Northern Cali/Bay Area/ Sacramento area

6 years ago

Hey everyone I just want to let people know that may have been at the Sacramento cactus and succulent sale or SF cactus and succulent society sale that I bought a astrophytum Asteria and a haworthia from a plant vendor know as Plantaseca I didn't go through my normal plant vetting for pests, and the astrophytum I got from plantaseca turned out to be so infested with mealy bugs they literally sucked the life out of my plant. At first I thought it was a dehydration problem til I noticed a few mealys at the top of the plant. After about a week I did some more examining of the plant and found the roots were heavily infested. It was the worst infestation on a plant Ive ever seen I freaked out and cleaned the plant, got rid of the soil, but there were too many mealys, so I dropped the plant in dish soap and I let it soak before I tossed it in the trash, in hopes they wouldn't spread. I then checked the only other plant I bought from them and saw one mealy so I pulled the plant out of its pot, blasted it down with water, checked the roots and didn't find anymore so I repotted it in fresh media in a different pot. I proceeded to check the rest of my plants, and the only other mealy I discovered was a small one crawling around on one of m lithops which I killed. I checked my lithop better and didn't find anymore, so I will keep my eyes out now to make sure I don't have anymore problems and if I do, I will hopefully catch it before it gets it of control.

If you bought plants from any of these shows/sales particularly from plantaseca I would recommend double checking the crevices of your plants. I paid 15 dollars to plantaseca for that Asteria so I'm a little bummed out. I'm going to be on guard for the rest of the week now.

I hate mealys so much! Such an insidious pest!

Featured Answer

Pagan

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

It takes a lot of work to treat root mealies but I think you have what it takes to get it done. I'm not saying that to dis people who use systemics (I've used them too, on occasion--just not as first response), I'm saying that to stress how hard it is to treat these buggers and that it takes a special kind of crazy to do it the way I've done it.

First, isolate everything you suspect has it. Then water them so they are hydrated as much as possible.

The following day, remove from pot, get rid of all the soil which you should collect in a container. You want to soak that infested soil with something that will kill the pests. I poured undiluted windshield wiper fluid into mine. Let that stand until you're sure nothing alive is there anymore before dumping it.

Meanwhile the plants must be washed thoroughly.

Then spray the plants and their roots with neem spray. I did not have concentrate at the time so I used the spray kind that's already formulated for the purpose. Leave out of the pot and out of the sun. Deep shade is best (mine stayed in a shelf in my shop. Repeat the next day.

Before potting, inspect the roots and clean them up, removing debris or dead things by swirling the roots in clean water. Dump the water after every plant is washed in it so you have clean water every time if you're treating many plants.

Then spray the plants again before potting.

Now. Mix that same neem spray with an equivalent volume of water. You will be using that to water these plants for the rest of the summer, soaking both the potting material as well as the pot while still keeping them isolated for the rest of the season.

You'll have to keep these plants out of the sun for a week after the foliage has been treated with neem. I've kept them shaded longer, maybe a couple of weeks. Then for that one summer they stayed out full sun, getting only morning sun until around 11-ish. Basically I put them under a chair out on my deck which does not get any shade at all.

Here's the thing---that winter, before going indoors, the infested plants stayed isolated on a different shelf in a different part of my basement. I stopped watering them with neem but I did not chance it.

The other thing also is that I do not use soil at all except for adeniums and my adeniums do not hang out with non-adeniums precisely because they have soil in their pots. I've never had pests in them but I treat them as pest magnet anyway.

The reason this is important is this: soil-free medium is easy to starve. If plants are well adjusted to them already, hangers-on are easier to treat without irritating the plant too much.

Lastly, a magnifying glass is truly indispensable. If you catch yourself poking and examining the plants every day, you're not crazy.

I hope this helps.

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Comments (10)

Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Oh noooo I got sooo many plants from them this year. Great! Thanks for the heads up. I got the same plant as you too:(.

I'm so scared of root meallies. I'm not saying this to be rude. How did you miss the infestation if it was so crazy? They were all in the roots?

Ughhh I don NOT know what to do. Maybe give em all a systemic. Yuck I hate doing that. I probably won't do that, but idk. I'm furious right now:(!
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Pagan
6 years ago
Addendum:

Often, commercial growers use systemic pesticides routinely. When their plants go up for sale, the treatments typically stop. So if there are lurking pests being kept under control but somewhat already resistant, the first thing that happens when you buy the plant is population explosion. So it really helps to assume that your new plant has been nuked regularly and lurkers will start showing up sometimes after two weeks or even months when the regular nuking stops.

Also, sometimes, all this trouble does not pay off and the infested plant will have to be dumped. Just don't put them in your compost.
Sara (9b SF Bay Area)
6 years ago
I got a couple of astrophytum from them at the last SF sale too, though not that one specifically. I hadn't gotten around to repotting them yet but your post got me moving this morning. Happily no sign of pests on plants or roots. FWIW I've gotten several plants from that vendor at the SF and San Jose sales and have not yet had a problem. I'm so sorry to hear about yours Ryan, hopefully it was a fluke. Pagan those are great tips, I'm bookmarking this thread just in case I ever do have root mealies to deal with!
Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA
6 years ago
I haven't seen any issues with mine either, but now I'm scared to check.

Ignorance is bliss. Until I have no more succulents because they've been eatin alive;).
Ryan Singrossi
Original Author
6 years ago
Kara, they were covering the roots around the underside of the plant which touches the soil. It started looking sucked up and I thought it was because I hadn't watered it in several weeks after I repotted it. I'm wondering if the shock of it coming from Bay Area weather to to 100 degree valley weather may have been part of the problem. I wish I had taken pictures but it had panicked me. I only found one stray mealy on another plantaseca plant I got from them, and a stray mealy on a lithop which I was able to clean those up really good. I don't know how I missed it. I usually examine the roots of my plants when I get them and remove the media that they come with to help prevent mealys. I didn't do that with the club sale plants. I'm glad yours didn't have mealys. That's funny that we got the same plant from the same person.. Great minds! I know there are a lot of people on this forum from the Bay Area/N. Cali that go to these sales so I wanted to put a BOLO out so no one new up with a messed up plant. Plantaseca plants are expensive! Luckily I had been keeping this plant a bit isolated from the rest. It was nowhere near my mixed succulent arrangements, only by my other plantaseca plant and my lithops than when I found some mealys on the top of it last week I had isolated it completely. Yesterday is when I decided to check the roots because something didn't seem right with it not recovering after several waterings.
lisasfbay9b
6 years ago
Ryan, so sorry, what a bummer. Did you talk to Plantaseca? I'm sure they would want to know and be eager to help/compensate you send you a new plant. I would make it clear that you are an experienced collector, so they don't doubt your assessment. A good grower would want a chance to make it right. BTW, I have bought from them many times with no problems.
Ryan Singrossi
Original Author
6 years ago
Lisa I realized my dykia came from plantaseca this season and I checked it and it's fine. I really think the plant put something out stressing over the climate change. Especially since shortly after I brought the plant home we had such a bad heat wave. I haven't contacted them. It's okay. I understand the risk that comes with growing plants. You win some and you loose some.
niksouthafrica
6 years ago
Pests do latch on hard if a plant is stressed so you are right there, Ryan.

I've learned to be very careful who I buy my plants from because nursery plants always look so great but don't appreciate the transition, especially if you then put them outdoors. Here, nursery sellers always stress hardening plants off, first in sheltered part shade or 1-2 hours of morning sun only, gradually increasing the exposure. I try to buy from outdoor growers only because then the stress is minimal. Repotting quite soon if I don't know the grower's habits is also important for me. Plants always stress out and die at my place if the growers have made them very fast draining. I find that larger pots for outdoor growing is important in high temperatures, to keep those roots cool, if nothing else
Alain (Pacifica, CA;10a)
6 years ago
Thanks for the heads up Ryan, I have a few plants from the same vendor from the last San Jose and SF shows as well and have not noticed anything wrong yet. I did repot right away though so time will tell

Northern Cali/Bay Area/ Sacramento area

Pagan

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