Managed to save this plant from a fungal infection and spider mites. See all the new growth? But how does it pay me back?!?! It gets mealy bugs! 🤦🏼♀️ Thankfully I have had an absolute ton of practice dealing with them lately. So far there have been five plants in that bay window with them and I'm not sure why. Haven't added any new plants. 🤷♀️ I'm running out of quarantine space. Oh and I also got to deal with my first case of white aphids. What the heck!!!!
Hmmm are you fertilizing your plants a lot? Did you introduce any new plants outside near that window? Do you have ants near that window outside?
1 Like Fertilizing on a schedule. No new inside plants that weren't quarantined first and no plants outside. Not sure about ants.
1 Like Okay, mealy bugs are attracted to high nitrogen levels so maybe a slightly lower nitrogen fertilizer? Also if you might have ants outside they can take mealy bugs inside to healthy plants because ants farm mealy bugs for their secretions (like we do with cows, and how we bring them to greener pastures 😬) except the pasture is your beautiful collection
0 Likes Any idea on what the nitrogen level should be in the fertilizer? I'll check outside for ants but I haven't seen any at all inside.
0 Likes What kind of fertilizer are you using now?
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I think that big beautiful window is doing you dirty. You’ve been dealing with pests left and right for a while! Maybe you should order some beneficial insects and unleash them into your collection
1 Like Right? It's been crazy lately. So please tell me about these beneficial insects. What do I get and how do I introduce them?
0 Likes ladybug & lacewing larvae are options and there are little guys aptly called “mealybug destroyers” — do a little research about them and their lifecycles. honestly the lacewings freak me out a bit personally 😬
0 Likes homesteadbrooklyn com/all/2017/1/27/ would-you-release-beneficial-insects-indoors
1 Like Thanks. I'll research it. I'd probably love them because I absolutely love bugs (as long as they're not hurting my plants lol). My poor husband is totally skeeved out by bugs. He might move out. Lol
0 Likes I had to break that up because planta won’t let me post the link — but there’s good info there if you can translate it to your browser
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beneficial nematodes might help you out. they are tiny bugs that eat a variety of common pests. i’ve heard lots of great things about a company called nature’s good guys. do some research to make sure you’re not introducing invasive species. unfortunately, most ladybugs for sale in garden centers are the invasive asian lady beetle that infests homes across the east coast. they are opportunists that will eat almost anything, and they nest in walls and other household crevices.
0 Likes Thanks 👍🏼
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