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First time Pest infestationā€¦.ughhhhhh. All of my plants got infestedā€¦ | Pests, diseases and problems šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø | Planta-community

Plant Dog Mom

First time Pest infestationā€¦.ughhhhhh. All of my plants got infested with mealy bugs, thrips, spider mites, etc. used neem oil, captain jacks insecticide soap, and now Ferti-lome Triple Action Plus Disease & Mite Control Liquid. Itā€™s week three. Just when I spray the shit out of them every 5 days. They keep come back! They are relentless and frustrating. Just look at her. I donā€™t want to show my orchids, monstera or corn plant and other plants. šŸ˜­ I need advice!!! Should I just throw it away. I havenā€™t been sleeping well because of this shit show. Please what do I do?

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2 gillningar 7 kommentarer

7 kommentarer

  1. exitJiraffe

    Honestly if itā€™s causing you that much stress, Iā€™d toss it and get a new one. Thereā€™s nothing wrong with tossing a plant if itā€™s causing you stress. Iā€™ve given some of mine away for free, letting people know they need rehabbed/have pests. Others Iā€™ve chopped up and let them die before burning (pothos etc since theyā€™re invasive.)

    5 gillningar
  2. Phil

    Donā€™t feel bad about tossing away a plant. If itā€™s not giving you good vibes then it shouldnā€™t be around. I have tossed plants because I just didnā€™t care for them anymore. Currently all my plants are my ā€œfavoritesā€.

    2 gillningar
  3. Bb

    Something to keep in mind is the breeding cycle of some of these pests. 5 days can be too long in between unfortunately. Here is what I do when dealing with these a$&holes: because Iā€™m going to have to be doing frequent spraying for an extended period, I tend not to use really strong pesticides etc to avoid harming the plant. For spider mites: I mix a ratio of 1 tbsp liquid castille soap (I use peppermint Dr Bronners) in 4 litres/1 gallon of water. Spray leaves on top and undersides plus stems and crevices every 3 days for 3 weeks. Itā€™s not harsh so you can do the frequent spray without worrying about damaging the plant. In between i wipe the leaves down to physically remove any visible mites or egg bits or webbing. If youā€™re reusing cloths, make sure you wash them in between wipes on a hot setting to make sure youā€™re not just saving them for later and transferring back to the leaves the next time round. Thrips: as above but for 6 weeks. Itā€™s a nightmare but it is what it is. I like to make 2 bottles up - 1 with just castille soap + water and another that also contains neem oil. Once a week I do the neem + castille spray. For the rest of the sprays Iā€™ll use the castille-only. For mealies, depending on the extent of the infestation, I will dip a q tip into rubbing alcohol/methylated spirits and kill as many as possible manually. Then spray down with the castille soap every 3 days for 3 weeks. I make a second bottle of spray for these guys that contains rubbing alcohol and water (1 part alcohol to 3 parts water) and spray down 1.5-2 weeks in between. Alcohol is strong so not ideal for every plant. They also canā€™t be left in the sun afterwards or theyā€™ll burn so do be careful. Mealies hide well in nooks and crevices. Spray the crap out of those! Scale: I try to do as many as I can by squishing with my finger nail and breaking their exoskeletons. The spray for these includes 1 tbsp of liquid castille soap to 1 quart or about a litre of water (stronger than the other). Spray if you canā€™t fully immerse the plant in a bucket with that mixture. If the plant is small enough I literally fill a large tub or bucket with that stronger castille mix and put the whole plant in for about 20-30 minutes. Thatā€™s usually enough to dry out their exoskeletons and kill all the scale. Wipe off all the dead guys from the leaves and stems once itā€™s all dry. So repeated dunks arenā€™t always needed but just check the leaves the week after. If they come back, depending on how bad I will either manually squish and wipe the leaves or spray or re-dunk if the soil is dry (if not, I will wait till itā€™s sufficiently dry again and then re-dunk). If youā€™re spraying, then spray weekly for 3-4 weeks. Wipe the leaves in between, checking to see if those little b$stands have returned. Itā€™s doable. But itā€™s a huge effort. So I totally get it you cbf and absolutely no judgement. Good luck with whatever you do! šŸŒæšŸŒæšŸŒæ

    2 gillningar
  4. Sunny

    Itā€™s not worth losing anymore sleep over them. Growing plants are supposed to make you happy. No need to keep struggling when they donā€™t. I just toss them after putting in some effort to save them. I watch a Korean drama to cry over the lost time and money. Then, I start thinking about the next plant on my wishlist!šŸ¤£ I recycle the ceramic pots and disinfect in the dishwasher on the short wash cycle.

    4 gillningar
  5. Yolanda

    If that plant has that seriousness of infestation I would just toss it. I would not risk one plant destroying my entire plant collection.. that many leaves on that plant would be too tedious to even tackle for me!! I know how you feel I had a fiddle leaf fig that kept giving me anxiety. I tried everything possible to get these plants to thrive so one day I politely grabbed it at the top snatched it out the soil and threw it in the trash. I agree plants are to bring us happiness not grief. Good luck

    2 gillningar
  6. Dave_opuntiaface

    Mealy bug eggs are invisible and absolutely nothing kills them. I have spent over a year trying to get rid of them (cleaning, eventually tossing plants), but they are activated with any drastic temperature change/water availability - or just moving them around too often. I also have 0 spiders around to combat them (my apt complex prides itself on ā€œno pestsā€). My plants are all smallish, but I have been actively treating around 12 plants for mealies. It has soured my mood on plants and a potential plant business. I stopped collecting anything with white wool because it turns into a big bug community center pool. So there is the testimony of a mealies fighter. Here is a pic of a plant I lost to mealies. None of the cleaning schemes work unless you get all the eggs out of the soil. Toss that plant if you donā€™t love it.

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    1 gilla
  7. Dave_opuntiaface

    Also, hey, you can say shit here, now. There was a point a few years ago when I had to ask Planta to not block the words ā€œpotā€ and ā€œnymphā€ haha.

    1 gilla