Hot bath against root mealybugs

[jerrytheplater]

I apply the treatment on all newly acquired succulents or if a succulent has (root) mealies. It seems to work, but —since it's not an insecticide— overall hygiene is important. Sterilizing the soil and regularly cleaning the plant room are also important. It's rather a question of keeping the bad bugs at bay and I think the hot bath method is a good ecological way to do this. I try to use as little chemical insecticides as possible. I did spot a mealybug yesterday on a —I think— a Turbinicarpus. I used 50°C water in this case and think 55°C water for at least 3 minutes is the way to go. I'm now treating it for 3 weeks with a garlic concentrate and after that I will put out beneficial insects.
I will keep an eye on the Agave and will probably mist on warmer, sunnier days.
Thank you for the input.

Care to explain more about the garlic concentrate?

[ohugal]

Against mealy bugs I'm currently using the following product: https://www.fruithillfarm.com/plant-car ... trate.html. I also spray it on my succulents after I have dusted them off. As a preventive measure it does help when applied at regular intervals. It does not kill mealy bugs, but rather deters them. I often follow up with beneficial insects. I'm now using it against mealy bugs on a Turbinicarpus. Let's see if it works. It definitely does not work against armored scale.
Biplantol has a great product called ContraX which also works against armored scale. I've used it succesfully in combination with wiping down a plant (my XXL Monstera d.) against armored scale. Unfortunately ContraX contains essential oils and I try to avoid using oil containing products on succulents. My method is a bit more labour intensive, but I have a small collection and really don't like using "chemicals".
If I have the time, I make my own garlic concentrate, but that's not the case at the moment. I also use Rogis OGF, which is a garlic concentrate which you add to your watering can. It's supposed to be taken up by the plant's roots and make the plant unattractive for sucking insects. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to work.

[mikethecactusguy]

i find it interesting. There is a thread written by one of oldest and most knowledgeable members about dealing with pests and diseases. He addressed everything imaginable at the time and then has continued to update it as time has moved on. I don't understand the use of products that are not developed to target pests that affect cactus and succulents. I looked at your link for the garlic product. Nowhere does it say it makes a plant taste bad to bugs. It does say it makes a plant smell bad to flies. The tried and true products have been proven to work. Why waste time and money on things r=that are designed for use?

[Mrs.Green]

From my point of view; Shouldn’t we encourage people who tries to test/fiend more environmental friendly methods of dealing with pests, rather than holding on to the often quite toxic products? We already knows that many bugs gets immune to different types of products, rendering it neccessary to develop even more toxic products. A vicious circle that hobby growers ( who most of the members are I guess) shouldn’t contribute to?

Some people do not wan’t to use higly toxic products and others do not have access to such products, due to their countrys laws. So I think this tread is great and I hope more people will share their experiences

[mmcavall]

From my point of view; Shouldn’t we encourage people who tries to test/fiend more environmental friendly methods of dealing with pests, rather than holding on to the often quite toxic products? We already knows that many bugs gets immune to different types of products, rendering it neccessary to develop even more toxic products. A vicious circle that hobby growers ( who most of the members are I guess) shouldn’t contribute to?

Some people do not wan’t to use higly toxic products and others do not have access to such products, due to their countrys laws. So I think this tread is great and I hope more people will share their experiences

Yeah. Agreed. Thank you.
Besides hot bath (which I dont use too much because it is not practical when you have too many plants) I do the following to avoid mealybugs:
- discard the poting mix of new aquired plants
- cook in the oven the poting mix I will re utilize
- use low nitrogen fertilizer and avoid organic matter
I seldom have mealybugs here...but do admit I use systemic insecticides when things run out of control

[Mrs.Green]

From my point of view; Shouldn’t we encourage people who tries to test/fiend more environmental friendly methods of dealing with pests, rather than holding on to the often quite toxic products? We already knows that many bugs gets immune to different types of products, rendering it neccessary to develop even more toxic products. A vicious circle that hobby growers ( who most of the members are I guess) shouldn’t contribute to?

Some people do not wan’t to use higly toxic products and others do not have access to such products, due to their countrys laws. So I think this tread is great and I hope more people will share their experiences

Yeah. Agreed. Thank you.
Besides hot bath (which I dont use too much because it is not practical when you have too many plants) I do the following to avoid mealybugs:
- discard the poting mix of new aquired plants
- cook in the oven the poting mix I will re utilize
- use low nitrogen fertilizer and avoid organic matter
I seldom have mealybugs here...but do admit I use systemic insecticides when things run out of control

Thank you Mmcavall both for the support and the advice I do feel a bit alone at times, thinking that extencive and precautionus use of different toxic products is not only is harmful to the environment but in the long run backfires too. ‘Survival of the fittest’ isn’t just a phrase. In nature very few of the offspring of most species survives into adulthood and have a chance to reproduce. The ones with low resistance are ‘weeded’ out . In captivity we tend to try to keep as many as possible alive ( not at least for economical reasons) which I think is a problem that eventually will be handed over to the buyer/keeper of the plant/animal.

[keith]

Made a video on root mealie bug , Actually I didn't make it I just did the mixing and explaining. Should be out soon ?

Tobacco and soap and alcohol so when Imidacloprid fails it a fall back. Or you can just toss the plant but in the interest of the video I didn't do that will try and save it.

You tube ' cactus duty ' there is one there already where I try badly to pronounce the Latin names.

[Mrs.Green]

Made a video on root mealie bug , Actually I didn't make it I just did the mixing and explaining. Should be out soon ?

Tobacco and soap and alcohol so when Imidacloprid fails it a fall back. Or you can just toss the plant but in the interest of the video I didn't do that will try and save it.

You tube ' cactus duty ' there is one there already where I try badly to pronounce the Latin names.

Keith; Could you please post the link(s) when this/these video(s) are out?

[jerrytheplater]

Is this it Keith? https://youtu.be/NNf6rm21-zI

[keith]

yep that's it

[keith]

Merit ( Imidacloprid Systemic Insecticide ) soak on the winter growers . A couple hours the pots will get wet enough soaking like this.

[FredBW]

I bought a Agave Havardiana seedling in early spring of 2022. Not long after I bought it the leaves went clenched and it just wasn't growing.
I repotted it and tried a number of things.
In early spring of 2023 nothing had really changed,if anything it was losing ground. I repotted looking for critters again with a magnifying glass,but could find none. After another month or so the leaves were still clenched and not growing. Soooo knowing about this thread but having never tried it I figured I had nothing to loose. Here is a picture before the hot bath.

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I lost my notes,but I believe I did 2 minutes at 130 Fahrenheit (55 Celsius). and immediate dunk in cool water. It about killed it. It lost the bottom 2 leaves. But low and behold after a while it started sprouting new leaves,and now at the end of summer 2023 I think it is cured of whatever it was that was ailing it.

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As I said I could find no pests,but you can't argue with success

[makhptptr]

Hi all,

I have a cactus which has had mealybugs for ages. I tried spraying with isopropyl alcohol or using a cotton bud with isopropyl alcohol, which does work, but they always come back. So I assume they are hiding in the soil or roots. I did completely repot it too, but they still came back.

What I'm wondering is where they came from in the first place. There are two possibilities: they were on the cactus when I bought it, or they were in the soil or substrate.

I've just bought some more cacti and I really don't want these ones to get mealybugs as well.

So far I have baked the compost and sand and pumice in the oven at 75°C for 30 minutes. I reckon that will kill any pests or pathogens. It'll probably also kill any beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi but I think the cactus will be fine without those.

But I don't know what to do if the cactus itself already has mealybugs or their eggs. I can inspect it visually but I think they can hide and be too small to see.

I found this thread about hot baths, but I'm really worried about harming the cactus. I don't want to kill the cacti that I have just paid for. Does anyone have any advice, would spraying the whole cactus including the roots with isopropyl alcohol kill it? What about neem oil?

Maybe I should just pot it up in the sterile soil, and then if mealybugs appear, deal with the problem then...

[anttisepp]

Why didn't you use systemic neonicotinoid x2 to forget all troubles?

[ohugal]

If the cactus is hibernating, a systemic isn't as effective as it could be.
Where are you located? Is your cactus in hibernation or is actively growing? What species is the cactus? If it is (severely) weakened by a mealybug infestation, I'm not sure the hot bath method is a good idea.
I would unpot the plant and remove as much soil from the roots as possible. Toss the soil in the bin and get rid of it as soon as you can. Don't recycle it. It's not worth it. I'd hose the plant down in the shower and then submerge it once or twice (7 to 10 days apart) in methylated spirits. You could also soak it in a contact insecticide. Then leave it out to dry in well ventilated spot. You can then repot it into fresh soil and a new pot. Make sure the soil is dry and not damp. If you cactus is in hibernation, don't water it until the growing season.