Crap got many pests....Thank you seller on ebay. Help on treatment.

Trouble shoot problems you are having with your cactus.
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elgecko
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Location: PA

Crap got many pests....Thank you seller on ebay. Help on treatment.

Post by elgecko »

OK.
Just recently got into cactus. Bought almost all many plants from one seller on ebay.

I did not look over the plants that well when I got them, learned I should have. Should have quarantined also.

I grow them all indoors.

So have is a list of the pests I now have.... :evil: Who know what else is going to show up. Emailed the seller I purchased the plants from.


My Sulcorebutia pulchra has mealybugs.

My Euphorbia obesa had sap on it. Inspected it closely tonight....Aphids.

End of last week I noticed a moth or 2 flying around the house. The 2 cocoons, and live moth I have on my Parodia aureispina tells me it must be that plant.

Great 3 different pest on 3 of the 6 plants I bought from 1 seller over a course of a month. Fan-F#$%ing-tastic.


Now I need to figure out my best coarse of action.
Only pests I have ever had to deal with is aphids on outside plants and scale.
Aphids I have used Ortho. I still have this, many years old. Scale I've used rubbing alcohol.
Since this the first time for me growing cactus I don't know how sensitive they are to chemicals.
Is it ok to spray cactus with rubbing alcohol?
What about using ortho?
What the heck to use on I guess caterpillars hiding on the Parodia aureispina?

Any tips on what to do would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone is interested in the sellers name PM me. I will not post it here.
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Mealybug
Mealybug
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moth
moth
moth.jpg (165.86 KiB) Viewed 1290 times
1 of 2 Cocoons on plant
1 of 2 Cocoons on plant
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greenknight
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Location: SW Washington State zone 8b

Re: Crap got many pests....Thank you seller on ebay. Help on treatment.

Post by greenknight »

Alcohol can be used - dilute it 50% with water, spray it in very well-ventilated area (best outdoors) away from any ignition source (obviously it's very flammable). Said to destroy mealy bug eggs as well as the insects, but I would still repeat the treatment after a week. Insecticidal soap is another option (I use Fels Naptha laundry soap, dirt cheap and quite effective). Doesn't kill eggs, definitely needs repeat treatment. You can mix alcohol and soap, very effective.

Many swear by systemic insecticides, kills the bugs now and those that hatch later. I won't use them, myself, don't want to poison the bees that visit my flowers.

I don't know which Ortho product you've got, but I'd be leery of using it if it's very old.
Spence :mrgreen:
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Aiko
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Re: Crap got many pests....Thank you seller on ebay. Help on treatment.

Post by Aiko »

Bugs just know how to find your plants. There will always be some crawling around. No collection is safe, no matter how careful you are. Why would you want to name and shame the seller?
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MagiCarpus
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Location: Toronto, Ontario. Canada

Re: Crap got many pests....Thank you seller on ebay. Help on treatment.

Post by MagiCarpus »

It may be true that some pests during any stage of a collection are inevitable, but if I were a half decent online seller, I'd inspect my plants before I ship them to the customer.

He wasn't publicly shaming the seller. If I ever want to order plants through EBay I'd definitely PM the OP for the seller I should avoid.
I suck at identification :dontknow:
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elgecko
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Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2017 7:31 pm
Location: PA

Re: Crap got many pests....Thank you seller on ebay. Help on treatment.

Post by elgecko »

I hit everything with rubbing alcohol and the old ortho I have. I'll have to get some new ortho ASAP. I want to stay on top of this. Not a fan of bugs on my plants, or in the house.

I'm not publicly shaming the seller, that's why I did not post the sellers name. I don't want to discredit someone if this is a fluke on their end.

I am very impressed with the seller. This was my email to them and honestly wasn't sure I'd hear back. They were upfront and honest.

Better check your plants.
I have bought several from you recently and now have several different pests.
I should have looked over my plants better when I got them from you, and also quarantined them.

I grow all my plants indoors.
I wondered where the moths came from in the house.
Apparently the Parodia aureispina I got from you.

I noticed a mealie bugs on Sulcorebutia pulchra.

Noticed sap on the Euphorbia obesa, great I have aphids.

Not happy about the purchases I made from you. Apparently your plants have several infestations.

Mad,
Steve
Response from seller:
My apologies. I am fighting a mealybug outbreak at the moment. I try to examine the plants for that before I ship them but they can be hard to spot. I'll give my collection another pesticide treatment this week. The moths are much tougher to deal with. They usually go for soft body succulents so I guess I didn't see one on a cactus. They are much harder to control because they are flying insects and the caterpillars aren't affected by systemics & are very tough to get with topical sprays. I grow my plants outdoors so there is no physical barrier to keep them away. As for the aphids, did you have actual live aphids on your plant? I did have a minor aphid outbreak but I specifically remember spraying alcohol on a couple E. obesa right before shipping and I wiped some of the residue off but didn't want to risk scrubbing and damaging the plants.

All that said, I agree that it is unacceptable that you got not just one but multiple plants from me with pets. I take pride in my plants and it is a genuine embarrassment that this is happening. So I've just refunded your full purchase price on your last two orders (let me know if you don't see both refunds). I hope you can give my plants another chance but understand completely if you don't. In terms of each pest, Aphids are very rarely an issue so that is pretty much a one off. Moths I have limited control over but will do my best to inspect the plant before I ship. Mealybugs are tougher. They will never go away completely but I'm working hard to get them under control. I'd say give it a month if you are worried and I should have them pretty well knocked back by then if not before.
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Aiko
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Re: Crap got many pests....Thank you seller on ebay. Help on treatment.

Post by Aiko »

elgecko wrote: I'm not publicly shaming the seller, that's why I did not post the sellers name. I don't want to discredit someone if this is a fluke on their end.
I was not using the word 'publicly'. But you were offering to give out the name to anyone interested to warn others. I still call that shaming.
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hegar
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Re: Crap got many pests....Thank you seller on ebay. Help on treatment.

Post by hegar »

Oh boy, that is truly bad news! The aphids should be easiest to get rid of. For the moth problem I cannot say too much, because I am not sure about the way its larvae feed. I think, that your moth belongs to the family Pyralidae, subfamily Crambinae, but I may be wrong. There are several genera and species that will attack cacti. At least some of those are internal feeders, with the larvae destroying the plant from the inside.
Because you are dealing with possibly an internal plant feeder and in addition with a pest, that is exceedingly difficult to control - the mealy bug - I would go with a systemic insecticide. There may be something on the market already, which is not as toxic to bees and other pollinators as imidacloprid, if you are concerned about the safety of beneficial insects visiting your plant. However, you usually only have to apply the pesticide once per season during the growing phase of your cacti. I hope, you were able to eliminate the adult moths and any caterpillars, (if they were present on the outside of the plant), because the moths are the most mobile and may lay their eggs also on other cacti in your collection. I wish you the best of luck with combating these pests.

Harald
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