Mealies and flat mites and scale -- oh, my! (Updated 6/11/2022)

[wildfire070]

Great! Thank you for your help! I'm going to dose up my collection tonight and hopefully this will be the end of my mealybug problem for a while.

[WayneByerly]

Hi Steve

yet once again, you are providing a spectacularly useful diatribe ... one that I am quite grateful for. Thank you.

My product of choice is Bayer Advanced 3-in-1 containing 0.47% Imidacloprid.

yah ... i concur ... i've used this for both inside and outside plants, and it is an unbelievably effective product.

A. Specify the product's brand name and what it does.
B. Tell us if the product is currently available to hobbyists. Environmental regulations vary from state to state, but unless the product is sold only to professionals, hobbyist growers can determine whether or not they'll be able to buy it in their state.
C. Let us know about where we can find the product online if it's not something obvious (like Amazon or eBay).

Here's one that I think SOME people may like as it is a little less of a "chemical solution" and more of an "organic" solution.

Saferbrand EndALL Insect Killer. This product is a 3 way insect killer. Available from Amazon here in the U.S. I don't know about anywhere else. And I know of NO environmental restrictions.

Contains:
1) 1% Potassium Salts - It dries the "bugs" out. They ingest it and die of lack of water.
2) 0.900% Neem oil - need I say more? is there someone somewhere that is NOT familiar with this?
3) 0.012% Pyrethrins - A natural "organic" insecticide.

I like this stuff for surface "bugs". It really is quite effective. But Imidacloprid for subsurface and "soil soaks".

Stay safe everyone ... you don't need so much to watch what YOU are doing as you need to watch out for the OTHER guy. It only takes ONE fool-in-a-hurry-to-get-somewhere-not-watching-where-he/she-is-going to RUIN THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!

[mbcacti]

Hi Steve, I have a quick question- I attached a picture of the two products I have that contain imidacloprid. I was wondering if and how I might be able to use either one of these for a imidacloprid wash.

Thank you in advance!

The 3-in-1 ingredients are:
Imidacloprid 0.012%
Tau-fluvalinate 0.014%
Tebuconazole 0.015%

[Steve Johnson]

Hi Steve, I have a quick question- I attached a picture of the two products I have that contain imidacloprid. I was wondering if and how I might be able to use either one of these for a imidacloprid wash.

I give all of my cacti soil soaks, so I'm not sure what you mean by "wash". If you're talking about simply washing the roots of your plants with Imidacloprid, you won't get the long-term systemic benefits you'd have by doing a soil soak.

[mbcacti]

Hi Steve, I have a quick question- I attached a picture of the two products I have that contain imidacloprid. I was wondering if and how I might be able to use either one of these for a imidacloprid wash.

I give all of my cacti soil soaks, so I'm not sure what you mean by "wash". If you're talking about simply washing the roots of your plants with Imidacloprid, you won't get the long-term systemic benefits you'd have by doing a soil soak.

Yes sorry I meant the soil soaks!- I have these two products already and I was wondering if they would be okay to use.

[Steve Johnson]

Yes sorry I meant the soil soaks!- I have these two products already and I was wondering if they would be okay to use.

Good, just wanted to make sure we're on the same page here.

Before the name changed to BioAdvanced, I was using the Bayer 3-in-1 containing 0.47% Imidacloprid. I still have enough to soak the collection one more time, which I'll be doing soon. Dilution is 3/4 cup per gallon of water or 3 tbsp. per quart for smaller quantities. Only .012% Imidacloprid for the BioAdvanced 3-in-1 you have -- can't recommend that because it's way too weak for dilution. The Bonide product containing 0.22% Imidacloprid should be fine -- dilute 1.5 cups per gallon of water, or 6 tbsp. per quart if you have only a few plants to soak. By the way, I checked on Amazon, and it appears that Bonide Systemic Houseplant Insect Control comes in granulated form. Not a problem, but make sure that it's thoroughly dissolved in water, and of course shake well before you do the soil soak. I don't know what Bonide's other ingredients are, although I can't imagine they'll do any harm to your cacti. Just to be on the safe side, try it on one plant first and see if there are any bad aftereffects. If not, then soak away!

For those of us using pesticides, please always remember the following:

• Be very careful about handling pesticide products, and apply them outdoors, not in the house.

• Whenever we're doing soil soaks, capture the Imidacloprid-laced runoff water and keep it in a safe container for disposal, then take it to your local home hazardous waste facility.

[mbcacti]

Thank you so much for the help Steve!

[Steve Johnson]

Glad to help -- be safe, be well, and happy growing!

[LawyerNinja]

Steve have you heard anything about Azamax?

I have began to soil soak my cacti/succulents (Some Lophs, Trichs, and various others) in a mixture. Have had great success as I had a bit of a Mealy outbreak when Sprint began here in TN.

No more mealy bugs after about two weeks after first soaks and consistently looking/hunting for stragglers and dabbing them with 70% iso alcohol.

https://generalhydroponics.com/azamax

[Steve Johnson]

Steve have you heard anything about Azamax?

I have began to soil soak my cacti/succulents (Some Lophs, Trichs, and various others) in a mixture. Have had great success as I had a bit of a Mealy outbreak when Sprint began here in TN.

No more mealy bugs after about two weeks after first soaks and consistently looking/hunting for stragglers and dabbing them with 70% iso alcohol.

https://generalhydroponics.com/azamax

No, but your post led me to check the product out. I've been wanting a systemic miticide for the longest time -- never thought I'd find one, so Azamax is a really intriguing possibility. And if it's effective on mealies and scale too, it'd suit me just fine to ditch the Imidacloprid. Definitely worth investigating. Thanks for the heads-up!

[Shane]

Steve have you heard anything about Azamax?

I have began to soil soak my cacti/succulents (Some Lophs, Trichs, and various others) in a mixture. Have had great success as I had a bit of a Mealy outbreak when Sprint began here in TN.

No more mealy bugs after about two weeks after first soaks and consistently looking/hunting for stragglers and dabbing them with 70% iso alcohol.

https://generalhydroponics.com/azamax

No, but your post led me to check the product out. I've been wanting a systemic miticide for the longest time -- never thought I'd find one, so Azamax is a really intriguing possibility. And if it's effective on mealies and scale too, it'd suit me just fine to ditch the Imidacloprid. Definitely worth investigating. Thanks for the heads-up!

THIS PRODUCT IS A SCAM. Azamax is actually not a systemic insecticide, despite what the blurb on their site says. From the description, it sounds like a purified form of the active ingredient of neem oil, which acts topically. I looked at the label directions, and it doesn't indicate it's meant for use as a systemic insecticide. The directions on soil soak specifically refers to killing larvae in the soil, not uptake for systemic action:

Use AzaMax® as a soil drench for effective control of soil-borne insect larvae, including soil-borne larvae of foliar pests, such as fungus gnats, nematodes, or soil borne thrips

They also state:

Foliar applications offer locally systemic activity against insect pests

So allegedly it's "systemic" if you apply it to both sides the leaf (as indicated in the instructions)

This misleading description of this product (as a systemic) is not only shady, it's illegal (in the US). In the US, this is covered by:

7 U.S.C. 136j(a)(1)(E) - unlawful to distribute or sell to any person - - any pesticide which is adulterated or misbranded

I'm not saying this isn't effective as a topical spray, just that their description is misleading as it is NOT a systemic, and it's not true when they said it was. I'd strongly suggest avoiding this AzaMax and anything else this company makes. There are plenty of companies out there that sell accurately described products in accordance with the law and best practices (and in addition, accordance with promoting the safe use of chemicals)

*Originally I used less strong wording, but decided went with scam because their description is willfully deceptive and unambiguously illegal. It's a textbook example of a scam. I don't take calling something a scam lightly

Another note: as the active ingredient in Azamax is insoluble in water, it is not possible for it ever to be absorbed into the plant to act as a systemic

[LawyerNinja]

Wow! You are amazing.

Thank you so much for the info!

[Pereskiopsisdotcom]

Hi Dodi,

Did some research on the Bayer website, and instructions for your Admire Imidacloprid indicate a dilution of 35 ml per 5 liters of water. It's awfully hard to overdose cacti on Imidacloprid, so you should be fine if you up the amount to 10ml per liter. Your Melocactus is definitely worth saving, so here's what to do...

Pot the Melo in fresh, dry cactus mix. Let it settle in for 1-2 weeks before you water it. The term "soil soak" means exactly what it says -- saturate the mix with the Imidacloprid-water solution. Water the plant with plain water 7-10 days after that, and the roots will continue to take up any residual Imidacloprid. If you're concerned about the possibility that root mealies have spread to your other pots, you may want to give the rest of your cacti a preventative soil soak as well.

The downside to Imidacloprid is the fact that it's harmful to bees, so we need to be responsible about disposing of Imidacloprid-laced runoff. When you do soil soaks, capture the runoff in a pan or bucket, then pour it into an empty bottle or jug for disposal. Home hazardous waste centers are easy to find here in the US, although I don't know if it's a problem for you in Sri Lanka. If it is, you may have to steer clear of the Imidacloprid and kill the root mealies with warm soapy water before you pot your Melo.

Thanks
I am going to use the soap water bath to treat the mealy bugs. I don't want to damage the surrounding ecosystems using Imidacloprid just to save my plant. ImidaclopridI is sold here as a pesticide and is just sprayed on plants. I never knew the impact it had on other ecosystems. Thanks for informing about the impacts of ImidaclopridI.

Edit: here's the melocactus in the soap water bath
IMG-20191110-WA0001.jpg
IMG-20191110-WA0000.jpg
I am going to heat up the potting mix the melocactus was in, that will clean the mix.
IMG-20191110-WA0003.jpg
I washed the roots and put it in a Hydrogen peroxide solution( the H2O2 I get is 6% so in another topic I was told to dilute it with 4 parts water and 1 H2O2 )
IMG-20191110-WA0002.jpg
Bubbles forming on the root of the plant. After this I am going to pot it after 2 or 3 days

Dodi, I'm using this method right now and will report on the results. Imidacloprid looks promising but also looks illegal or difficult to import into Canada due to regulations. Hydrogen peroxide has worked in the past for me in medical situations and I remember reading about it in another gardening book. I've been watering the plants with a diluted amount of it now and preparing a spray because I am having a double attack on some plants of red spider mites and mealy bugs. If it gets worse after a couple of weeks I will remove each plant and soak the roots.

[Steve Johnson]

Shane, I didn't have the chance to investigate AzaMax yet, so many thanks for doing us a big service here. Neem oil may work fine for some people, but it's a red flag as far as I'm concerned. Oil-based pesticides are by nature not systemics because they can't be taken up by the roots. Since AzaMax's active ingredient is derived from Neem oil, I agree -- at least for our purposes the product is a scam.

[Aloha916]

Steve, just wanted to thank you for posting this topic. I wasn't familiar with flat mites and couldn't figure out an infestation, but your post solved it!