"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Charlie Pridham" writes:
|
| Its what we spot treat mealy bug with, never eradicates it but so long
as we
| do a good autumn and spring clean and tidy which gets rid of most
| overwintering eggs it keeps the lid on things (I too have found in
small
| structures the BC simply escapes!)

Thanks. I am hoping to eliminate it, by hitting the main plant
hard and cleaning up well in the winter and spring. But that
relies on its eggs not being viable for more than about 6 months.

You don't know any of the details of how and where it overwinters
(except in crevices), how long eggs remain viable and so on?
I have tried to find decent references to this and failed dismally.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
We find the egg sacks in dead or dieing leaves, behind labels, tucked under
the rims of pots, under loose bark, any places where stems converge or
touch, plus any nearby cracks and crevices. I noticed this year one plant,
out all winter has live adults this summer so even the cold treatment seems
not to be completely effective. Net curtains over the doors and windows with
the BC did work but was a complete pain to live with. so now its a tooth
brush and water and about 3 sprays per year of Intercept. There are also
some plants like Araujia which can be clear felled after flowering which
certainly curbs the pest problems.
Its certainly easier to live with than either white fly or red spider (and
at least with RS the BC does work well)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)
Be interesting to put some eggs in a jar and wait and see when they hatch,
as to how long they would be viable, no idea I am afraid.