Chris Hogg wrote:
Several of my succulents have an infestation of something in their
pots. When tipped out, the insides of the pot and the root ball are
covered in clusters of tiny white things, resembling minute daisy
petals, about 1mm long, half as wide and very thin. I've also seen
the
most minute wiggling worm-like creatures in water that drains from
the
pots, of similar length to the white 'petals' but thread-like. The
root ball also has a very distinct mildew-like smell.

Does anyone recognise these? Are they a form of root mealy bug? I
once
heard on GQT that mealy bug had a very characteristic smell. Does
RMB
smell like ordinary MB? Perhaps it was RMB that was being described.
If it is RMB, my old Readers Digest Encyclo suggests Malathion,
Formothion or nicotine (!) as treatments, but as you can see, it's a
bit out of date! What's a good modern insecticide for these things?

If you can still buy it, my old standby was a systemic insecticide.
Stand the pots in the solution to thoroughly soak,
remove from liquid and allow to drain off.
......... But, that was in the good old days!

--
ned

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latest update 16.03.2006