"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
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bit out of date!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?


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net

Chris we used to get this in the pelargoniums, and struggled for years to
control it, then found intercept which we were trying for vine weevil
eradicated it completely it has never returned even though we no longer use
intercept (pravado?)

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)