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bit out of date!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 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bit out of date!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

http://www.succulents.co.za/Succulen...ealy_Bug.shtml

I usually remove as much soil as possible and spray the rest with meths. Repot
in clean soil and pot. You need to disinfect the old container to remove all
traces of the bugs
Jenny

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

http://www.bugsandweeds.co.uk
latest update 16.03.2006

"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)

Thanks for the replies. I'm not convinced it's RMB, but searching the
net suggests Provado is effective against many root pests, so I'll
give it a go.


--
Chris

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