Hi, I have about 30 cacti and succulents indoors. One suddenly has lots
of little white things about 1mm across in the soil.

They look like eggs. I've just brought some plants inside, and did find
a beetle on my floor the other day..

Is there anything I should do? I love this plant and apart from this
it's doing really well.

Cheers,

Tom

On Nov 16, 10:09 pm, Tom wrote:
Hi, I have about 30 cacti and succulents indoors. One suddenly has lots
of little white things about 1mm across in the soil.

They look like eggs. I've just brought some plants inside, and did find
a beetle on my floor the other day..

Is there anything I should do? I love this plant and apart from this
it's doing really well.

Cheers,

Tom
Ping Kay, she is the resident expert Tom.

Judith

The message
from Tom contains these words:

Hi, I have about 30 cacti and succulents indoors. One suddenly has lots
of little white things about 1mm across in the soil.

They look like eggs. I've just brought some plants inside, and did find
a beetle on my floor the other day..

Is there anything I should do? I love this plant and apart from this
it's doing really well.

Are you sure they aren't slow-release fertiliser capsules?

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

"Tom" wrote in message
...
Hi, I have about 30 cacti and succulents indoors. One suddenly has lots of
little white things about 1mm across in the soil.

They look like eggs. I've just brought some plants inside, and did find a
beetle on my floor the other day..

Is there anything I should do? I love this plant and apart from this it's
doing really well.

Cheers,

Tom

Slug eggs, although they are usually under some damp cover

"Tom" wrote in message
...
Hi, I have about 30 cacti and succulents indoors. One suddenly has lots of
little white things about 1mm across in the soil.

They look like eggs. I've just brought some plants inside, and did find a
beetle on my floor the other day..

Is there anything I should do? I love this plant and apart from this it's
doing really well.

Cheers,

Tom


Because you saw a beetle, I wondered about the Vine Weevil but, on Googling,
I note their eggs are brown. I don't know what 'your' eggs are, but just in
case the 'beetle' you saw was VWeevil, I would stock up on a proprietory VW
pesticide. Better safe than sorry.

As to the mystery eggs, the best advice I can give you is to isolate the
affected plant and repot it in clean compost. I know it's not the ideal
time of year, but repotting seems to me the lesser risk. I know that
someone suggested the 'eggs' were maybe fertiliser, but I wouldn't have said
that fertiliser granulues were *that* tiny .... the same much applies to
snail eggs.

Spider

Spider writes

"Tom" wrote in message
...
Hi, I have about 30 cacti and succulents indoors. One suddenly has lots of
little white things about 1mm across in the soil.

They look like eggs. I've just brought some plants inside, and did find a
beetle on my floor the other day..

Is there anything I should do? I love this plant and apart from this it's
doing really well.


Because you saw a beetle, I wondered about the Vine Weevil but, on Googling,
I note their eggs are brown. I don't know what 'your' eggs are, but just in
case the 'beetle' you saw was VWeevil, I would stock up on a proprietory VW
pesticide. Better safe than sorry.

I've not experienced vine weevil damage on either cacti or succulents,
but that may be because I have other things (primroses and cyclamen)
which they prefer. Unless you see vine weevil grubs or have a firm
identification, don't use VW pesticide. Apart from anything else, it's
too easy to build up pest resistance to pesticides when you use them too
freely in an enclosed environment. Pesticide resistance means it is
increasingly difficult to control red spider or whitefly in a greenhouse
environment.

As to the mystery eggs, the best advice I can give you is to isolate the
affected plant and repot it in clean compost. I know it's not the ideal
time of year, but repotting seems to me the lesser risk. I know that
someone suggested the 'eggs' were maybe fertiliser, but I wouldn't have said
that fertiliser granulues were *that* tiny .... the same much applies to
snail eggs.

II'd agree with the repotting advice, though I'd be inclined to delay a
while, and not repot until you have a suspicion of actual damage -
although repotting in a warm house is less of a problem than repotting
in a cold greenhouse.
--
Kay

On Nov 17, 4:32*pm, "Spider" wrote:
"Tom" wrote in message

...

Hi, I have about 30 cacti and succulents indoors. One suddenly has lots of
little white things about 1mm across in the soil.

They look like eggs. I've just brought some plants inside, and did find a
beetle on my floor the other day..

Is there anything I should do? I love this plant and apart from this it's
doing really well.

Cheers,

Tom

Because you saw a beetle, I wondered about the Vine Weevil but, on Googling,
I note their eggs are brown. *I don't know what 'your' eggs are, but just in
case the 'beetle' you saw was VWeevil, I would stock up on a proprietory VW
pesticide. *Better safe than sorry.

As to the mystery eggs, the best advice I can give you is to isolate the
affected plant and repot it in clean compost. *I know it's not the ideal
time of year, but repotting seems to me the lesser risk. * I know that
someone suggested the 'eggs' were maybe fertiliser, but I wouldn't have said
that fertiliser granulues were *that* tiny .... the same much applies to
snail eggs.

Spider

I would recommend this Vine Weevil control pesticide
http://gardens.taylorschoice.co.uk/p...ayer_750ml.php

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:50:06 -0800 (PST),
wrote:


I would recommend this Vine Weevil control pesticide
http://gardens.taylorschoice.co.uk/p...ayer_750ml.php

I expect you would


would that be

Taylorschoice Horticulturals

Spamming Four Generations?

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²

"K" wrote in message
...
Spider writes

"Tom" wrote in message
...
Hi, I have about 30 cacti and succulents indoors. One suddenly has lots
of
little white things about 1mm across in the soil.

They look like eggs. I've just brought some plants inside, and did find
a
beetle on my floor the other day..

Is there anything I should do? I love this plant and apart from this
it's
doing really well.


Because you saw a beetle, I wondered about the Vine Weevil but, on
Googling,
I note their eggs are brown. I don't know what 'your' eggs are, but just
in
case the 'beetle' you saw was VWeevil, I would stock up on a proprietory
VW
pesticide. Better safe than sorry.

I've not experienced vine weevil damage on either cacti or succulents, but
that may be because I have other things (primroses and cyclamen) which
they prefer. Unless you see vine weevil grubs or have a firm
identification, don't use VW pesticide. Apart from anything else, it's too
easy to build up pest resistance to pesticides when you use them too
freely in an enclosed environment. Pesticide resistance means it is
increasingly difficult to control red spider or whitefly in a greenhouse
environment.


Agreed. Perhaps I might have been clearer; I said "stock up" with the
pesticide intending that only *necessary* usage was implicit. Since I was
misunderstood, I should have obviously been more explicit. Thanks for
picking that up.


As to the mystery eggs, the best advice I can give you is to isolate the
affected plant and repot it in clean compost. I know it's not the ideal
time of year, but repotting seems to me the lesser risk. I know that
someone suggested the 'eggs' were maybe fertiliser, but I wouldn't have
said
that fertiliser granulues were *that* tiny .... the same much applies to
snail eggs.

II'd agree with the repotting advice, though I'd be inclined to delay a
while, and not repot until you have a suspicion of actual damage -
although repotting in a warm house is less of a problem than repotting in
a cold greenhouse.
--
Kay


Yup, I'll go along with that. :~)

Spider

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:01:01 +0000, ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°³
wrote:

On Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:50:06 -0800 (PST),
wrote:


I would recommend this Vine Weevil control pesticide
http://gardens.taylorschoice.co.uk/p...ayer_750ml.php

I expect you would


would that be

Taylorschoice Horticulturals

Spamming Four Generations?


Follow-up

Having reviewed the matter, and having that Taylorschoice appears to
be a wholesale supplier, I am happy to withdraw my remarks,
It was not spam. Mea culpa.

--
®óñ© © ²°¹°-°²

II'd agree with the repotting advice, though I'd be inclined to delay a
while, and not repot until you have a suspicion of actual damage -
although repotting in a warm house is less of a problem than repotting in
a cold greenhouse.
--
Kay


Yup, I'll go along with that. :~)

Spider



Ok, thanks. Is there anything I should do in the meantime? Just isolate it?

- It's definitely not capsules. I repotted in about April with just
standard cactus compost.

- The soil was bone dry and had been for over a week. I last watered
about 2 or 3 weeks ago and I have central heating (I know this isn't
good, but apart from these eggs everything seems to thrive).

Cheers,

Tom.

Tom writes

II'd agree with the repotting advice, though I'd be inclined to
delay a while, and not repot until you have a suspicion of actual
damage - although repotting in a warm house is less of a problem than
repotting in a cold greenhouse.
-- Kay
Yup, I'll go along with that. :~)
Spider

Ok, thanks. Is there anything I should do in the meantime? Just isolate it?

Remove any of the eggs that you can take out easily.

You could always try purring them into a jam jar with some moist soil
and seeing what they hatch into.



--
Kay

"Tom" wrote in message
et...

II'd agree with the repotting advice, though I'd be inclined to delay a
while, and not repot until you have a suspicion of actual damage -
although repotting in a warm house is less of a problem than repotting
in a cold greenhouse.
--
Kay


Yup, I'll go along with that. :~)

Spider

Ok, thanks. Is there anything I should do in the meantime? Just isolate
it?


Yes, Tom, I did mention isolating it, something you should always do with a
sick plant (or a new plant), just to be on the safe side.


- It's definitely not capsules. I repotted in about April with just
standard cactus compost.

- The soil was bone dry and had been for over a week. I last watered about
2 or 3 weeks ago and I have central heating (I know this isn't good, but
apart from these eggs everything seems to thrive).

Cheers,

Tom.


I'm not sure what more you can do until you know what you're dealing with.
You seem to be doing the right thing (give or take the central heating,
which doesn't seem to be the problem), so carry on as usual once you've
isolated the plant concerned. If you want to keep the 'eggs' as a culture,
as suggested, to see what they are, then I suggest you gently scrape the top
layer of compost away into a jar (so you can see what's happening) with all
the 'eggs'. This should remove the largest part of the problem .. may
expose any deeper problem .. and allows you to top dress with clean compost.
Still keep the plant in isolation for a while, as a precaution. In the
meantime, you may choose to squish one of the 'eggs', to see if you learn
anything.

Spider