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ethno3
Stranger


Registered: 04/18/09
Posts: 45
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 12 years, 11 months
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Psychotria and pest problem.
#10612281 - 07/02/09 09:41 PM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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So I've notice a large infestation on my psychotrias.
They have been growing indoors in a green house for a few months with the humidity kept pretty high, over the last month I've notice a few different bugs and things appearing.
Here a some pictures.
I'm assuming these are some sort of scale?



And then there is these.




And also some sort of fly maybe Fungus Gnat?
Any ideas on getting rid of these pests without damaging the plants would be much appreciated.
Thank you.
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Cactusdan
Patecatl



Registered: 10/11/07
Posts: 7,024
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 3 years, 3 months
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: ethno3]
#10612295 - 07/02/09 09:45 PM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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I was thinkin' scale and aphids.
You may want to get a safer soap made for veggies and hose it down.
Or try to get some lady bugs to take care of the aphids
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Horticulture
Mycocurious



Registered: 04/30/09
Posts: 1,102
Loc: Midwest
Last seen: 9 years, 30 days
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: ethno3]
#10612338 - 07/02/09 09:54 PM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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You got scale correct, and the insects in later pictures are aphids.
Probably one of the things contributing to the infestation is an airflow issue. Do you have a fan or anything near them? Stagnant air tends to breed pest problems, while a bit of breeze goes miles for prevention. If you don't already have something in place to move air around, you might want to consider it.
Now... for getting rid of these suckers... I would go with some pest oil. You could try soap, but I generally avoid it on things that have shiny/waxy leaves. I use insect oil for citrus, and coffee, and have never had a problem with it (Psychotria is in the coffee family, so it ought to be fine as well). It might take a few applications (just use the product as directed), but it will kill them pretty quick.
Oooh, and bloody's idea of lady-bugs is fun too. If you really want to go organic, try catching a few lady-bug larvae (if they live in your area that is) and letting them go to town on your plants. They look like little dragons and are fucking vicious. I've seen a few of them annihilate huge aphid populations within days.
EDIT: Correctly identified above poster.
-------------------- The Plant Mage Guild
Edited by Horticulture (07/02/09 10:11 PM)
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Cactusdan
Patecatl



Registered: 10/11/07
Posts: 7,024
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 3 years, 3 months
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: Horticulture]
#10612380 - 07/02/09 10:02 PM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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Good suggestion on airflow, I have noticed it doesnt seem to phase aphids much though.
Soap has worked on my alba without harm, but if you've found something better the OP may want to try that instead.
Oh and it's Bloody not Amberica, same general area though
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Horticulture
Mycocurious



Registered: 04/30/09
Posts: 1,102
Loc: Midwest
Last seen: 9 years, 30 days
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: Cactusdan]
#10612411 - 07/02/09 10:10 PM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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Shoot. Wrong cactus user-pic. The edit button is totally making this go away.
Yeah, I know the reasoning with scale is that the male scale insects fly around and mate with the sessile females, and airflow makes this impossible so they can't breed. You're probably right in that it won't do much for staving off aphids, though it certainly couldn't hurt things.
-------------------- The Plant Mage Guild
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Cactusdan
Patecatl



Registered: 10/11/07
Posts: 7,024
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 3 years, 3 months
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: Horticulture]
#10612429 - 07/02/09 10:14 PM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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Very true 
Oh and btw Ethno3, it looks like you got a real P. Virdis, I've seen alot of switching.
Get it cleaned up and it will be an awesome specimen
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felixhigh
Scientist



Registered: 06/24/01
Posts: 7,557
Loc: Ly
Last seen: 2 months, 2 days
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: ethno3]
#10613300 - 07/03/09 01:23 AM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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My outdoor psychotria is like that too I'm not sure what to do. 
FH
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karode13
Tāne Mahuta




Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,290
Loc: LV-426
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: felixhigh]
#10613567 - 07/03/09 02:41 AM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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Mineral Oil kicks scale's ass! Just scratch off large ones with a fingernail and apply oil with a cotton bud to remaining ones, after a few applications they should be gone.
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felixhigh
Scientist



Registered: 06/24/01
Posts: 7,557
Loc: Ly
Last seen: 2 months, 2 days
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: karode13]
#10614024 - 07/03/09 05:14 AM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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I will try first tobacco water, with some dishsoap and maybe a little alcohol.
The most interesting thing is that this seems to be an ancient relasionship among Psychotria and scale because if you pay attention, you'll notice bays for scales to accoplate underneath the leaves.
Now its been a rainy season and my Psychotria got some black mold/fungus on its leaves (pretty much the same ones that attack orange trees). I hope it fades away with sun and heat. Otherwise I'd regret not having harvested that beauty.
FH
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Prof. Astro
acirebma

Registered: 04/15/08
Posts: 4,084
Last seen: 3 months, 30 days
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: Cactusdan]
#10614657 - 07/03/09 08:46 AM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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Just a mixture of soap and water and alcohol q-tips to rid of the scale should work. It seems that plants in greenhouses seem much more apt to fall to scale and aphids and become farther along the line of infestation faster.
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ethno3
Stranger


Registered: 04/18/09
Posts: 45
Loc: Australia
Last seen: 12 years, 11 months
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: Prof. Astro]
#10623408 - 07/05/09 03:11 AM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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Thanks for the response guy.
Have put a fan in to help with air flow( thanks for the tip Horticulture), but i think i may need to work on air circulation and ventilation a bit more, might start a separate thread for some help on that.
I think the pest problem might be worse than i first thought, i managed to get a photo of the flying things.
I think this one is just a common house fly so I'm not to concerned about it.

But these things bother me.

From looking at Google images it kinda looks like a fungus gnat.
They seem to be coming out of the soil, i put some basil seeds in the greenhouse to sprout about a week ago and covered the pot with a bag and rubber band, after a day there was several flying around inside the bag but from what i could tell there was no way they could have got in there apart from out of the soil.
I've used the same soil mix for the Psychotrias as i did for the basil seeds, it's a mix of peat moss and perlite bought from a local garden store.
I put a sticky fly trap in and its work OK for the few days its been there but i would like to stop them from breeding.
Sticky fly trap after 3 days.


I've also notice the top layer of soil is covered in small white crawling things are these aphids?

There is a product at my local garden store that has Paraffin oil in it, i assume that is mineral oil.
Would this be safe and effective to use?
Or does it look like i might have to re-pot them with sterile soil and try and sterilize the greenhouse?
Two of my psychotrias are only small but look healthy and i would hate to lose them.
Any help is appreciated thanks.
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Prof. Astro
acirebma

Registered: 04/15/08
Posts: 4,084
Last seen: 3 months, 30 days
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Re: Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: ethno3]
#10624503 - 07/05/09 12:18 PM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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Fungus gnat and their larvae, the larvae is what damages your roots. Get some neem oil or whatever you choose to use malathion, etc. That will knock the buggers out.
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J.T
Condensed to a singularity



Registered: 04/13/07
Posts: 451
Loc: New Zealand
Last seen: 6 years, 1 month
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Psychotria and pest problem. [Re: Prof. Astro]
#10628425 - 07/06/09 03:53 AM (14 years, 7 months ago) |
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A great "no-knock-down-time" bug spray I use [Learned from here] is as follows:
- Ciggy butt ends - Cayenne pepper - Chilli flakes - and dish washing liquid.
Add about a tea spoon of each to a 2 Litre bottle of hot water, shake and let stand over night. Pour contents in to a coffee plunger setup and decant in to your sprayer bottle.
This shit get's rid of EVERYTHING! The Cayenne pepper and Chilli flakes burn the shit out of the the little bastards while posing no damage to your beloved plants The dish-washing liquid helps the water to amalgamate on the leaves and leave a fine fine fine film on the surface. Eventually washes away but lasts for a fair while, and I was suprised how long the nasties stay away for!
Anyway, hope this helps, did for me!
Peace.
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