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Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > The Ethnobotanical Garden
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Something eating your cacti?
    #7463219 -

most people at some point get their seedlings munched by various critters...so i thought i would post some of the bastards that i find eating my smaller/seedling plants.

ants. actually they just carry them off sometimes to their nest, only happened 3 times that i can be sure of as i found their trail and one baby loph on the backs of about 10 ants.

crickets. crickets live world wide and are in most homes at some point. they eat almost anything. i have fund a few that crawled into my aquarium (for seedlings) and couldn't get out...it ate baby cactus, and other seedling plants (non cactus).

cockroaches. same as crickets they eat anything. i had some american roaches eating my seedlings and grafts a few weeks ago. they were kindly placed into a centipede jar...

caterpillars. i only had problems with them and my grafts which grow very fast. the skin is often pretty soft and juicy so they are attracted to it. not sure what specie, but it sprays green slime. actually i find sometimes caterpillars can eat larger cacti as well.

snails. only had one minor problem with some ground snails when i put one of my lophs next to the compost bin. it ate some skin and nothing more, but they are at least capable of eating it.

Also when cacti are fruiting they give off a very nice scent to many bugs. things like ants are always attracted to flower and fruits cause they are sweet and easy to suck juice from. i have a real problem with ants eating up the fruit and carrying seeds to their nest. the other MAIN pest for flowering/fruiting cacti here are mice. they will fuck up the tops and then your cactus will pup....i see lots of astros and lophs ruined from them f'ers.


perhaps when you find your plants devastated and you automatically point to the birds or cats (which are huge) think about insects cause they are always eating shit like this.

anyway i just thought this may be at least a little useful, cause i highly doubt its cats eating our plants...


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The seeds you won't sow are the plants you dont grow.

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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: kadakuda]
    #7463492 -

Caterpillars have been the only big threat to me. They're always hungry, decapitating cactus seedlings and sometimes going for the bigger trichs (not to mention how the orange and black ones ravage passionflower). And in the spring, these very small yellow/black/red striped insects. I think they may be grasshopper nymphs? (look like wildly colored grasshoppers that got hit with a shrink ray). They really go after the pereskiopsis.

Useful thread, helps people know what to watch out for.


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tradelist

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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: plainswalker]
    #7463583 -

the only insects that piss me off are fungus gnats, and their larvae eating my seedlings roots...
anyone who experiences this should sprinkle some diatomaceous earth on top of the soil.
the snails have had a good nibble on the few cacti which i put outdoors this year... not to mention my succulents...

thankfully ants, crickets, cockroaches, caterpillars, snails and mice are not often found indoors :grin:

mealy bugs, thrips and spider mites are my worst fear :thumbdown:


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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: Dr. uarewotueat]
    #7464505 -

ah yes good point, all the ones i found were outdoors, except the roaches and crickets which got into my aquarium.

i would agree gnats can be a pain, but outdoors i don't find them a problem at all in the heat that these cacti like. touch wood! and mites as well, thank god i have yet to see any of them! (touch wood again!)

plainswalker i to hate caterpillars a lot. the problem with them is they eat a LOT...when they are full they just sit there and wait to shit it out and continue munching. i just found a few more by my cacti, thankfully they were more interested in my brugmansia (probably to stoned to find the cactus)..dead now either way.

i have a LOT of geckos here and i try to cater to their needs so they stay. they are great pest control. i often keep jumping spiders and breed them and release them in my garden as they are great ant killers! i also set up fake nesting sites for certain insects, mainly ants, once they have made a good big nest i go in there at night and kill em. works great, feels better.


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The seeds you won't sow are the plants you dont grow.

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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: kadakuda]
    #7465336 -

sounds like u declared war on them :grin:

generally gnats and mites are only a problem indoors under lighting i find... but easy to control with a regular spray and some DE...

i just found a couple of mealy bugs having a party on one of my lophs :mad2:


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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: Dr. uarewotueat]
    #7465642 -

What would be the best way to get rid of fungus gnats besides using diatomaceous earth


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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: TurntableJunky]
    #7465718 -

have layer of dry fine sand on top.


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<a href="https://files.shroomery.org/files/04-03/428144166-sry.jpg" target="_blank"></a>

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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: Mitchnast]
    #7465719 -

What if they are in with my cacti seedlings?


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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: TurntableJunky]
    #7465725 -

then you can tip the pan and watch them roll away.

theres a good reason to use sterilized soil and maintain a sealed off environment.


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<a href="https://files.shroomery.org/files/04-03/428144166-sry.jpg" target="_blank"></a>

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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: Mitchnast]
    #7465728 -

Are you saying my cacti are fucked?


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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: TurntableJunky]
    #7465831 -

well, got anything to graft them to?

because the roots are getting eaten.

you COULD wash out the roots and replant them in a sterile soil in a closed environment, IF they have any root left.


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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: Mitchnast]
    #7465845 -

They all have plenty of roots.


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Re: Something eating your cacti? [Re: TurntableJunky]
    #7465917 -

well if they are established then they should manage, BUT their growth will be stunted significantly

it stops being a significant factor when they are in their own pots and have thick, ropey roots.


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Mushrooms, Mycology and Psychedelics > The Ethnobotanical Garden
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