Help !!!!!! I've got bugs.

And not just one kind. I've got mealie bugs, scale, mites, and white flies.....

Hi everyone, I haven't been on this forum since last spring. Don't seem to have much time for computers during the summer growing season. I have a home-made greenhouse; made from 6 sets of old sliding glass doors. My son built it for me 2 years ago. Last year I had a terrible time with bugs, and this year is starting out the same.

I sprayed everything with neem oil before I brought them inside the greenhouse , but I guess I missed some. I have some Orthene Systemic Insecticide I was planning on using. Does anyone know if there are any plants 'sensitive' to it? I have a wide range of plants and would hate to wipe out a collection. I have used it in the past on my Hibiscus and Brugmansia, so no problem there. What about flowering maple, Clivia, ficus, Bird of Paradise, Epiphyllum, Adenium, Hoya, Fuchsia, Orchids, cactus and succulents? Is there a website where you can find out about plant sensitivity. I completely defoliated one of my Flowering Maples by spraying it with Neem.... it survived but just barely. Don't want any disasters this year. : )

This message was edited Jan 3, 2012 11:12 AM

Hi,
I don't post here on this forum but do have a greenhouse. You may want to use Bonide Eight insect control. Its granular and then follow up with insecticidle soap every tens days. Will be very hard to kill the white fly. Get some white fly traps.( its sticky paper but yellow. White flys like the color yellow) Then if you do not have a fan in there get one set up.( makes it harder for the bugs. Plants need air movement to prevent fungus) Be very careful about what you spray in there. Way different then spray outside.
Once those bugs set up housekeeping very hard to get rid of them.
I wash my greenhose inside every summer/fall with a bleach solutuion when all the plants are out side.
I hope this helps.

I tried to spray every 10 days for the first month or 6 weeks after I take everything in. I have many, many plants as I overwinter large tropicals for other people. So, it's like sending your kids to school in the fall...........I get EVERYTHING brought in. I do have whiteflies; need to do some putting out of the yellow sticky traps, but I haven't noticed much else. Sometimes my own alocasia and colocasia get mealybugs, but I've been able to keep those under control pretty well.

Sorry, but I can't "do" the non-chemical remedies, with so many large plants in the g'house.

How is the air circulation in your greenhouse? And is there enough space between plants for air movement? The best climate for any insect is stagnant air and crowding. I don't do most of the plants you mention, so I can't say about sensitivity. I'm sure someone will help. Good luck dealing with them.

Thanks guys! ... My spacing and circulation are good. I have 2 occilating fans set up ... one up high and one on the floor. Nothing is touching ... well not much anyway. I did use the Bonide granules on some of my plants when I first brought them in. Didn't have enough to do everything. Those plants still got bugs, however, no where near as bad as the other plants did.

I've already discussed with my DH about building some kind of hanging system for my Epis so I can get them all outside for the summer. I have very little shade here, and have just covered the GH with shade clothe and left them inside during the summer.

I guess I'll just carry on the fight by spraying a lot of different products. Right now the worse battle is with the scale on the Epis. Time for more oil. : )