Growing Palms and Controlling Mealy Bugs
Episode: # 30 22/12/07
Presenter: Phil Dudman
If you are growing a few palms at your place, but you feel that they are not performing as well as they should then here are a few things to keep in mind.
The first thing is feeding. Palms love a good feed, and the time to do that is during the growing season, so go around with a good all-round organic fertiliser like Yates Dynamic Lifter and give all your palms a good taste once in spring, summer and again in autumn. Don’t forget to follow up with a weekly soaking for at least 4 weeks so your palms can take full advantage of all those nutrients.
Another thing to consider is pests and there is one pest that is notorious for causing palms a lot of trouble. Most of the time it goes about its business completely unnoticed.
At first sight it looks like a kind of white fungal growth but all of the white stuff is actually the waxy residue of a pest called mealy bug. Their bodies are covered in a white powdery wax and that helps to protect them.
They love the shelter of little crevices and you can guarantee that they will be huddled beneath the sheath of every little frond of the palm right up to the top.
Mealy bugs feed by sucking the sap from the plant and the sap is like the lifeblood to the plant, helping it to grow. So you can imagine when mealy bug numbers get out of hand, it is very difficult for plants to get a go and can end up quite sick and stunted.
So what can be done about it? There are a couple of control measures you can try. For small infestations, use an oil-based spray such as Yates Pest Oil. Mix it up according to the directions and spray it into those little crevices until it’s quite saturated. When the oil makes contact with the mealy bug, it will smother and suffocate the pest.
For bigger infestations, you might want to go with something that has a systemic action like Confidor. It gets drawn into the vascular system so the mealy bug ingests the Confidor when feeding. It will give the plant protection for up to 3 months or so.
So remember to give your palms a regular feed and get in and control your mealy bug quickly and your palms should absolutely thrive.
Presenter: Phil Dudman
If you are growing a few palms at your place, but you feel that they are not performing as well as they should then here are a few things to keep in mind.
The first thing is feeding. Palms love a good feed, and the time to do that is during the growing season, so go around with a good all-round organic fertiliser like Yates Dynamic Lifter and give all your palms a good taste once in spring, summer and again in autumn. Don’t forget to follow up with a weekly soaking for at least 4 weeks so your palms can take full advantage of all those nutrients.
Another thing to consider is pests and there is one pest that is notorious for causing palms a lot of trouble. Most of the time it goes about its business completely unnoticed.
At first sight it looks like a kind of white fungal growth but all of the white stuff is actually the waxy residue of a pest called mealy bug. Their bodies are covered in a white powdery wax and that helps to protect them.
They love the shelter of little crevices and you can guarantee that they will be huddled beneath the sheath of every little frond of the palm right up to the top.
Mealy bugs feed by sucking the sap from the plant and the sap is like the lifeblood to the plant, helping it to grow. So you can imagine when mealy bug numbers get out of hand, it is very difficult for plants to get a go and can end up quite sick and stunted.
So what can be done about it? There are a couple of control measures you can try. For small infestations, use an oil-based spray such as Yates Pest Oil. Mix it up according to the directions and spray it into those little crevices until it’s quite saturated. When the oil makes contact with the mealy bug, it will smother and suffocate the pest.
For bigger infestations, you might want to go with something that has a systemic action like Confidor. It gets drawn into the vascular system so the mealy bug ingests the Confidor when feeding. It will give the plant protection for up to 3 months or so.
So remember to give your palms a regular feed and get in and control your mealy bug quickly and your palms should absolutely thrive.
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