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Some advice shouldn't be followed
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Posted by MegNYC z6NY (My Page) on Tue, Oct 12, 04 at 19:33
| Or at least not by me :-D
I read in the Houseplants forum that some folks who bring houseplants indoors dunk them in a bathtub with soapy water ... supposedly this brings all the little buggies to the surface and they just float away down the drain.
Well, I could do without little buggies, so I decided to give it a try. Well, um ... my pots all tipped over, the plants tended to 'float' out of their pots ... I ended up with a tub full of muck, half empty pots, and all the compost I had just put on them went down the drain :-(
Think I missed a step in the procedure? :-D |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Some advice shouldn't be followed
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- Posted by PVick z6B NYC (My Page) on
Wed, Oct 13, 04 at 13:07
| Meg - What I usually do is sit them in the bathtub and give them a good shower, then spray with insecticial soap (or soapy water) - plant, pot, soil and all. Spray top and bottom until they're dripping, and leave them in the tub to drain. So far, so good. For plants that aren't houseplants and need over-wintering, I think I might try the "plastic bag" method - spray with the insecticide/fungicide of your choice, enclose in a plastic bag for 24 hours, then clean off the pot and bring inside. At least, that's how I remember it. PV |
RE: Some advice shouldn't be followed
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Well, that makes a lot more sense.
Thanks, PV |
RE: Some advice shouldn't be followed
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If you're bringing plants in the house then insecticides and fungicides aren't the best idea. Unless you like to be poisoned, but that's not likely. There are a whole lot of human- and animal-friendly alternatives, like soap.
The spraying with dishsoapy water is exactly what you should do, especially if you're bringing them in. They could have all varieties of critters living on them that are harder to treat and easier to spread once inside. |
RE: Some advice shouldn't be followed
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- Posted by Josh z8 GA (My Page) on
Fri, Oct 22, 04 at 19:31
| I agree with Catalina. I've never used insecticides or fungicides, just soapy water ( most of the time just plain water unless I see a problem). If I think a plant has a fungus I throw it out...might spread to my other plants. Buying another plant is easier, safer, and usually less expensive than buying fungicides. And the same applies to insects...if soapy water wasn't effective I think I'd toss the plant rather than resort to pesticides in my home. Just my opinion, but it's worked for my 50 to 75 plants for about 40 years now. Meg, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. You might try just spraying foliage thoroughly and pouring water thru pots next time. I'll agree it's a bit of a hassle each fall but the plants get so much healthy vigor from being outside that I think overall there are less problems. plus they look so good with freshly washed foliage I try to do them all at least once monthly thru winter. Good luck...josh p.s. Didn't mean to mislead. Haven't had all my plants for forty years...but most have been around a very long while...josh |
RE: Some advice shouldn't be followed
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| All but one of these (a rubber plant somebody sent hubby when he was in hospital and that I now tend to cause I just can't toss a plant)) are my outdoor plants that I don't want to lose. I don't 'do' houseplants anymore. And I am using only insecticidal soap and yellow sticky traps; and maybe some cinnamon or corn meal against dampness. I don't do pesticides, even outdoors. Guess I just needed to learn that my plants are like me ... they like showers, not baths :) Thanks for your helpful repliles. |
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