If a retail plant,I can see the logic in inspecting the plant closely before the actual purchase...even at the risk of other shoppers murmuring under their breath about the weirdo with the lens over there.

It is never a bad idea to quarantine a newbie,especially if you don't know where it's been,so to speak. But in too many cases I must admit to throwing caution to the wind,and luck has been on my side so far. *knocks wood*

Worst I've had to face was scale...which in the winter is a joy,because you can't very well put the plant outside to let nature's little helpers come to the rescue and wipe out the infestation for you. This is the only thing that works for me anyway. Not a 'cide kinda guy so my options are limited anyway.

If I don't see any bugs, I do whatever I had in mind after that point... I don't do 'cides either. I don't obtain many plants, if any, while they are not outside for summer anyway.

I try my best to quarantine new plants, though it is increasingly difficult to find a place to stash a new plant now that almost all the suitable growing spaces in my house have plants now.
From what I have heard, the consensus seems to be that you should quarantine for at least six weeks, examining the plant carefully during that time to catch any new infestation that might be brewing.

I also have recently started soaking new plants in a Neem oil solution. Since I grow almost everything in hydroton/hydrocorn now, I end up unpotting my new plants to wash soil off the roots, so it is easy to soak them for a while.

Prior to starting to use Neem, I was fond of using a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol and spraying the plant down thoroughly. My experience has been that most plants can easily tolerate being sprayed with rubbing alcohol without any ill effect.
Personally, I think spraying is far more efficient than trying to use a Q-tip to dab at pests individually, especially since most pests are barely visible to the naked eye when young.

Some people may think this is overkill, but I think that it is best to try to aggressively prevent pest problems than to risk using potentially toxic chemicals or losing a cherished plant once pests show up.

One time I did receive an orchid from an ebay seller that arrived with a visible mealybug on it. Another time, I bought a Sansevieria that was marked down on the TLC rack only to realize at home that it had a scale infestation (I won't risk bringing a neglected plant home anymore now that I have some plants in my collection that I would be devastated to lose).
However, other than that, my experience has been that you can't tell at first that you have pests. It seems like they often are in that invisible young stage when you take the plant home, and you don't realize there is a pest lurking until several weeks later.

This post was edited by summersunshine on Fri, Oct 31, 14 at 19:30

Thank you so much for sharing your practices and experiences in such detail.

Quarantine would seem to be a very useful practice, if done consistently. Also a very interesting discussion of less-toxic choices for precautionary treatment.

Haven't really had enough experience yet to identify many pests and diseases, even more so if concealed at their earliest stages.

And yes, I suppose pulling out the CSI equipment to examine plants sold in a supermarket might be looked at askance - but it would make for a very confident purchase.

Well, guess most people on this forum purchase new plants by mail or in-person all the time, so if something is calling out to be purchased - whether online or in-person - might as well go for it!

Thanks.

I'm sure that plenty of us here at GW make purchases via ebay and such places online. I just assumed myself in a minority in that regard,never having done so.

If people give me a sideways glance when I'm looking at a plant in a BBS,it gives me a chuckle. If they can't handle a guy going a tad weird over a plant,that's on them! ;)

I have no problem taking a plant out of the pot and examining its roots in the store. If I was buying a sweater I'd want to try it on first, this is the same thing. I don't want to bring pests into the house if I can avoid it. The last plant I examined had grubs in the soil. That could have been a disaster! When I purchase a plant I like to let it dry out in a secluded area if it hasn't already done so. Then I give it a good watering and spray with a neem oil mixture. I check back to make sure it's adapting to its new home and make sure nothing has been missed. An occasional close examination of your plants is always beneficial.

Stumbled on this nice piece from the...

Here is a link that might be useful: ...University of Kentucky

Insects are so easy to control why worry about it. I have always used malathion but getting interested in horticulture spray.