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Bugs attacking seedling roots
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Posted by
cariadlawn (
My Page) on
Sun, May 31, 09 at 12:04
| I've had excellent success growing perennials from seed (I have them indoors), but now that the seedlings are about 2 weeks old, I'm losing many of them. My seedlings just started withering up suddenly, little by little. I finally discovered today that some kind of bug is the culprit. I found a wilted hollyhock, and its root system was completely eaten away. When I pulled it out of the soil, a tiny white bug crawled away. Is there anything I can do to get rid of the pests before they ruin all my flowers? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Bugs attacking seedling roots
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| There are several types of inscecticids that may be used as a soil drinch...... one would be the many forms of merit. BUT check wil local garden center |
RE: Bugs attacking seedling roots
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| Fungus gnats, perhaps? I got an infection of them indoors recently; I'm trying the approach of using BTi to control them. |
RE: Bugs attacking seedling roots
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| Next watering, water it with a mixture of Cayenne powder & warm water, shaken vigorously. |
RE: Bugs attacking seedling roots
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| Erm, actually, I don't think mine are fungus gnats; looking into them, they're supposed to be "wormy", while these are "insecty". And that'd explain why the BTi isn't helping. I'm trying an insecticidal soap on the soil surface, but if that doesn't do the trick, I'll up the ante and go with pyrethrins. How is cayenne supposed to help against insects? It's a mammal irritant. |
RE: Bugs attacking seedling roots
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| Cayenne = heat...If they're 5th year home grown, dried & powdered...then mixed with hot water, they do just fine. =) |
RE: Bugs attacking seedling roots
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| Cayenne = heat No. Peppers create no physical heat. The sensation of heat is due to the chemical capsaicin, which bonds to a receptor site in mammals called Vanilloid Recepter Subtype 1, or VR1. It's the same receptor that is activated by heat. Only mammals have the receptor VR1, so this effect doesn't occur in other animals (for example, my parrot loves devouring peppers that would make even the hardiest spicy food nut cringe), and there is never any physical heat created. It's just a sensory illusion. |
RE: Bugs attacking seedling roots
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| Hrm...never knew that...learn something new every day. =) Well, if the ants had the VR1 receptor, it would work...lol |
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