Reporting bugs

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Spring is here! Repotting season for most pines, except for Mugo's.

Unless of course, you get some mugo's from a nursery, and they have these:


Found in the rootball. These larvae are what basically chewed off EVERY root in my Cedars as well. Or are these good larvae? Are there any good larvae?
Give me a plant, I can name most structures and their functions.. Give me a bacteria or fungus, and I can do the same.. Give me a bug, and I don't know what the hell it does or how to identify it.
I counted 45+ larvae per pot, most were hidden deeply inside, near the feeder roots. Thankfully I ignored all good advice and did a HBR before July. Don't do HBR's on mugo's before July people! That's what I've been told, that's what I should have done, but I'm happy I didn't.

If that wasn't enough, I found this little bugger in my mugo pumillo, right inside a bleeding bud. I had to check all 25 of the buds to see if they didn't have the same issue. All of the others seem clear. This caterpillar had eaten away everything on the inside and was making it's way down the branch (at least, that's what it seemed like).

What pointed me towards inspecting the bud, was the bleeding, then the fact that it didn't look developed like the others. It was crooked in an unusual way. I didn't take pics of the bud unfortunately.

Anyhow, if anyone wants to advise me on how to prevent these things in the future or if the soil larvae are any threat, I'm all ears!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

The larvae seem to be from Otiorhynchus sulcatus. In my country sometimes called The Yewbeetle.
Wikipedia says they're very good at damaging conifer roots. Well, I have noticed that. Time for me to schedule annual beetle checkups.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I don't know regulations for pesticides in the EU, but this is the situation where a systemic pesticide would be appropriate. For the organic grower, an application of a BT product, Bacillus product. It is almost impossible to find all the grubs by visual inspection, use if a pesticide will kill the ones you missed.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I'll see what I can find. Those stuffs are heavily regulated around here and nearly unobtainable for the regular gardener.

My local garden centre does sell nematodes that should attack the larvae, but I'm first checking in with the nursery too. They are taking this pretty serious at the moment. If they have been spraying, nematodes will just die anyways.

 

[River's Edge]

Spring is here! Repotting season for most pines, except for Mugo's.

Unless of course, you get some mugo's from a nursery, and they have these:

View attachment 186660View attachment 186661
Found in the rootball. These larvae are what basically chewed off EVERY root in my Cedars as well. Or are these good larvae? Are there any good larvae?
Give me a plant, I can name most structures and their functions.. Give me a bacteria or fungus, and I can do the same.. Give me a bug, and I don't know what the hell it does or how to identify it.
I counted 45+ larvae per pot, most were hidden deeply inside, near the feeder roots. Thankfully I ignored all good advice and did a HBR before July. Don't do HBR's on mugo's before July people! That's what I've been told, that's what I should have done, but I'm happy I didn't.

If that wasn't enough, I found this little bugger in my mugo pumillo, right inside a bleeding bud. I had to check all 25 of the buds to see if they didn't have the same issue. All of the others seem clear. This caterpillar had eaten away everything on the inside and was making it's way down the branch (at least, that's what it seemed like).
View attachment 186662
What pointed me towards inspecting the bud, was the bleeding, then the fact that it didn't look developed like the others. It was crooked in an unusual way. I didn't take pics of the bud unfortunately.

Anyhow, if anyone wants to advise me on how to prevent these things in the future or if the soil larvae are any threat, I'm all ears!

The grub shown in the first picture was a problem in a cypress i purchased from a local bonsai nursery. When i purchased the tree it was being considered for discard due to damage and weakened condition. I noticed the grubs when i checked the root ball after purchase. Exploration found dozens in amongst the roots. Removed all i could find first then repotted. The grower suggested bare root repotting and switching to inorganic soil. I followed that advice and also used a drench of lime sulphur solution to water the tree once or twice in the recovery process. Have not had a problem with them since. That was eight years ago. The tree responded well and has been repotted twice since then to reduce and shape the root ball for the current pot.
The grower reproduced thousands of trees growing them in the ground and potting them up in field soil and perlite mix. Difficult to avoid pests under those circumstances.

 

[sorce]

Sorce

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I could use a few of those Sorce! They are notorious predators.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

The grub shown in the first picture was a problem in a cypress i purchased from a local bonsai nursery. When i purchased the tree it was being considered for discard due to damage and weakened condition. I noticed the grubs when i checked the root ball after purchase. Exploration found dozens in amongst the roots. Removed all i could find first then repotted. The grower suggested bare root repotting and switching to inorganic soil. I followed that advice and also used a drench of lime sulphur solution to water the tree once or twice in the recovery process. Have not had a problem with them since. That was eight years ago. The tree responded well and has been repotted twice since then to reduce and shape the root ball for the current pot.
The grower reproduced thousands of trees growing them in the ground and potting them up in field soil and perlite mix. Difficult to avoid pests under those circumstances.

I placed it directly into inorganics after picking the roots clean. Luckily the trees are in very good health and have quite the vigor.
Growth right now seems to continue as if nothing happened, but it might just be too soon for me to properly judge that.