Unwanted Guests

[loudpedal]

First of all, I should mention that I am a long time lurker first time poster.

I have been torturing bonsai for a couple of years now with pretty good dumb luck. Some trees might disagree with me but they can't type.

Problem is, I have a Ficus Retusa that had been pretty happy until late spring when it was attacked by spider mites. I since have gotten rid of the spider mites it took awhile for the tree to come back from that battle. Now that it is looking better I've discovered little bright white bugs that scurry around the base of the trunk. They don't match the description of anything that I have read about. I tried Neem oil with no obvious success. Lately I have been shooting the critters with Sevin. It seems to work for awhile but they keep coming back for more. Hopefully I've segregated the tree from it's little friends in time, but I will watch them closely.

My questions are what are they, and is Sevin too harsh for little trees?

 

[bonsaichile]

Hard to say what they are without a pic

 

[loudpedal]

These guys are small there is no way I could get a picture of them. I mean a large ant could crush them.

 

[GGB]

Definitely don't use sevin. It doesn't kill mites and it's hella brutal, especially for in indoor tree. watered down dish soap sprayed on the tree will kill them. Or if you're jonesing to spend money get neem oil. Or if you're feeling super lazy just spray it down with water daily. I have been dealing with mites since I moved, they come on quick when I don't do daily mistings

 

[loudpedal]

Thanks GGB.
I just had the feeling that Sevin might be too brutal, but I wanted to let them know that I was really mad. I'm going back to the Neem Oil and mist. Is it ok to spray oil all over the soil, and trunk?

 

[leatherback]

It is normal to have animals living in the soil. Dont worry about it, unless you have obvious health issues. The small white stuff are most likely just humus eating insects.

 

[M. Frary]

Hang a thing called a No Pest Strip in the room you keep the trees in.
2 days. That's right. 2 days and every insect and arachnid will be dead in there.

 

[sorce]

Squeak! squeak!

I like your attitude!

I wouldn't worry about them.
One centipede will rid em..

Do be terribly sure you have no mites upon coming inside!

S

 

[loudpedal]

Hang a thing called a No Pest Strip in the room you keep the trees in.
2 days. That's right. 2 days and every insect and arachnid will be dead in there.

Thanks for the advice.
Strip deployed. I will provide an after action report in around 36hours.

 

[loudpedal]

Hang a thing called a No Pest Strip in the room you keep the trees in.
2 days. That's right. 2 days and every insect and arachnid will be dead in there.

Well after 36 hours I have mixed results. The pesky little creatures still live. Before I sequestered my Retusa I noticed a few bugs in my Parrot's beak so it also went to the penalty box. The Parrot's Beak now seems to be bug free. I am going to let the Retusa spend a little more quality alone time with the pest strip. I will post another status update in a couple of days.

I ran Source's idea about the centipede past Mrs. loudpedal and she said that I couldn't have a centipede unless I could train it to stay in the pot. I don't think that I have the time to put into that endeavor.