Question
brown spots
I grow eppies as a hobby and I'm running into a few problems that i hope you can hep me with, i can send photos if necessary. first i keep all my eppies in a shade house from spring until fall then i put them in my garage for the winter. i live in Florida and temps can get down in the teens here.
I now have one pant that has small brown spots on them and I'm trying to treat it with a 3 in one systemic in hopes to save it and i also keep it far away from the other pants.
the other plant has white spots all over it. can either one of these be saved. I have them back outside now as the temps are 40 and above.
While they were in the garage , the door is left open all day for some light and fresh air and i only water them if they become totally dry, in which they drain quickly so they dry in a bout 6 hours. thanks for any answers you can offer i hate to loose even one plant if i can help it
AnswerDear Mary,
It looks like scale to me. Can you scrape the spot off with your fingernail? Is the stem sticky as well? That would indicate scale. The best thing you can do in that case is to actually rub them off, top and bottom, with a cloth of 1/2 ETOH an 1/2 water. There will be marks left on the leaves but the bugs will be gone and you can continue to spray for a couple of weeks to make sure any eggs that hatch will also be killed. I'd repot the plant in new medium as well.
You should also keep the plants above 46 degrees F. 55-70 degrees is ideal for them. Never let them get completely dry as you would with other cacti. In the winter the soil should always be slightly moist and in the summer you will need to check frequently to make sure they don't dry out. They are rainforest plants so like more moisture even in winter when dormant.
As for your white spots, it's hard to say without a picture but most likely it's mealy bugs. You treat them as you would scale tho they are easier to wash off and you can do it with a strong spray or wipe them. The difference with mealies is that they can often end up in the roots so you have to unpot the plant and look for them there and see if the roots are healthy. If you find them in the roots (sometimes you can see the bugs, sometimes some white cottony stuff) remove as much as the soil as possible and soak the roots in dish washing soap. Then repot in new medium that is sterilized.
Sorry, I never got your last email. I wouldn't throw out the plant. Just move it away from the others and see what develops. I've seen these marks on other plants and they don't seem to do any harm.
I wold continue to keep both plants away from your others till you're sure the bugs are gone. Good ventilation and the correct temp. is important.
A lot of folks would suggest you just throw them away, but I think it's worth a try to save them and you can learn alot about care in the process.
It's not unusual for epi's to get some brown spots hen you put them out side but I don't think that's what you have.
If you think I'm off base, send me some more pictures of both infestations and I can consult with some more folks. My e-mail is
[email protected]. You can only send one photo on AllExperts which is frustrating.
Hope this helps, don't hesitate to contact me if you have more questions.
Send the pictues to my home email, above. I'm not s worried about your brown spots if they are not scale. I still would repot and see what a summer outside brings. Ill how the photo to some folk I know.
As or letting them dry out,think rainforest. They would never completly dry out there no?
Maureen
