Re: Alcohol for Mealies
jford@ruacad.ac.runet.edu
Fri, 10 Feb 1995 23:03:59 -0500 (EST)
Greetings everyone, lately there has been a lot of discussion about
how best to terminate mealies with a lot of people recommending an
alcohol spray. As with any treatment, I would recommend a test prior
to going full speed ahead with it. While I have used alcohol successfully
on mealies on jade plants, orchids and some other tough skinned plants,
I have also killed a number of other plants with an alcohol spray.
Sensitive plants (both Mimosa pudica and Biophytum sensitivum) do not
take kindly to alcohol - the one time I used it on these plants, they
were dead in less than 48 hours. The leaves turned yellow less than
24 hours after spraying and fell off by the next day - the plant shriveled
on the growing tips and that was that. I have also killed a couple of
ferns - Adiantum sp. and Davallia sp. and one totally unknown variety.
All of these plants had very delicate foliage and perfer humidity so
I think that the spray may have killed by dehydrating the foliage rather
than through any direct toxic effect - this is just a hypothesis though,
all I know for sure is that all of the plants that died, died almost
immediately following the treatment. If this is the case, then some of
the more tender leaved Utricularia and Drosera might also be susceptible.
Hmmm, come to think of it, I don't remember seening any body mention
any insect pests for these genera - are there any?
Good growing,
John
jford@ruacad.ac.runet.edu