BCSS - Forum

Interesting observations Ralph. My greenhouse is much smaller than yours, so if a bird gets in I normally leave the door open and then stand outside at the opposite end, they fly away from me and usually escape quite quickly.

Leaf Cutter bees

Something which we have been plagued with on and off over the years are leaf cutter bees and this year they seem to be far more prevalent. Charming though they are we do not like they way they chomp through whatever is in their way in the pot including thick tap roots of Lophophora and other such plants. Don't want to kill them with insecticide so just resort to moving the pot but they are clever and ususally work out whre it has been moved to.

Taking the post off the bench and standing it in water to get really wet is also a deterrent, but that's fine if you only have a small collection.

Suzanne

I'm going to propose ... slugs and snails.
Certainly here in the Aire valley the weather has become cold and wet fairly rapidly. These beasts have taken shelter in the GH and its on-tap hospitality. Seedlings have become the dish of the day. Aylostera from the seed list of 2020 and some home hybrid Astrophytums which did have some promising plants.

Edit. And damping off / rot

My top three

1. Red spider mite
2. Root mealy bugs
3. Scale insects

The red spider mite is a problem for several types of cacti. Of the cacti, rebutia, lobivia, and coryphants are most often affected by it.

My top three pests are (in order):

1) Mealy bug - I just can't seem to get rid of them. I've tried pesticides with limited success, and have tried washing/repotting affected plants & roots (see below for enemy number two) but they always come back. I now just try to pick them off when I see them, sometimes using them to supplement my betta's diet...

2) Root mealy bug - Not as much of a problem as the upper-class mealies, but always worried about them because they're pretty well hidden!

3) Sciarid fly - just annoying. Had a massive outbreak 2 or 3 years ago and they affected 90% of our houseplants (we have many, couple of hundred at last count, including the dozens of seedlings!) Managed to get rid of them using nematodes

For number 3 intersperse your plants with a Drosera or 2. They make a big difference.

Mealy bugs, aphids, big high street shops that glue fake flowers on to cacti.

Herts Mike wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 9:58 am For number 3 intersperse your plants with a Drosera or 2. They make a big difference.

I'm not sure D. can actually eradicate them, but certainly control the numbers nicely and are rather rather fascinating plants, as are all other carnivorous ones really.

Tortrix moth caterpillars are climbing up my rankings! Found two more Echeveria where they have hidden under the crown and tunnelled out the leaves over the last few weeks! At least my fish like eating them when I find them!!!

MatDz wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 12:11 am

Herts Mike wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 9:58 am For number 3 intersperse your plants with a Drosera or 2. They make a big difference.

I'm not sure D. can actually eradicate them, but certainly control the numbers nicely and are rather rather fascinating plants, as are all other carnivorous ones really.

Last time I had carnivorous plants, they got Mealybug