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Hi

A favorite insecticide of mine is soapy water. Simple, cheap, easily obtainable, environmentally friendly, and effective.

It doesnt sound like a plant pest and if the tree is healthy why worry about it?
You could just immerse the tree pot in a bucket of water for a few hours overnight which wouldnt hurt the tree but might drown or flush out any soil fauna!

Scanning my copy of 'The Bonsai Handbook' by Colin Lewis the other day and came across something I'd not noticed/heard of before.
He does not recommend the use of systemic pesticides on Chinese Elm. He says it will not kill the tree but can cause leaves to yellow and fall and fine twigs may die back.
I've not come across this before.
Anybody else heard of it?

Author:	Locky198 [ 11 Jul 2019, 19:40 ]
Post subject:	Insect in soil
Hi My Ficus has what appears to be a reddish to orange mite like insect in the soil. Seems to hide under the curve of the trunk that rests on the soil. Can't see any on the tree itself or on the leaves. For all the research I've done on the appearance of soil mite, all I can find in regards to them is they are white and these certainly don't appear to be those. The tree looks healthy, no leaf drop, no yellowing of the leaves, lots of new growth. So currently the tree seems healthy. I was just wondering if anyone knew what these could be and if any what treatment could I use. I have a product I use on my flowers called 'bug clear ultra' but I've been reluctant to use this on the soil as I'm afraid of an adverse effect, but could this be safe to spray on the soil of a bonsai? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Author:	keithmart [ 11 Jul 2019, 21:00 ]
Post subject:	Re: Insect in soil
Hi A favorite insecticide of mine is soapy water. Simple, cheap, easily obtainable, environmentally friendly, and effective.

Author:	Locky198 [ 11 Jul 2019, 21:56 ]
Post subject:	Re: Insect in soil
keithmart wrote: Hi A favorite insecticide of mine is soapy water. Simple, cheap, easily obtainable, environmentally friendly, and effective. Would it be worth me treating the soil with a diluted solution of soapy water next time I water the tree. Something like a tea spoon to a litre of water?

Author:	Betula [ 11 Jul 2019, 22:58 ]
Post subject:	Re: Insect in soil
It doesnt sound like a plant pest and if the tree is healthy why worry about it? You could just immerse the tree pot in a bucket of water for a few hours overnight which wouldnt hurt the tree but might drown or flush out any soil fauna!

Author:	Locky198 [ 11 Jul 2019, 23:29 ]
Post subject:	Re: Insect in soil
Betula wrote: It doesnt sound like a plant pest and if the tree is healthy why worry about it? You could just immerse the tree pot in a bucket of water for a few hours overnight which wouldnt hurt the tree but might drown or flush out any soil fauna! Well I've only just noticed it over the last week and I know the plant is healthy now. But I'd rather find out and learn too early rather than too late. Currently I'm not overly concerned, was just hoping someone may have encountered these before. I've checked all my other plants around the house and haven't seen anything else in their soil or substrates. I may give that a go, I appreciate the suggestion :)

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Author:	KenE [ 12 Jul 2019, 10:20 ]
Post subject:	Re: Insect in soil
Scanning my copy of 'The Bonsai Handbook' by Colin Lewis the other day and came across something I'd not noticed/heard of before. He does not recommend the use of systemic pesticides on Chinese Elm. He says it will not kill the tree but can cause leaves to yellow and fall and fine twigs may die back. I've not come across this before. Anybody else heard of it?

Author:	Locky198 [ 12 Jul 2019, 11:28 ]
Post subject:	Re: Insect in soil
KenE wrote: Scanning my copy of 'The Bonsai Handbook' by Colin Lewis the other day and came across something I'd not noticed/heard of before. He does not recommend the use of systemic pesticides on Chinese Elm. He says it will not kill the tree but can cause leaves to yellow and fall and fine twigs may die back. I've not come across this before. Anybody else heard of it? Thank you for the heads up Ken, I certainly won't use this on my Chinese Elm. I'm reluctant to use an insecticide on my Ficus too. I think I'm probably going to soak the pot for an hour or two next time it needs watering. Likely tomorrow morning it'll need to be watered.

Author:	Gary Jones [ 15 Jul 2019, 13:23 ]
Post subject:	Re: Insect in soil
KenE wrote: Scanning my copy of 'The Bonsai Handbook' by Colin Lewis the other day and came across something I'd not noticed/heard of before. He does not recommend the use of systemic pesticides on Chinese Elm. He says it will not kill the tree but can cause leaves to yellow and fall and fine twigs may die back. I've not come across this before. Anybody else heard of it? Yes - I've heard this quite a few times over the years. I'm not sure how true or fertiliser specific it is. The usual rumour is that it can kill the trees. I don't really get any bugs on my CEs so I'm not sure if I've ever sprayed them. If I have, they've survived OK. All CE deaths have been due to other clearly identifiable sources (me in one form or another)

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