ant problems. help!

[Eric]

My Midori green are being worked over by ants. They seem to be busy with a white substance at the base of the shoots all the way up. my poor babies are getting weaker by the day. the stalks are turning black and the leaves are fading to yellow. Can anyone help me save my young ones?

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Eric,
Ah yes, this would be Bambusa multiplex 'Midori Green', also known as Green Alphonse, which is similar to Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=569), but the culms are light green with dark green stripes.

The most common pest on B. multiplex species is the
Noxious Bamboo Mealybug (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=536) - Antonina pretiosa

The ants are feeding on the 'honey dew' that the mealybug excretes, and the black substance is called sooty mold, a 'bi-product' of the honey dew which the ants spread around.

If your plant is small you can blast em off with water if your hose has enough pressure, or using a pressure washer to reduce the population down to a minimum.
Or you can spray the plant with an insecticidal soap.

There are also systemic insecticides that can be applied in liquid or granular form at the base of the plant.

Then there are remedies to get rid of the ants which are contributing to the problem.

The Noxious Bamboo Mealybug mainly hangs out in culm branch parts feeding where new leaf buds sprout.

Mark

[Eric]

Hi Mark
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I had called Bamboo Headquarters (where I purchased) and they did not offer much help. A lovely buch of people over there none the less. I have been hosing the plants from the start. So I will try your next step. Love the site and will get you some pic.'s when and if my little ones rebound.

[Eric]

Mark,
I just checked my Babies and you are dead on! It looks like the first critter you mentioned. Thanks to the photos you posted I was able to find and identify those little SH#@*. You Sir are the MAN! off to the Garden store I go. Eric

[ddhort]

Our new and old 'Alphonse Karr' became infested with mealy as the temps increased in SoCal. Although I am a proponent of organic approaches I surrendered and purchased Orthenex from the local Home Depot. Depleted the mealy population by 80% with one spray. Encircling your bamboo, if possible, with diatamacious earth will drastically cut down on the ants. Good luck.

David