over run! / bamboo mealybug

[yoga darla]

Hello all,

I am in Houston (heights area) and I have several (30) giant timber bamboo plants that were planted with-in the last 4 years. Most of these are very tall and are now growing up into the pecan trees. This is exactly what I wanted- and i am now a certified bamboo lover! However, many of the plants have shoots that are covered with mealy bugs. I have been treating this myself this spring and summer with Cygon spraying (as high as I can) and soil drenching the groups as well as spraying the shorter ones with the same chemical. It is getting so bad now that some of the stalks are breaking off and falling to the ground. It's very creepy.

Obviously I am not doing this properly.
HELP! Does anyone recommend anyone in Houston area to come out and spray higher, stronger, better...whatever it takes! I am afraid I am going to lose the whole expensive lot!

Blessings to All
Darla

[selbyclark]

Darla,

I think Merit is the poison of choice today. It is a systemic and is soaked up inside the plant and kills things that eat on the plant. Another popular choice for more serious conditions like yours sounds to be would be Discus which has the same ingredients as Merit (synthetic nicotene) plus another chemical that kills on contact. I don't know who would apply these professionally, but you can do the merit since it is simply mixed with water and poured around the base of the culms. If you need the Discus and are not able to apply it yourself then i would simply call around and ask about having that specific chemical sprayed on for you. I wouldn't let them talk you into anything else. Discus is what Mercer Gardens is currently using to treat their mealy bug infestation here in Houston.

Best of luck and keep us posted. We all learn from each others experiences.

--Selby

[selbyclark]

Darla,

If you are going to treat then I would do so very quickly as the Mealy Bugs will be going dormant soon and 1) because they won't be eating so the systemic can't kill them and 2) because they coat themselves in this very protective waxy residue and hide under the culm sheaths, even direct sprays are not very effective.

Because they will be going dormant soon, if you treat then don't be dissillutioned into thinking you've wiped them out. They are very tenacious little critters and you need to get after them at first sightings in the spring.

Squishing them between your fingernail and the bamboo cane is 100% effective, non-polluting and very satisfying at some deep level. It does, however, take a bunch of time and requires you kill them on the new culms on their way up and before they get too tall.

I would also be remiss if i didn't remind you to read the labels carefully on both the Merit and Discus products and follow their guidelines. Merit is pretty safe if used as directed, but Discus kills all kinds of things from birds and honey bees to fish and other aquatic life. May be best to brush it on and not spray it.

I should mention that there are many safer, kinder, less polluting alternatives for general Mealy Bug treatments when you don't have a devastating infestation and just want to keep them under control.

Best of luck,

--Selby

[yoga darla]

hi selby,

thanks for your direction about the mealy bugs. i will try the Merit this weekend. Most of the canes are much taller than the house, i hope the bamboo suck the mixture quickly- there's no way i can spray that high into them.

regarding squishing the bugs: that's really funny, but i am afraid my fingernails and my karma would suffer if i had the years it would take for me to squish all of them! Again I say how creepy I think mealy bugs are. My head starts to itch every time i think about them!

blessings
darla

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Darla, and Selby, thanks for writing!
Darla, does this look like mealybug you are referring to? (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=811)
Best to be sure we're discussing the same bug!


30 Timber Bamboo! (Bambusa oldhamii) must be a spectacular screen, and I can understand your concern for their health and well-being.
We only have one Bambusa oldhamii, and this year it's shooting for the stars, the first time after 4 years that the tops have survived the winter cold(We had a mild winter in Austin last winter and we're situated in a frost pocket) .
Fortunately we don't have the bamboo mealybug Palmicultor lumpurensis at our home, but I did provide limited assistance helping to perform a rather drastic remedy at another location where it recently appeared.
Let me know if this is the same bug we are talking about, and if so I'll move this thread over to a general discussion thread about this mealybug.

cheers,
Mark

[yoga darla]

hi Mark-

Thanks for your reply- I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Yes,the screen these beautiful plants are creating is incredible. nothing else could have become so beautiful and so effective at blocking my 'ugly' urban landscape elements as quickly! I LOVE the sound it makes in the wind and it attracts birds like crazy! BTW.. I counted and there are 'only 26' plants- sorry to have exaggerated.

And YES that's the bug we have. I also have this bug on my Buddha's belly. Nasty little things! These are very different looking than the mealy bugs on my hibiscus. hopefully I can use the same treatment for both!

we did not do the treatment this weekend because we have not found the chemical yet- so PLEASE let me know what you recommend. I am ready to spring into action.

Blessings!
Darla

[selbyclark]

Darla,

You will find Merit at your wholesale commercial chemical suppliers or online for less.

You are looking for expensive 2 oz bottles of liquid that you dilute radically.

If you can't find it locally let me know and I'll post the least expensive online source for it.

--Selby

[yoga darla]

uh.... are you out there?

did the mealy bugs get you???

darla

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Darla,
Apologies for the delay... I'm sorry to say but I have no expertise in the field of mealybugs. I'm just a crafter that doesn't want to harvest and bring home buggy bamboo poles!
This particular critter is pernacious, not only because of it's appetite and affect on the bamboo, but also because there seems to be very little available information about Palmicultor lumpurensis.
However there is a lot of info about treatments for mealybug in general, and we can only go by the advice of the experts practicing in the field of bugery!
All that we can do at this site is to provide a place where we can discuss these issues..
We've now given Bamboo Mealybug: Palmicultor lumpurensis it's very own own subforum!
Here we can gather any info that we can find, and learn from our experiences.
...will write more soon,
Cheers
Mark

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Darla,
Because this was a new appearance for this bug, and the shoots were already stunted by it's affect, the drastic measure employed was to cut down and remove the shoots. Also the initial stunting of the first shoots caused the bamboo to react by forming numerous smaller sized shoots. By this time of September, it was certain that unless we have a record warm winter, that the new shoots would not be able to develop and harden off enough before freezing temps arrive, to survive the cold.
Add to the scenerio that the infected bamboos are growing at the edge of koi ponds and streams, with no heavy-duty insecticides beyond insecticidal soaps and dormant oil permitted at the premise, led to the decision to remove all of this years new shoots.

You won't like to hear what I'm hoping will finish off these mealybugs in the Central Texas region - a cold winter with a few days in the single digits to low teens oF.
This will be enough to desicate the tops of most Bambusa's species growing around here, hopefully killing the bugs too. Then the plants can be cut to ground level and we can anticipate new shoots in the spring/summer.
This may sound harsh, but Bambusa's are only marginally hardy under `normal' texas winters. It's hard to know what normal is in texas these days... as I read in yesterdays paper that this October is (so far) the 4th warmest October on record.... which leads back to the problem of these mealybugs, in that they're considered a pest of warmer climates. Due to seasonal fluctuations in weather patterns, and long term climate changes, no one knows the extent of their possible northerly migration. In fact I doubt if anyone knows the distance a P.lumpurensis mealybug is able to travel, to reach the next Bambusa motel...

Regarding the top of a new shoot breaking off on your plant, Bambusa oldhamii have a tendency to get a few tops broken even from moderate wind gusts of 20-30mph especially when their shoots begin reaching sky high, so your breakage may or may not be the cause of the mealybugs....

cheers,
Mark

[yoga darla]

hello Mark Hello All-

well here we are in the spring and the mealy bug issue remains.

we did not get to use Merit last fall and we had a mild winter. this spring we have made 2 applications of drenching Merit into the soil- about one month between applications. Not all of the many 'stands' have new shoots emerging a few do.Of the few that do some have new shoots who are home to live pink hungry little mealy bugs. there is also evidence of the white webby material. (scratches her head- totally creeped out by these bugs)

since the 2nd application of Merit we had a tree trimmer come in and thin out the 'stands' to bring in more sun and air. some of the newer planted stands are showing evidence of stress, yellowing leaves and trunks- TONS of dropping leaves. we are very disappointed by the persistence of these bugs and now a new fungus on the soil around the bases of EVERY 'stand'- thanks to an application of fertilizer that apparently got wet and dried full of fungus.
ARGGHH!

Questions:

How long should we wait before doing another application of
Merit?

What do you recommend for the fungus?

Should we forget the merit and spray discus now? (this is NOT a great option-the huge stands are a boon to urban wildlife here.) we are home for 1000's of birds butterflies and caterpillars. not to mention the logistics of spraying this kind of stuff in the middle of a city! HELP!

Many Many thanks-
Darla Magee

p.s. i have also noticed Merit seems to have little or no effect on the same bugs that have also invaded a very dense stand of Buddha's Belly located near the giant stands.

[Mark Meckes]

Hi Darla,
Re: What do you recommend for the fungus?

Can you post this question as a New Thread into the Forum - Bamboo Pests (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=126) a general forum about bamboo pests and so forth.
If you would have a picture of the fungus, that would be very helpful.
You can upload pics with your post - (click on `Manage Attachments' below message text box, and follow instructions)

> ... well here we are in the spring and the mealy bug issue remains.

Yes, unfortunately we didn't have a cold winter here in Austin either. We are overdue for a cold period, in the low teens o F which would have killed the Bambusa species to ground level, possibly killing off this bug, or at least giving easier management of new shoots.
Fortunately we don't have this bamboo mealybug Palmicultor lumpurensis (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showgallery.php?cat=535) on our one and only Bambusa oldhamii at home.
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/505/thumbs/B-oldhamii-ATX050425-171.jpg see larger pic (http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/showphoto.php?photo=1005)
It has never gotten this big in it's 7- 8 years in the ground, and it looks like this year we will have a giant clumper in our garden!
Unfortunately Palmicultor lumpurensis, which was detected at Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin last year has spread to all the Bambusa species in a 100-200 ft `corridor'.

Bambusa tuldoides `Ventricosa' (Buddha's Belly) -> Bambusa oldhamii -> Bambusa textilis -> Bambusa multiplex -> Bambusa multiplex `Fernleaf Stripestem' -> Bambusa multiplex `Fernleaf'

Because all of these bamboos were growing next to a Koi pond and streams, and because of a pesticide free policy at the gardens, all that we could do was remove all new shoots from these bamboo plants as this is where we detected them.
However, as I am not a staff of this garden, nor am able to provide daily steward to these plants, and with only a couple others paying attention to this problem, new shoots that emerged since our last visit had risen to the height of the first branches of the previous years culms.
We noticed that this mealybug had used the new shoots as elevators and were now moving to fresh sprouts of the lower side branches. We removed all new side branches and sprayed the bamboo with Safers insecticidal soap. However, visiting in mid winter we did find a live Palmicultor lumpurensis on a smaller Bambusa multiplex 'Fernleaf'.
I have plans on visiting the gardens on May 21' 05 if not sooner, and will check for mealybugs.
Bambusa varieties are summer shooters here - later June/July/August, though, because we removed all last years' shoots, there may be `reactionary' sprouts which can come up earlier as a result of heavy pruning.
We've already had a couple of small shoots (now removed) on our own Bambusa oldhamii - a reaction to side branch die-back 20 o F, & frost...
http://www.bamboocraft.net/bamboo/data/505/thumbs/B-oldhamii-ATX050425-175.jpg

I haven't heard of any reports as to the extent that Palmicultor lumpurensis has spread, but there is due cause to be concerned for these reasons:

- a global warming trend and the northward advance of tropical pests.

- the ease that many Bambusa and tropical bamboo species can be propagated, ie, by simply rooting sections of the culm...
- and the ease that culm sections can be smuggled into this country via suitcase. (There are otherwise strict regulations on importing live bamboo)

- clumper-mania rising amongst the urbanite population...
- and subsequent close proximity to each neighbors bamboo plants...

- lack of knowledge and expertise of USDA nursery inspectors (and pesticide manufactures) to identify and recommend controls for bamboo pests...
- lack of knowledge within educational institutions about bamboo, and inadequate library reference resources.
- lack of concern as to whether bamboo pests could cross over to other grass crops and the impact this could have...
- attitudes amongst some growers (for economic and integral reasons) to keep hush on buggy issues affecting their livelihood or passion...
- laid-back attitude of `bamboo organizations' to address and confront these issues amongst their peers with forthrightness and urgency.

-----------
On a personal view, as a craftsperson, my greatest concern about bugs on bamboo is from the harvested material that I take home to use on projects.
Last year we noticed bamboo mites for the first time on our Phyllostachys grove.
One possibility is that they may have arrived with some poles that we harvested from another grove - leaves intact.
Now with any poles that we harvest from other locations we like to remove all leaves at the grove and wash the bamboo first before bringing it home.

This has created a lot more work during harvesting, but we simply cannot risk having any more bugs jeopardizing our bamboo.
More about the dreaded bamboo mite, in another thread.

Mark