Hi,
White coloured bugs have infected my chrysanthemum plants. Are they harmful? How do I get rid of them?

hi govind,,,
the bugs r deadly they eat up the juice within the leaves and are often surrounded around buds!!!
the plant blooming is restricted!!!
these bugs attacked almost every plant in my garden!!!
all i did was cut the infected branches and sprinkle the insecticide normally used with water every 15 days!!!!
be careful to take the concentration or else it will burn the plant

Please tll the name of the insecticide to be used against these white bugs.
Thanks.

hi u can use any insecticide majorly used 4 agricultural use,,,,
mainly with dimethoate as a major composition!!!!
hope this will hlp
thanks

Hi,

I am not sure how expensive neem (Azadirechta sp) oil is in India ( It is $25 per 250ml here). Try neem oil spray first if you have small children who could be potentially exposed to the chemicals like dimethoate or any other organophosphates. I think khush is right in suggesting it to eliminate them.

Also powdered charcoal is supposed to take care of them as well.

Best of luck.

Hi
 Thanks khush and Kevi.
 I have eliminated most of them by manually plucking the infected parts. I have observed that these bugs grow mostly on plants which are in shade. Putting plants in direct sunlight would be a good idea.
Govind

naah !! they have infected the buds of my hibiscus. IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT........

Quote :

Govind wrote : Hi, White coloured bugs have infected my chrysanthemum plants. Are they harmful? How do I get rid of them?

Hi Govind, these bugs must be flying like bits of papers, if that is correct then this is the reply for your problem: This pest is called MEALY BUGand it has got the character of evolving every now and then. So, no pesticide will help to eradicate them. I have discussed with one of the Retired Professor from TNAU and he advised me not to keep plants which are more attracting for this pest.But I adopt a method to save my plant, that is, I used to wipe the eggs of this pest which can be seen under the leaves as white coating and on flesh stemps with brush or with my nails. If a larger area of the plant is affected, I remove that part and put it away and keep a strict vigil all the time, if seen again do the same procedure. Like this I have saved some of my Plants from this killer bugs. Enjoy Gardening

Mealy bugs!!!! @#$%^&!!! along with aphids and spider mites - the worst enemies of my plants. Neem oil doesnot get rid of the mealy bugs for more than a week. You need to use stong pestisides(u can get it from plant nursery)  to keep them away. and then use neem-oil for maintainance.
Also ants apparently keep these mealy bugs as pets and farm their honey-dew!! I succeded in keeping away mealys only after I put ant power under my plants.
Also after using pestisides, its a must to use neem oil.  The pesticides dont kill spider mites( very tiny and red, usually under the leaves). They thrive when all other insects are dead. neem oil kills them.