Insecticide/Pesticide use during winter

[Melospiza]

Hi all,

I have a question about pre-emptive pesticide use when bringing plants indoors for winter. My plants fall into 3 groups: tropicals, hardy outdoors in Chicago, and plants that need cool weather but don't tolerate a Chicago winter. My question is related to category 1, plants that stay in my grow tent or south-facing windows, and often grow all through winter. I have had sporadic infestations of aphids, scale insects, woolly aphids and whitefly on these (especially gardenia and schefflera), which I beat back with an organic pesticide and insecticidal soap. Both are considered safe for beneficial insects. the infestations are never life-threatening, but they do stunt the new growth on these plants.

I'm wondering if I should have sprayed all the plants before bringing them indoors in October. Would this have made my job now much easier? What kind of sprays do you recommend? I prefer organic pesticides but wouldn't be opposed to harsher chemicals, since I am not likely to be hurting any other insects in winter.

Feel free to refer me to other threads on here, or elsewhere. Thanks for your time.

 

[sorce]

Where is the grow tent?

If you're spraying, one spray before bringing them in probably won't be enough. You'd want your final treatments to happen around when you bring em in, once you've killed all stages. Otherwise, you'll tote some into wherever the tent is.
Constant vigilance can win without chemicals. Those early signs are crucial.

Sorce

 

[Melospiza]

Grow tent is indoors, has pretty bright CFL and LED lighting. I use it so that the whole room isn't lit up with pink and blue light. Good idea to spray several times to kill all stages. Thanks for that. I had to rush my plants indoors this year because of the early snow and freezes around Halloween.

One thing I have found useful for whitefly is the sticky yellow paper you can buy on Amazon. Works wonders for flying pests.

 

[coh]

Before I bring tropicals in I treat for pests several ways:

1) frequent water spraying of canopies and trunks to dislodge mites, aphids, scale crawlers, etc
2) application of a systemic insecticide like bayer, to eliminate scale
3) spray foliage with light oil spray to suffocate whatever is left

Once indoors I try to keep an eye on the trees and spray the foliage with water regularly. I'll take them to the bathtub and spray the entire plant thoroughly. This usually seems to control most pests (especially mites). Scale is tougher, if you have a problem with it you can just remove it manually, or use something systemic like the bayer. Same for stuff like mealybugs. I try to avoid really harsh chemicals indoors.

 

[Mike Corazzi]

Bayer has been holy for me. Not one aphid or scale this year.
And it feeds, too.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Organic pesticides, as well as chemical ones, do have their effect on the health of your indoor environment. Residues of pyrethrins for instance, are known to cause allergies and are linked to asthma in young kids.
Never ever do a treatment indoors whatsoever.

I treat my plants twice before bringing them indoors. Then I take them out after 3-6 weeks and treat them again on a cold day, and put them back indoors. Once an infestation takes hold, it can take months to get rid of it. I have woolly aphids in my terrarium, and I've been treating against them for 5 months now. Still, they end up on the fresh tips of branches. One more month and they should be under control, but it's a tedious process.
The worst thing is, my girlfriend keeps introducing new aphids because she's not treating the plants in her apartment.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Where is the grow tent?

If you're spraying, one spray before bringing them in probably won't be enough. You'd want your final treatments to happen around when you bring em in, once you've killed all stages. Otherwise, you'll tote some into wherever the tent is.
Constant vigilance can win without chemicals. Those early signs are crucial.

Sorce

Didn't you post on another thread that you tend to defoliate your tropicals when you bring them indoors to mitigate pests as well as to get "indoor" leaves to grow out? I'm still hesitant to do full defoliation on my tropicals going indoors/outdoors but I did treat mine with some Neem oil prior to bringing them in and outside a few fungus gnats they're peat free.

 

[sorce]

defoliate your tropicals

Yeah but I only have ficus.

I reckon the shef would fare ok but I don't know about the gardenia.

As long as the tree is healthy, like, untouched since Julyish, it should be fine.

Depends on the bug problem too I reckon.
If it's worth taking the chance...

If bugs take em to a negative 2 and the defoliating takes em to a negative 6, just stick with the bugs.

Sorce

 

[penumbra]

Safari systemic insecticide works best for me. When plants are coming in I clean them up and spay the plants and soil heavily I wait two weeks and do it again.
I also like Safari inside because there is no smell. Like many insecticides, it is deadly to bees so consider this in its use.

 

[sorce]

Grow tent is indoors,

Ok, inside and cleanable.

I pictured it on grass and warmed, inviting bugs.

That snow blowed.

Come October I start eyeballing the forecast, truthfully, they would probly fare better of brought in end of Sept.

Have you ever defoiloated the gardenia?

Sorce

 

[Melospiza]

Thanks for the advice everyone. There is a lot on here that is useful to me.

Have you ever defoiloated the gardenia?

Sorce

I don't defoliate anything when bringing it in, but I will prune back too-long shoots. Once the tropicals are in the plant tent, they will start growing, and I may work on them when they are strongly growing. The gardenia varieties I have are sub-tropical and are supposed to go semi-dormant in winter, so I don't defoliate or prune them late in the year. Hence I put them on the windowsill rather than in the grow tent, which I reserve for truly tropical species. However, the gardenias seem to like the window they are in, and are putting out flower buds, which immediately attracted wooly aphids.

 

[sorce]

attracted wooly aphids

Attracted from where?

Seems like they've been there, then with shelter, less spiders, etc they blow up.

Unless there are "plants all over the house".

Sorce

 

[Melospiza]

Attracted from where?

Seems like they've been there, then with shelter, less spiders, etc they blow up.

Unless there are "plants all over the house".

Sorce

I meant to say that the pests probably hitched a ride from outside. I don't get many infestations when they are outside, since there is good air flow, natural pest control and stiff breezes and heavy rain. When they come in, the still air and lack of predators makes pests flourish. I do have "plants all over the house" but these infestations only happen when I bring tender plants for the winter.

 

[sorce]

"plants all over the house"

Lol! Me too...ish...I don't think they readily travel between them, where I have them placed.

Sounds like wooly aphids would be prone to get at a gardenia....like they'd be preferred.

I don't know it well, gardenia, been wanting one .....
But it sounds like it may be the only one that really needs a finetooth combing.

Then again, it's all for nothing if they are traveling between, and the whole problem isn't nipped.

Like, they can be maintaining a small population in a healthy plant that doesn't show stress, and doesn't overfeed the population. Those need eradicating.

Sorce

 

[Melospiza]

Like, they can be maintaining a small population in a healthy plant that doesn't show stress, and doesn't overfeed the population. Those need eradicating.

Sorce

Yup, agree with that. Gardenia would be treated similar to camellias and azaleas. Acidic, rich soil that drains well. It's recommended to keep them in clay pots for soil health. They are prone to pests, as you can see.

My gardenias are at this point, purely houseplants, not bonsai. Too skinny for that yet.

Here is a gardenia for sale in the Chicago area: https://www.letgo.com/en-us/i/gurdinia-big-plant_99d10617-80fd-4147-b2e3-929afad0bdc0

I am tempted to buy it, but I probably shouldn't. I think it's the biggest specimen you can expect to see in Chicago. It's still a skinny plant, but can probably look decent as a group, especially if you air-layer the tops off and plant them back in the group. In any case, a gardenia in bloom can probably get away with being skinny, like azaleas do.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I've seen bigger, with larger diameter trunks, but only in greenhouses. There was one in the now torn down greenhouses on Route 176 just west of Lamb's Farm & the expressway. They wanted several hundreds for it. Haven't seen a large diameter trunk since then.

 

[Melospiza]

I've seen bigger, with larger diameter trunks, but only in greenhouses. There was one in the now torn down greenhouses on Route 176 just west of Lamb's Farm & the expressway. They wanted several hundreds for it. Haven't seen a large diameter trunk since then.

I moved here from GA, and people there will casually rip up decades-old gardenias, camellias and azaleas from their yard to make way for new bushes. There is a beautiful camellia tree that would look fantastic as a bonsai, located on a church property in Atlanta. It is due to become a condo building the second the church makes a deal, and the camellia will meet the same fate. One man's treasure is another man's trash...

Hope the gardenia you saw lives on in someone's collection.