Worm_Farmer

Hello,

I was cutting out some pups that were not doing so well just to thin out my matts. I found on one of my mats grubs are tunneling into the corms. I looks like little holes in the sides of the corm so I shaved the corm with a razor until I found two white grubs hidden deep inside these corm. Should I spray some good old poison around the corms? I also thought if I fertilize the corm will grow almost fast enough to repair the damage. Some at the Rare Fruit club suggesting digging out the matt and keeping the best pup and plant it about 4 - 10 ft away from the old location before they just kill off the entire matt.

What do you guys think?

JP

I'd say: NUKE THEM! Have no mercy! I'm not into chemicals but as long as they are in the soil, you got problems! Good luck! As for my fruit trees, fieldmice srewed me over 300$ of them during the long cold winter we had... I wonder what the f the neighbor's cats were doing...

Speedjester

Never knew grubs burrowed into plants...If there just just regular grubs.. Use some grub X.... The stuff works great...Good luck..

Worm_Farmer

I will soak the area with TalStar. I know overuse it no good but heck I want to soak in deep. Whats the worst that can happen? LoL

PR-Giants

You have the most devastating insect of the banana world.

This insect quickly spread to all banana growing countries because people failed to follow the proper protocol for transporting banana plants.

The Good News is, you can stop worrying about getting them.

The Rare Fruit Club suggestion is about as effective as dumping your waste water on one side of a pond and using the other side for your drinking water.

You should inform the folks you shared corms with.

Shipping dirty corms like this is a terrible practice.

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PR-Giants

good luck finding the adults. LoL

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verndoc50

Sounds like corm borers to me (aka banana weevil borer)!
Tough to eliminate.

Kat2

Well, I'm concerned. Not because I have 3 of Mike's pups here from 2013 (which were stunted during my transient time but are doing beautifully now that they're in their permanent home) but because I'm hoping to someday make a trip to meet him and perhaps bring home a few more. I found this:

Management
Plant only healthy plant material, do not plant if any tunnels are visible; hot water treatment of clean trimmed suckers can be used to kill off many eggs and grubs; applications of neem powder can reduce weevil numbers; appropriate insecticides applied at time of planting can help control weevil numbers.

From this: https://www.plantvillage.com/en/topi...es_propagation

PR, are you recommending "bathing" pups? And what insecticides do you suggest?

I've never used more than dish liquid spray (SunLight is best but no longer available) and diatomaceous earth on pests in my gardens unless there was an uncontrollable outbreak of nasty bugs (then Sevin or Malation--judiciously and maybe 5x in 30+ years). Why never Neem? I guess I didn't realize what it was. Need to buy some; FL has really nasty "invisible to me" insects. (Not the damage...)

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raygrogan

Here is a slightly old quote from Univ of Hawaii (search CTHAR), but it doesn't get into one of their recs, to lay pieces of corm face down on the dirt to get an idea of how thick they are. Somewhere they mention a threshold, when to spray, etc. But anyway, here is the quick quote:

"Banana Root Borer

The banana root borer is a relatively new insect pest. Limited field trials indicate that carbofuran (Furadan) reduces adult numbers. Literature indicated that Mocap and Lorsban (chlorpyrifos) are similarly effective. Mocap is registered, and Lorsban is not. Another chemical, Pirimicid (pirimiphos-ethyl), has been reported to be quite effective in several areas of the world. Unfortunately, the chemical company does not seem interested in obtaining further registrations in the U.S. Carbofuran and Mocap are being recommended in Hawaii because they also have nematicidal ability.

The root borer is found in windward Oahu and Honolulu, Molokai, and the Waihee area of Maui. DOA regulations require that corms be trimmed, visually inspected for infestation, and treated with hot water prior to export from infested islands. Trialtreatments with methyl bromide have not been effective (borers survived while corms did not).

Preliminary studies (Gettman. 1984. Control of the Banana Root Borer in Banana Planting Stock. PROC. 16TH. ANN H.B.I.A. CONF.) showed that a treatment of 43.3 oC for 3 hours is sufficient to kill all stages found in the center of corms 4 1/2 inches in diameter. Further studies could be done on increase of exposure period, corm size, and plant mortality."

Kat2

I'd love to know the right way to deal with pups from someone's garden. (Isolation alone isn't the answer I'm certain.) Or, should the time come when I have some to share, how to treat mine to ensure that any issues I have (none so far except Cuban frogs and invisible leaf chewers) don't become another person's issue.

Could someone in the know illuminate me?

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Speedjester

Kat2 I had a very knowledgeable gentleman explain to me.. ..that the correct way to ship was bare corms no roots , clean, inspect for holes and infestation.. And coat with insecticide and fungicide... I received a few corms like this a couple of weeks ago and planted them right in the ground.. They are doing great..

Kat2

Which ones? I'd rather go as natural as possible but realize that's not always practical. I've traded/given away/received many plants up north without treating them and never had an issue. Frost does have a benefit.

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Speedjester

I don't know.. what he used..I can tell you the came coated in what looked like a green powder...I was told I could wash it off or leave it as is and plant it..

PR-Giants

Furadan is banned, but was very useful in reducing lions, weevils, & most wildlife.

Living with Lions | Lion Poisoning

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raygrogan

Here is a UH page from my morning mail - I don't see the weevil listed but it might be covered on some of the links:

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/sustaina...na-disease.pdf