Help needed with pests.

bananaman · 08-20-2005, 01:09 PM

I have a collection of banana plants fron seed or purchased as Tissue Culture from specialists.
About twenty five in all mostly in pots of various sizes. My plan is to overwinter in pots inside my house.
I find as you would expect that because of the dry atmosphere in my greenhouse and on window sills I have BIG problems with insects on the undersides of leaves. These are probably red spider, mites mealy bugs etc etc.
I have a regime of cleaning the leaves every few days with a moist sponge and soapy water.
My question is... what can I safely spray with to control this infestation?
I have used proprietary "Bug killer " sprays etc but these seem to have a detrimental effect on the plants and put them back weeks and weeks and damage the leaves.
The leaves seem to discolour badly when sprayed.
Thank you in advance for your help.

Gabe15 · 08-20-2005, 01:30 PM

I use a insecticidal Neem Oil spray, it works good for me as long as you keep up on it and in the right concentrations does not harm the plants at all.

bananaman · 08-20-2005, 02:30 PM

Thank you Gabe , helpful and swift as always.
I have heard of this "Neem" before . I am not sure that it is obtainable in UK but I will do a Google search on it.
Best regards.

08-20-2005, 01:09 PM	#1 (permalink)
bananaman Member Location: West Midlands England. Find me on the map! Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 54 BananaBucks : 50,940 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 0 Times Was Thanked 7 Times in 5 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Help needed with pests. I have a collection of banana plants fron seed or purchased as Tissue Culture from specialists. About twenty five in all mostly in pots of various sizes. My plan is to overwinter in pots inside my house. I find as you would expect that because of the dry atmosphere in my greenhouse and on window sills I have BIG problems with insects on the undersides of leaves. These are probably red spider, mites mealy bugs etc etc. I have a regime of cleaning the leaves every few days with a moist sponge and soapy water. My question is... what can I safely spray with to control this infestation? I have used proprietary "Bug killer " sprays etc but these seem to have a detrimental effect on the plants and put them back weeks and weeks and damage the leaves. The leaves seem to discolour badly when sprayed. Thank you in advance for your help.

08-20-2005, 01:30 PM	#2 (permalink)
Gabe15 Moderator Gabe15's Photo Gallery Location: Oahu, Hawaii Find me on the map! Zone: 12 Name: Gabe Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 3,892 BananaBucks : 13,348,663 Feedback: 5 / 100% Said "Thanks" 1 Times Was Thanked 8,241 Times in 2,200 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 8 Times	Re: Help needed with pests. I use a insecticidal Neem Oil spray, it works good for me as long as you keep up on it and in the right concentrations does not harm the plants at all. __________________ Growing bananas in Colorado, Washington, Hawaii since 2004. Commercial banana farmer, 200+ varieties.

08-20-2005, 02:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
bananaman Member Location: West Midlands England. Find me on the map! Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 54 BananaBucks : 50,940 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 0 Times Was Thanked 7 Times in 5 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 0 Times	Re: Help needed with pests. Thank you Gabe , helpful and swift as always. I have heard of this "Neem" before . I am not sure that it is obtainable in UK but I will do a Google search on it. Best regards.

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