Rubber Tree Mealy Bugs

[Lickey]

Mealy bugs have all but destroyed our Papaya plantation, Perhaps parlly my fault for not taking action earlier, the local labour had not seen this problem before so couldnt give advice on treatment, unfortnatley, its got to the slash and burn stage now just to rid the farm of the problem.

Sister in law has about 700 rubber trees on same farm, we all thought that if we couldnt see the white mealy bug under the leaves,all would be ok for trees, How wrong can you be??

The pics are from the very top of a 2/3 year old tree, about 3mts tall, as you can see, the bug is after new growth, its easier to suck food from i suppose.

I also believe ants are the biggest problem as Ozzydom suggested in an earlier post of mine, every infected tree has ants running up and down the trunk. I sprayed the infected cassava last week with an insecticide, [pics]

I had a phone chat with Khowan today, he suggested taking a piece of infected plant and have a chat with them, On arrival there was 5/6 other farmers there seeking advice on the same problem, he said the insecticide would kill the ants and also suggested the low cal addative as alcohol base to burn into the bug, mix quantities he didnt know, trial and error with this.

Lickey.

[Khonwan]

....

I had a phone chat with Khowan today, he suggested taking a piece of infected plant and have a chat with them...

Lickey.

"them": Kasert Amphur (the local Ag Dept located at each Amphur).

Thanks for the pics and the follow-up, Lickey.

Rgds

Khonwan

[ozzydom]

Bloody hel_l Alex that is some infestation,make you shed tears of blood,(as my old man used to say).

I,m wondering if metholated spirits would be suitable in the mix.

[stoneman]

Mealy bugs have all but destroyed our Papaya plantation, Perhaps parlly my fault for not taking action earlier, the local labour had not seen this problem before so couldnt give advice on treatment, unfortnatley, its got to the slash and burn stage now just to rid the farm of the problem.

Sister in law has about 700 rubber trees on same farm, we all thought that if we couldnt see the white mealy bug under the leaves,all would be ok for trees, How wrong can you be??

The pics are from the very top of a 2/3 year old tree, about 3mts tall, as you can see, the bug is after new growth, its easier to suck food from i suppose.

I also believe ants are the biggest problem as Ozzydom suggested in an earlier post of mine, every infected tree has ants running up and down the trunk. I sprayed the infected cassava last week with an insecticide, [pics]

I had a phone chat with Khowan today, he suggested taking a piece of infected plant and have a chat with them, On arrival there was 5/6 other farmers there seeking advice on the same problem, he said the insecticide would kill the ants and also suggested the low cal addative as alcohol base to burn into the bug, mix quantities he didnt know, trial and error with this.

Lickey.

Where is the office that you went to?

Stoneman

[Lickey]

Khonwan, thanks for the correction, as usual, i was thinking this but not typing,,,,

Dom, I thought about this the other day when i was re-fueling the backpack,{perhaps its better to to put the fuel-oil mix in the sprayer tank] I had thought about this to to use as a flame thrower to incinerate the bug,

Will check the availability of meths today and price, Correct me if im wrong, but meths is a by product of petroleum and could burn the plants? and Low Cal is corn based and would have little effect on plant structure?

Stoneman, I believe you know Namsom, If you come in from Ban Phu, you got the big concrete road, then it narrows, our salon is on the right, then the 24 hour Fresh One shop, traffic lights, turn right, Kasikorn bank on your left, food market then general market, then you come to a round-about with a statue, Dont turn left, dont go straight across, mid-point is the Agri-office, do you still have my mobile number, if not, i will pm it to you.

My comand of the Thai lanuage is minimal to say the least, never mind reading it, The pics of the insecticide i posted, is it a systemic? Thankyou anybody for a quick translation,

Our nextdoor neighbour told us today it was on his Euca trees, Mango and rubber trees,

Rgds, Lickey.

[ozzydom]

Khonwan, thanks for the correction, as usual, i was thinking this but not typing,,,,

Dom, I thought about this the other day when i was re-fueling the backpack,{perhaps its better to to put the fuel-oil mix in the sprayer tank] I had thought about this to to use as a flame thrower to incinerate the bug,

Will check the availability of meths today and price, Correct me if im wrong, but meths is a by product of petroleum and could burn the plants? and Low Cal is corn based and would have little effect on plant structure?

Stoneman, I believe you know Namsom, If you come in from Ban Phu, you got the big concrete road, then it narrows, our salon is on the right, then the 24 hour Fresh One shop, traffic lights, turn right, Kasikorn bank on your left, food market then general market, then you come to a round-about with a statue, Dont turn left, dont go straight across, mid-point is the Agri-office, do you still have my mobile number, if not, i will pm it to you.

My comand of the Thai lanuage is minimal to say the least, never mind reading it, The pics of the insecticide i posted, is it a systemic? Thankyou anybody for a quick translation,

Our nextdoor neighbour told us today it was on his Euca trees, Mango and rubber trees,

Rgds, Lickey.

No Alex, Metho is a grain alchohol (ethanol) which I believe is also made from sugar.

[Khonwan]

Khonwan, thanks for the correction, as usual, i was thinking this but not typing,,,,

Dom, I thought about this the other day when i was re-fueling the backpack,{perhaps its better to to put the fuel-oil mix in the sprayer tank] I had thought about this to to use as a flame thrower to incinerate the bug,

Will check the availability of meths today and price, Correct me if im wrong, but meths is a by product of petroleum and could burn the plants? and Low Cal is corn based and would have little effect on plant structure?

Stoneman, I believe you know Namsom, If you come in from Ban Phu, you got the big concrete road, then it narrows, our salon is on the right, then the 24 hour Fresh One shop, traffic lights, turn right, Kasikorn bank on your left, food market then general market, then you come to a round-about with a statue, Dont turn left, dont go straight across, mid-point is the Agri-office, do you still have my mobile number, if not, i will pm it to you.

My comand of the Thai lanuage is minimal to say the least, never mind reading it, The pics of the insecticide i posted, is it a systemic? Thankyou anybody for a quick translation,

Our nextdoor neighbour told us today it was on his Euca trees, Mango and rubber trees,

Rgds, Lickey.

Hi Lickey

Your insecticide picture indicates the active agent as Chlorpyrifos:

"Chlorpyrifos acts against insects primarily by contact and also ingestion and vapour

action. Extensive tests have not shown any systemic activity of the chemical in plants.

Chlorpyrifos has generally exhibited short residual activity on plant foliage with a halflife

of one to two days, but it is effective for several weeks in turf thatch, in soil and on

surfaces not exposed to direct sunlight."

This comes from http://www.apvma.gov.au/chemrev/downloads/...rpyrifos_ag.pdf

I have only skimmed some of the 231 pages but the document looks like a worthwhile read.

"...Low Cal is corn based..." (Lickey) - Lao Khao is made from rice (khao).

Rgds

Khonwan

[Lickey]

Hi Dom & Khowhan,

Thanks for your replies, A brief look at the farm today between storms, I inspected the cassava i had already sprayed and the ground is still totally devoid of any insects, the mealy bug that was on the plant has fallen off and is just a sticky mess on the earth, thats 8 days after the intial spray, so perhaps things are looking up?

I must mention that when i re-filled the backpack, i adjusted the spray, it was on a papaya plant, infected, i suppose i sprayed the plant 6 times, and now the leaves are burnt to a cinder, so overspraying is no good. or the leaves are more tender than cassava?

Sis in law will start spraying her rubber trees today with same stuff, and to make sure it hits the bug, somebody will have to bend the tree over, [glad im not involved!] I told her dont overspray, just a blast on the top and under the leaves, the trunk and a bit on the ground,

Will keep you all up to speed on the outcome.

As Khonwan said to me on the phone, you wait 6/7 years for your trees and you get a bug like this unnoticed, your dreams are all over in 2 months.