Used Coffee Grounds Kill Mealy Bugs And Scale!

[meandwi]

We have seen a few threads on how to kill mealy bugs and scale. I have started using coffee grounds and it works! Starbucks coffee gives away their used grounds free for the asking. So one of my men picks it up everyday for use on our farm here in south Florida. We place about half an inch around each plant and water daily.

Since we have no starbucks near our home in Ao Luk, I will be asking the the hotels and resturants to help me out.

I'm just passing on this info to help others out Here is a link also http://www.cycad.org/documents/Broome-Coffee-2007.pdf

meandwi

[Lickey]

Thanks, a very good link and it also explained that mealy bugs evolve in the root of the plant, I saw this today when i was pulling up some old papaya plants, they will go on the weed/compost heaps i am making, and if enough heat gets into the heap it should kill bugs and seeds,

Out here in the sticks, i would have a big job to find coffe grounds, but i have found an altenative, tobaco, easy to make and apply, cheap too.

Will keep you all posted!

Cheers, Lickey.

[ozzydom]

Thanks, a very good link and it also explained that mealy bugs evolve in the root of the plant, I saw this today when i was pulling up some old papaya plants, they will go on the weed/compost heaps i am making, and if enough heat gets into the heap it should kill bugs and seeds,

Out here in the sticks, i would have a big job to find coffe grounds, but i have found an altenative, tobaco, easy to make and apply, cheap too.

Will keep you all posted!

Cheers, Lickey.

Nicotine sulfate has been used since the turn of the century and is the most hazardous botanical insecticide available to home gardeners. The insecticide is extracted from tobacco by steam distillation or solvent extraction.

[Lickey]

Ive tried everything else and all the inseticides are so exspensive now, so ive got to try other cheaper means,with one thing or another, ive lost a lot of money farming this year, [ i have a different kind of vermin to Gary A but the same result ].

I go to the farm for about 3/4 hours every afternoon, i cant sit on the ground because of ants, i have to be choosy where i hang my bag [food and drink] in a tree because of ants, The labour are not keen anymore to pick fruit because of ants raining down on them, the bamboo plantations are totally infested with big red ants,black ones and smaller ants, they have eaten the floor and roof of our small farm/party house, we are starting to replace that now ready for the dry season.

And the snails, they are in every tree and plant on the farm, happily munching away on the cassava/banana/papaya/lamyai/ect leaves and fruit,whatever inseticide i use does not shift them.

I bought a 50gram pak of thai baccy today [10bht] got 2 old socks, 25g in each and put them in 10 ltr water containers, within an hour, had a brew that looked like black coffee, watered? some snails and ants with this and will know the results tomorrow.

The pics are, banana seems to be doing ok, grease band on papaya,snails on banana,kanoon tree damage, beetle on kanoon tree,and a big milli/centipede, anthill destroyed,[are the black bits ant castings and would they be ok for my organic compost heap?] and the big centipede thing, is this ok?

Thanks for your comments, Lickey.

Edited July 19, 2008 by Lickey

[ozzydom]

Lickey, All critters need a suitable environment providing food,shade moisture and all their other requirements to thrive as they are on your block.

It appears that you have developed an insect utopia.

Most of these insects do not have natural predators (on your block anyway) to keep a natural balance so they are multiplying out of control.

Other than a 500kg Napalm bomb , it looks like you are really pushing poo up hill to get them under control.

As I have not seen the farm yet (but Amy and are going to take up your invite soon) it looks like your plantings are pretty close and mixed up.

Maybe you could look at upsetting the environment so that it is less inviting to many of the critters, this might entail the removal of the bananas and papaya ,opening the block up to more light and sun and letting it dry out, only providing water to the plants that really need it.

For example ,mealy bugs and aphids seem to prefer papaya , snails prefer bananas, so by eliminating these food sources may eliminate the pests or get them down to a manageable level.

Foregoing these sources of income for a year may seem radical ,but removing the host plants, then ploughing and leaving it fallow for a year, forcing the critters to find another home may be worth a thought. (less sleepless nights and grey hairs)

[Gary A]

This is an interesting topic and made me immediately wonder what Nestle does with the tons of coffee grounds from their instant coffee factory.

[Lickey]

Dom, you are quite right about crowded plants, it did seem like a good idea to intercrop papaya and banana beause of dry season irrigation, problem is they are both sun-worshippers and the 14 month old papaya is near 4 mtrs tall, also my night-time irrigating [by sprinklers] regime was another factor in the pest development, so hands up for that, and now we have rain nearly every day, going inthe plantation is much like a sauna.

We are now selling 700 hands of banana a week, and about 500kilos of papaya a week, it would of course break our hearts to plough this lot in, but what i could and will do is remove all the under-performers and keep the culms down to the mum, next best and a suckling, this should allow more sun in and make it uncomfortable for unwanted critters!!

I cant report on the tobacco tea today, it absolutley pissed down all day and the bamboo plantation is not a nice place to be, full of mossies!!

I would think another reason is is our soil is absolute <deleted>, nothing will grow without exspensive fertilizer, Missasippi Mud Pie would describe it well this time of year, or chocolate blamaunge, fertilizer has done nothing for the soil,and as i understand it, the more you use the more you need to use in following crops!

Does anybody remember that old BBC programme, still going i think, Gardeners Question Time, one of the panel members would always say, Well, the answer lies in the soil!! and how right he is, its all about ground/soil prep.

SAP and i have had a some PMs and phone chats, he has guided me into how store potential seed potatoes and making a compost heap, the heap is about 2 months old, and with internet research, have made other heaps from weeds,sawdust,bananaleaves/culms,food/fruit waste.

Getting back to SAPs compost heap, i turn it every 3 days, the heat and smell is overbearing, which is a very good sign, when its cool and smells sweet, and the compost is crumbly, its ready to dig in. about 1/2 ton. and plant the seed potatoes a week later.

From what ive read on sites is that a more natural soil structure you have, the more insect repellant it is.

Dom, you are more than welcome to visit us, just bring one of your big fish for dinner! Amy can spend the day in the salon and we an go off to the farm [or bar] stay the night too if you want, plenty of room,

Cheers, Lickey.

[meandwi]

Ive tried everything else and all the inseticides are so exspensive now, so ive got to try other cheaper means,with one thing or another, ive lost a lot of money farming this year, [ i have a different kind of vermin to Gary A but the same result ].

I go to the farm for about 3/4 hours every afternoon, i cant sit on the ground because of ants, i have to be choosy where i hang my bag [food and drink] in a tree because of ants, The labour are not keen anymore to pick fruit because of ants raining down on them, the bamboo plantations are totally infested with big red ants,black ones and smaller ants, they have eaten the floor and roof of our small farm/party house, we are starting to replace that now ready for the dry season.

And the snails, they are in every tree and plant on the farm, happily munching away on the cassava/banana/papaya/lamyai/ect leaves and fruit,whatever inseticide i use does not shift them.

I bought a 50gram pak of thai baccy today [10bht] got 2 old socks, 25g in each and put them in 10 ltr water containers, within an hour, had a brew that looked like black coffee, watered? some snails and ants with this and will know the results tomorrow.

The pics are, banana seems to be doing ok, grease band on papaya,snails on banana,kanoon tree damage, beetle on kanoon tree,and a big milli/centipede, anthill destroyed,[are the black bits ant castings and would they be ok for my organic compost heap?] and the big centipede thing, is this ok?

Thanks for your comments, Lickey.

I hate insects with a passion. Before my wife moved here, I'd spray them darn things with everything available! Now we have a small baby and she won't allow the mass killings I so enjoyed . I still smash snails every morning though . So my thoughts are like yours, "How do I kill them all"?! I've learned to live with the ants. They help more than hurt by pollinating. We wear long sleeved shirts and hats with boots while harvesting fruit. I continue looking for organic ways to help kill, but it's not as easy as pulling out a good bottle of malithion.

I dont think dead ants would hurt the compost pile, It looks like the (unknown)centapede is enjoying them. (I'd kill it too, just because)

The beetle on the kanoon is a dead Circada. Makes alot of noise so I kill them also! (I wouldn't make a good buddhist). The bark damage appears to be termites. Kill them!

Just keep your positive outlook on life and just keep growing (and killing!)

meandwi

[AsiaCheese]

This is an interesting topic and made me immediately wonder what Nestle does with the tons of coffee grounds from their instant coffee factory.

Ohhhh - you mean the nasty stuff is ACTUALLY made from coffee???

[Gary A]

This is an interesting topic and made me immediately wonder what Nestle does with the tons of coffee grounds from their instant coffee factory.

Ohhhh - you mean the nasty stuff is ACTUALLY made from coffee???

Years ago I worked at a factory near Chachoengsao. Several hundred meters away was a coffee factory and if you liked coffee, the smell of freshly brewed coffee was delightful.

[Lickey]

Sorry folks, forgot to post the centipede pic, here it is, about 7in long and 1/2 in dia,

The neighbour has stopped his chickens getting onto the farm,so im of down the bug shop to buy some pellets ect,problem is i think the snails can live and breed in the banana plants,they get all the water they want where the leaf joins the culm and the leaf as food and shade ect.

We also have 3 bees nests [that i know of] so polinating isnt much of a problem,

Cheers,Lickey.

[Gary A]

Sorry Lickey, that's not a centipede, it's a harmless millipede. Centipedes are a golden color with longer legs and have a VERY wicked bite.

[ozzydom]

If coffee grounds are effective against mealy,s ,I wonder how black coffee may work ,sprayed directly on the mealy,s on the foliage.

May have to work out whether they like with sugar and/or milk but might be worth a try.

[ozzydom]

Sorry Lickey, that's not a centipede, it's a harmless millipede. Centipedes are a golden color with longer legs and have a VERY wicked bite.

Duh, And I spent 10 minutes with the magnifying glass looking for that critter in the previous photo,s,.

[meandwi]

If coffee grounds are effective against mealy,s ,I wonder how black coffee may work ,sprayed directly on the mealy,s on the foliage.

May have to work out whether they like with sugar and/or milk but might be worth a try.

In the link, 2nd page down, last paragraph, he explains spraying the mealy bugs. (Fig.9). By making a "sun tea". "by the next day all aphids and mealy bugs were dead.'

I thought that thing in the upper right side of the termite mound was the millipede! What is that thing? A snake? or,,,,

Irish coffee for me

meandwi

[Lickey]

Thanks Gary, i havent killed any because i havent seen them do any harm to anything, hopefully they are anteaters?

Dont seem like the tobbaco tea worked, unless the ants and snails regrouped in 2 days? the tea have an active life of 2 hours, so that was possible i suppose.

Meandwi, i think thats a piece of bamboo in the pic, although there is snakes on the farm, when i having a break sitting on an old oil drum, a snake about 1 mtr long, green head,then yellow band,red band green body,silver underside comes along and hisses at me, i hiss back and it eventually goes away, another 1 i see often is all black, about a 1 mtr, i think its called a king snake, and christ, can it move when disturbed!!

I dont think these are harmful and sure not harmfull to the fruit trees, and i hope the slug pellets i broadcast today wont hurt them, i think they eat vermin, rats and mice ect.

Also mealy bugs are back in the cassava, and i have to add this is in the ex-papaya plantation we ploughed in because the bugs devastated the plants, so perhaps a jar of the cheapest coffee dilluted and sprayed on might do the trick?

Thanks, Lickey.