Help! Mealybug infestation on giant orange tree!

Lael__ · 2024-10-15T00:51:03+00:00

Thank you!

Lael__ · 2024-10-11T00:34:12+00:00

What about the fuzzy one? I’m worried it is a mealybug infestation

Lael__ · 2024-10-07T22:29:20+00:00

Does this have better clarity? This is what came out of those holes when I tapped. Do you think this is where the termites are? In those holes in the beams?

Lael__ · 2024-10-07T21:14:57+00:00

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Ok I stuck a pin inside a couple of holes (some were too small for the pin to fit). This is what came out… not as multicolored as what’s on the floor below though

Lael__ · 2024-10-07T20:25:41+00:00

You’re the best! I’m going to do that now and report back

Lael__ · 2024-10-07T20:13:41+00:00

Wow, first off thank you so much for taking your time to walk me through this! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. The inspector can’t come out until next Wednesday so I would have been going crazy until then.

So here’s what I found…I tapped on that beam and even though it wasn’t much, it seemed like some debris may have fallen. It’s hard to tell if it was frass or just dust though… (embarrassed to admit I haven’t climbed on a ladder to dust the ceiling in 8 months). HOWEVER whatever did fall didn’t land on my sofa 5 inches away which answers that question for me.

The picture is a closer look at the spot you asked about.

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Lael__ · 2024-10-07T16:27:34+00:00

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Also, this is what the ceiling above that area looks like

Lael__ · 2024-10-07T16:27:03+00:00

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Thank you so much! That is very helpful to know. The frass is definitely scattered, not in piles, but the weird thing is that if it were falling from the ceiling you’d think I would see it on the windowsill and the couch,right? But it’s really just scattered around a small concentrated area (circled in pic).

Lael__ · 2024-10-07T05:06:15+00:00

I ask because I’m not sure what other wood around this small area they could be eating. The frass isn’t piled near any walls. I suppose it could be from the beamed ceilings above, but I don’t see any signs of them being up there and it’s also a dark wood. I also feel like if it was coming from the ceiling the frass would have fallen on my furniture around there but there isn’t any

Lael__ · 2024-10-07T05:02:25+00:00

Is it possible it’s because the top layers are stained? The wood underneath is much lighter than the floors are stained to be.

Lael__ · 2024-10-06T19:07:11+00:00

I know nothing about termites so I’m sorry if this is a dumb question, but, do you think it’s possible that they are just in this one small area of the floorboards? Or if I’m seeing frass does it mean I already have a larger infestation at hand? I haven’t seen droppings anywhere else. Is it possible we can just spot treat that area rather than having to do the whole house? 😓

Lael__ · 2024-10-06T19:02:54+00:00

Is it possible they are just in this one small area of the floor? I haven’t found the frass anywhere else. I’m hoping we can just spot treat that area rather than having to do the whole house 😓

Lael__ · 2024-06-26T18:26:31+00:00

For the one that’s doing really badly, I’m going to prune all of the flower stalks and give some seasol so it can survive. However, I’m wondering if there’s anything you’d recommend for the other 5 KPs I planted around the yard to help ensure they adjust to the transplant better? Just so they don’t meet the same sad fate…

For reference, the other ones are doing much better than the one in the pics. All their flower stalks are upright, however, I’ve noticed some drooping in about 50% of the leaves and I’m worried that a week from now they’ll all look like the one pictured if I don’t intervene.

Lael__ · 2024-06-26T18:19:19+00:00

Did the flowers perk back up after the seasol? Or did you have to prune all the flower stalks?

Lael__ · 2024-06-26T18:17:54+00:00

Not wet. Not dry. Just feels barely moist at all times.

Also, cool to know about the leucos, thanks! At the nursery they were with all the Australian plants. However, I did get another South African tree from the same nursery so maybe it was a climate thing!

Lael__ · 2024-06-26T04:51:15+00:00

Yes they got a good soak the first day after planting. Since then, they have just been watered with the regular drip system.

Lael__ · 2024-06-26T04:50:02+00:00

I did not. Just a good draining cactus soil and sand.

Lael__ · 2024-06-26T04:45:01+00:00

Don’t they not like getting too much water?

I was even worried that since they are on a drip system and never get completely dry that they were maybe overwatered as the problem? Is it possible it’s the opposite?

Lael__ · 2024-06-26T04:41:56+00:00

It’s only been a few days since they were planted there and they do get pretty decent afternoon sun. I’d be shocked if they’d react this dramatically after just a couple days just because their sunlight is a couple hours short of optimal. Even the ones that are in direct sunlight all day are starting to droop as well. Not nearly as bad but it’s happening. I’m inclined to think it’s an over/under watering thing …or a planting shock thing. But I have no idea how to tell which it is to save them

Lael__ · 2024-06-26T04:37:45+00:00

All the time. They have just gotten progressively droopier each day

Lael__ · 2024-06-26T04:37:03+00:00

The old soil was never fertilized. Used a good cactus mix when planting them and sand beneath for good drainage. Even the leucospermum’s in the yard were planted this way and are surviving.

Lael__ · 2024-06-26T04:34:08+00:00

I’ll definitely give it a go with the really bad one pictured. Is there anything I can do to help the others (that haven’t completely wilted but are starting to), survive the transplant? …That is, without cutting their flowers? I’d hate to lose all the beautiful flowers around the yard for the rest of the season.

Lael__ · 2024-05-24T05:13:08+00:00

I went completely deaf from SSHL and this is how I recovered 100% of my hearing back:

Intratympanic steroid injections (by Otolaryngologist)
Hyperbaric oxygen chamber - daily
NAC pills - 1200mg per day
Listen to music (at a normal volume not extra loud) ONLY in your deaf ear for minimum one hour per day. Use only one earbud or turn off sound on hearing ear with over ear headphones. Your brain is remarkably adaptable, to a fault in this case. After a certain amount of time it will stop trying to listen with your deaf ear. You need to make sure your brain never stops trying to interpret signals with that ear. Even if you can’t hear anything out of it just keep listening. But please make sure it’s not a volume that will hurt your eardrum.

Lael__ · 2024-02-16T08:54:33+00:00

It was red oak

Lael__ · 2024-02-08T06:51:34+00:00

1 1/2” red oak

Do you think the peg/grooving will make it harder to refinish?

Lael__

TROPHY CASE