Notes on Hydrating Edible Mushrooms and Controlling the Three Major Sucking Pests of Flowers

Aphids, red spider mites and scale insects are the three most common sucking pests that harm flowers and trees. They attack a wide range of flowers and trees, and no plant is spared, whether woody flowers such as orchid tree (Aglaia odorata), jasmine, Chinese rose, banana shrub (Michelia figo) and plum blossom, or herbaceous flowers such as chrysanthemum, geranium and calceolaria. Through years of exploration and experimentation, the author has summed up some simple and practical control methods that are both easy to source materials for and non-polluting to the environment. They are introduced below;

Aphids. Aphids, also known as honeydew aphids, occur all year round. There are many species of aphids, usually differing in green, yellow, black and tea colors, and they harm flowers such as Chinese rose, pomegranate, chrysanthemum and gardenia. They gather on the buds, tender leaves or tender shoots of the plant, suck the sap, and damage the bud core and petals. The affected plant's branches and leaves turn yellow and become deformed, the flower buds spoil, and the flowering period is shortened. In severe cases the plant wilts and dies.

Control methods:

1. Take 50 g of fresh chili peppers or dried red chili peppers, add 30 to 50 g of water, boil for about half an hour, and spray the filtrate on the affected plants for a remarkable effect.

2. Take 3 to 4 g of washing powder, add 100 g of water, stir into a solution, and spray continuously 2 to 3 times; the control effect reaches 100%.

3. Use "Fengyoujing" (essential balm) diluted with water at 600 to 800 times, and carefully spray the pests with a sprayer so that the medicine liquid sticks to the insect bodies. The kill rate for aphids and scale insects and other pests is above 95%, while it causes no phytotoxicity to the plants.

4. Mix washing powder, urea and water in a ratio of 1:4:100, stir into a mixed liquid, and spray the plants with it; you can kill insects and fertilize at the same time.

Red spider mites. Red spider mites, also called short-whiskered mites, are pests that specifically harm flower leaves. The red spider mite's body is about the size of a needle tip, dark red or purplish red, and with the naked eye only a small red dot can be seen. Its nymphs often cluster on the leaf backs and flower buds of some flowers, harming the plant by sucking sap with their piercing-sucking mouthparts. The initial symptom is leaf chlorosis, with leaf margins curling upward; afterward the leaves wither and fall off, causing the flower buds to shrink, and in severe cases the plant dies. Red spider mites produce 7 to 8 generations a year, begin harming in March to April each year, and cause serious damage in June to July; therefore after the end of April, the plants should be observed and checked frequently. Under conditions of high temperature, high humidity and poor ventilation, red spider mites reproduce extremely fast and can cause serious losses.

Control methods:

1. Soak citrus peel in about 10 times its amount of water for a day and a night, filter, and spray the plants; this can control aphids and red spider mites, and if poured into the soil it can prevent soil nematodes.

2. Mix 15 g of washing powder, 15 ml of 20% caustic soda and 7.5 kg of water evenly, then spray; after checking one or two days later, the mortality rate of red spider mite adults and nymphs is 94-98%.

3. Take 50 g of plant ash, add 2500 g of water, stir thoroughly, soak for two days and two nights, filter, then add 3 g of washing powder and mix well before spraying, once a day for three consecutive days, then after a one-week interval spray for another three days; this can eliminate the second-generation pests and can also control sucking pests such as aphids, red spider mites and scale insects. Put into the soil, it can control maggots.

4. Light one mosquito coil and place it in the pot of the diseased plant, then tie a plastic bag tightly around the pot; after about one hour of fumigation, both eggs and adults can be killed. This is a good method that is both economical and quick-acting.

Scale insects. The body of the scale insect is wrapped in a layer of horny shell, so directly spraying chemicals on it is not very effective. Scale insects, like lice that suck human blood, suck the sap of the plant and thus cause great harm to flowers; the affected plants not only grow poorly but also show phenomena such as yellowing leaves and early leaf drop. In severe cases the plant withers and dies. The flowers harmed include orchid tree (Aglaia odorata), jasmine, camellia, banana shrub (Michelia figo) and so on.

Control methods:

1. Mix white liquor with water in a ratio of 1:2. When treating the insects, pour it to soak through the surface layer of the pot soil. Scale insects begin to become active in spring when the room temperature is 7°C, so you can pour the medicated water once in mid-April, then once about every half a month, and four consecutive times will show effect.

2. Take 50 ml of edible vinegar (rice vinegar), dip a small cotton ball in the vinegar to wet it, then gently wipe the stems and leaves of the affected flowers and trees with the wet cotton ball; this can wipe away and kill the scale insects. This method is convenient and safe. It can both achieve the purpose of insect removal and make the affected leaves turn green and glossy again.

3. Gently and repeatedly wipe the diseased plant with alcohol, and the scale insects can be removed, and removed very cleanly and thoroughly. For example, when wiping the leaves of a diseased orchid plant with alcohol, not only can the scale insects be removed, but even the larvae that cannot be clearly seen with the naked eye can all be thoroughly killed, and in the second year few scale insect infestations are found. This method is simple, safe and highly effective.

4. Mix diesel oil, washing powder and water in a ratio of 10:0.6:6 to make a stock solution; at this point the stock solution looks like milk. After diluting with water, carefully spray the scale insects on orchid tree (Aglaia odorata), kumquat and sago cycad. After one week, most of the scale insects change from their original fresh orange color to a shriveled state.