| Bamboo Care - Troubleshooting ...Where there’s leaf there’s life. |
The problem
and the cure
Not much ails bamboo that regular water and feeding won't fix. It can pretty much hold its own against pests. But when trouble calls, your bamboo can't just go down to the shop and buy insecticide. You need to do the shopping yourself. Providing the growing conditions are suitable for a particular species, bamboo will flourish with minimum aftercare and reward you, evergreen, for years to come. |
| Symptoms & possible causes Yellowing leaves(1) Cold, dry roots, lack of food (Nitrogen), or could be trace elements. Lack of vigour Roots dried out or roots waterlogged, needs food, pot bound. Marks on leaves Insect damage. Mites on the underside. Browning of leaves(2) Salt or chlorine from pools, boggy soil. Parchment coloured leaves Um…death (If the culm is green then it can recover). |
| Bamboo Mites can be diagnosed by yellow blemishes on upper side of leaves |
(1)Bamboo
can adjust in deteriorating conditions such as drying out. If leaves
go yellow or orange this is the bamboo compartmentalising by relocating
nutrients to other parts of the plant. |
Pests on bamboo |
| Bamboo Mites erect characteristic webbing on the underside of leaves |
| Straw-coloured to greenish yellow with small blackish
green spots, they are quite active, constantly moving about. Occasionally,
adults can be found outside the webbing, mostly as they start to form
new nests. Often several webbed nests will form alongside each other running down the underside of the bamboo leaves. In Japan they are termed "Surprise bug" or "bikkuri mushi", because they arrive unexpectedly. Control With a systemic insecticide as with Spider Mites. Spider Mites Spider mites make webs on the underside of leaves. Mites are small, (probably where they get the name) but a 10x magnifier will pick them up. They are attracted to leaves in dry microclimates. Once established no amount of misting with an atomiser will shift them. |
| Control Drench the soil with a systemic insecticide (FENTHION 4 ml/L of water). Mealy Bug Actually a scale insect spread by ants. Mealy Bugs lodge in the join of branches. They can be identified by a tiny droplet perched atop a filament just 4-5 mm long. In fact, ants commuting back and forth are a sign that they are milking the small droplets, which are very sweet. An additional source of sugar - and produced in your own home! Control With a systemic insecticidal spray as with Spider Mite. |
| The sooty black stuff "sooty mould", forms from the sugary exudate of the Mealy Bug |
These are tiny worm like pests that burrow into the roots robbing the bamboo of vigour.
The give away is brown blotches on the culms and withering of new foliage.
This is not a common problem with bamboo. It can be introduced from outside with lawn clippings.
Control
If you wish to treat them organically, plant lots of marigolds.
For chemical treatment use ‘Nemacur’.
| Mealy Bugs can be identified by a tiny droplet perched atop a filament just 4-5 mm long |
| Nematodes presence is diagnosed by the appearance of brown blotches on the culms. |
