Looks like you have the bad bug. Where did you get the plants and how long ago? And has it bothered any other of your broms

HDD,

I got the Alcantarea's from a local grower about 4months ago, I lost an Alc. Grace Goode and an Alc. Glaziouana. It has never affected any of my other Broms, the bugs look like mosquito wrigglers but I don't think they are - I can't get a good photo of them.

The plants appear very healthy but the base is eaten/rotted out.

I thought it might be crown rot, I have been watering at night which I was told was the wrong thing to do.

Do you think a treatment of Alginox (Mild bleach) might help my remaining Alcantares?

Thanks,

Rick

HDD,

I got the plants 2-4 months ago from a local grower, I have lost a GraceGoode and the latest was a Glaziouana. The plants appear healthy but the base is rotted/eaten out.

The bugs look like Mosquito wrigglers but I don't think they are, I have been unable to take a descent photo of them.

It has not affected any of my other plants, I thought it might be crown rot, I have also been watering at night which I was told was a bad thing to do.

It has not affected any of my other broms.

Rick

If you have a chewing insect then you want a systemic like imidacloprid.

I wouldnt buy any thing else from that grower and insecticide wont help ..burn the soil and plants affected

HDD, what do you mean by 'the bad bug'? I got an Alc recently from Tropiflora. A fairly big plant. The leaf tips started going brown and then one day the whole plant toppled over. I found a big white wiggling thing whith a brown head in there. I treated it as best as I could and it looks like the plant is recovering. I'll look for some pictures and post it later.

Japie

Hi Rick, sorry to see that sad sight of your young Alc. IÂve grown a number of alc from seed & grass pups, & I canÂt say IÂve ever seen this type of problem, so I really cannot say for sure what it is. But, reading thru your explanation, IÂd guess that they may have been planted a little too deep in the mix to begin with, & youÂre keeping them way too wet, which has been compounded by watering at night, and in your summer temps seems to have resulted in a fungal attack on the base of the plants. Does the rotted base have a foul smell? If so itÂs bound to be a type of fungal disease.

To try & save the remaining plants IÂd first take them out of their pots, water off all the potting mix, flush them out, & spray them with a half strength water soluble fungicide, then let this drain out so there is no solution left in the cups. Then IÂd put them together in a community pot, with just a layer of perlite over the roots. Keep them out of direct sunlight, keep the plants on the dry side, & the roots just moist, applying a few more doses of fungicide over the next couple of weeks. If they survive the next month, and you see no signs of any rot around the base, then they could be potted up into Ânormal potting mix, with good drainage, & hopefully grow into majestic plants for you.

As I said, this is just Âmy guess on a course of treatment, so I hope you get some more precise answers. Please let us know how you get on.

Cheers, Andrew.

Thanks everybody for the replies.

Andrew, I didn't notice any smell but have disposed of the plant so I can't check.

I'll give your treatment regime a go.

I suspect that I may have killed them with kindness, I'll also give up the night watering and water them a little less after treatment.

Thanks again.

Rick

Alcantareas in Brisbane do not need to be watered/misted every day. It has been very hot at night over the last few months and these plants will have died from rot/unless they were in a cool area the water will have heated to a dangerous level during the day and damaged the tissue. Damaged tissue rots eventually. Alcantareas are tuff but young plants still have soft tissue. I have kept small plants such as these totally dry for many months with no ill effects but you do have to mist if they start to crisp on the tips. You should not be fertilising so much either. I have plants purchased as small as these (probably from the same grower) which after five years are thigh high and have only been watered maybe four times a year, plus natural rainfall(Which as you know in Brisbane has been almost non existant)I do not fertilise. If you water and fertilise you create soft plants, and soft plants are weak plants which rot easily. The key to growing these is to observe them and only water when they really look like they need it. Even if the leaves start to quill they will be ok if you mist. Dont fill the tanks of small plants on hot days, if you must just water the "soil" Water acts like a prism and increases the effect of uv rays to a level which will damage your broms.

Plantsplus,

Thanks for the reply, I replied a while ago but it didn't upload for some reason.

I'm happy to report that my remaining seedlings are doing well after 3 or 4 weeks, I plan on potting them up in the next week.

Rick
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