RE cutting it down now rather than in the spring - I know the mealybug is dormant, but we get fierce winter winds here and I don't want the dormant bugs to get blown around into my other miscanthus's (miscanthuses?).

Claire

I decided to cut the grass down now, after a very windy day yesterday. I really don't want to spread the mealybugs to the other grasses.

I then dug out the Bayer's Rose and Flower spray (imidacloprid) I keep for the lily leaf beetles and I poured the stuff over the cut stems. In the spring I'll use the soil drench (it contains fertilizer so I don't want to use it now).

I've never cut miscanthus when it was still mostly green, and I was astonished to see that about half of the stems had a blood red core at the base. The rest were greenish-white. I even checked my fingers to make sure I wasn't bleeding.

Is this normal? or indicative of some other frightening condition?

Claire

I have a miscanthus 'morning light' which I now suspect might have mealy bug.It hasn't grown one bit since I got it this past summer and appears to be stunted. When I pulled of a blade from the crown and split it open, what I found looked like grains of salt, that's the best to describe it. When I searched miscanthus mealy bug, it said they leave "waxy secretions".....what I found just looked like salt....could this be a sign of mealy bug?

Claire ~ I don't have any answers for you but would suggest you post this question over in the "Pests & Diseases" forum (aka Garden Clinic). That forum stays pretty busy. It sounds like you've found your culprit....some of the experts who post in the GC forum should be able to advise you on how to handle the situation. This forum doesn't get much traffic.

I discovered some sort of shield bug/beetle making a home in my Pampass grass recently so I hacked the plant to the ground as a precautionary measure (and to deprive the nasty little critters of their home...they kept flying out at me every time I walked by the grass). However, I live in a warmer zone than you do and Pampass grass is virtually indestructable.....it can take the abuse.

Good Luck
Renee

Will do,

Thanks,
Claire