#bloomy's updates

Four months ago I had to move out of my apartment and temporarily into my parents house. Since I had to downscale my space that also meant that I had to cat-proof my new, more compact setup, since I own quite a few non-cat friendly plants.

My solution was to hang some plants (: using hooks drilled into the ceiling, some lightweight chain, and a closet shelf) and wrap some plastic chicken wire around an old shelf that my parents had sitting around.

Evidently that didn't work, she found her way onto the shelf regardless.

2 months prior to this I discovered my pilea had scale, I had it quarantined the whole time, and then started the treatment process while here. The treatment consisted of dish soap and rubbing alcohol soaked q-tips. It wasn't successful

Not even a month later I moved into my partner's apartment, and thankfully they let me take my plants with me, so the setup changed again. I had to sit my pilea closer to the rest of my plants so it could get some sunlight. two weeks later I found scale on ALL of my plants, so I had to come up with a more aggressive treatment plan. Hardback scale is almost impossible to treat topically so hort oil and dish soap just wasn't going to cut it.

After careful consideration and research, I decided on using systemic insecticide (specifically Imidacloprid) Which was terrifying considering I've never used insecticide, and it's literally poison. And with the cats to worry about.. well let's just say I planned the insecticide application in great detail at least two weeks before I actually did it.

I ended up opting to cover everything with a clear drop cloth— a trick I learned from the production greenhouse I work(ed) at. It's just a thin plastic film but it deters the cats pretty well. I'd rather them chew on plastic than a leaf dosed with poison.

I plan on repotting all of my plants once the insecticide is rendered ineffective in the plant after 3 months, as it will stay effective in the soil for around 2 years.

The shelf with all my treated plants. This is only a temporary setup.

Halfway through the treatment process I had to chop my pilea in half as it had lost most of its leaves. I knew it would grow back but this was still difficult for me, I'm sooooo sentimental about it because I've had it since I was 17.

Here's a lil progress picture, first is 3 years ago, second is a couple weeks after the chop, third one was a few days ago.

Unfortunately it STILL has scale on a couple leaves. I'm gonna guess I'll have to wait another life cycle or two before they all die off.

I found some mold in my calathea, I think because of the humidity being trapped by the drop cloth. It's not an immediate problem I'm concerned about since it's not on the leaves (mold is everywhere on plants in greenhouses lol). But I will be worrying about it after i take my plants out of quarantine