In the spring, we take in our mass cane plant outside, along with our other houseplants. They thrive when placed in a sheltered location, because of the sunshine, fresh air, and spring is when plants start growing. Almost everything does better when outdoors, people included. When colder temperatures threaten, we bring our plants indoors where they are subjected to artificial heat, and less light.
Inspect for Bugs
Mass can plants usually don’t have any bug problems, but when they do, it’s time to take action and eradicate those bugs. If you don’t do it at the first signs of trouble, the bugs will multiply in a short time, spread to your other plants. They will slowly suck the life out of your plants until they die.
There are two types of bugs that attack mass cane plants. Mealy bugs are scale-like insects coated with a prudery mealy waxy secretion. Scale is an insect that is harder to remove because the hard outside covering attached to the leaves and stem.
Sometimes, when we bring our plants indoors, we bring in more than plants. Bugs may have claimed your plant as their new home. Okay, plants don’t always get bugs from being outdoors. They can come on a new plant you just bought at the store. Always inspect your plants before bringing them indoors. Any plants that have bugs, separate them from the healthy plants.
Sometimes, they just appear in the winter time, leaving you to wonder how that happened. For some reason, this is when I notice bugs invading my plants. Perhaps it is because there are no natural predators to eat these bugs. If you spray overhead, this can be enough to knock them knock them off the plants. Also, when your plants are outdoors, they have thousands of other plants to eat.
Eradicate the Bugs
Don’t let the first sign of bugs, daunt you. You will need to isolate the mass cane plant from all the other plants. This keeps the pests off the healthy plants. We have a separate room where the sick or buggy plants are kept. If possible choose a room with an east facing window. If that is not possible, you can use a south or west window, but do not place the plant in direct sunlight. Wash the leaves of the plant with water to remove dust and insects. The mixture to use is 3 tablespoons of liquid dish soap to one gallon of water. If you have other buggy plants, place them close together. Raise the humidity place a humidifier
Removing Scale
Another way to eradicate insect, especially if the problem is scale, is to use rubbing alcohol. Pour some rubbing alcohol into a small bowl. Saturate a cotton ball in the rubbing alcohol, than squeeze out the excess. Wipe the leaves and stems to clean off the bugs. Change the cotton ball often, when it become full of bugs. To remove scale, gently scrape them away with your fingernail.
Fill a sprayer bottle with warm water, then. Add 3 tablespoons of liquid dish soap. Once the lid is screwed in place, shake the contents to combine. Spay the mass cane plant to the point of runoff. The soap helps kill the bugs, but it won’t harm your plant.
If you want faster results, apply a systemic pesticide that comes in granular or stake. The systemic pesticide is applied to the soil and absorbed by the roots. It is then absorbed into the plant so when the insects feed on the leaves, it will poison them. I rarely use this form of bug control because not only does the plant become poisonous to the bugs, it is also poisonous to people and pets if consumed.
References:
Bachmans: Dracaenas
Dracaena: Dracaena fragrans ‘Massangeana’
“Favorite Houseplants”; Don Dooley; 1976
“The Houseplant Expert”; Dr. D.G. Hessayon; 1980
Colorado State University: Managing Houseplant Pests
Plant Care: Systemic Pesticides – What Are They?