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Mystery pest killed Angel Wings
megan.snape93HuAmkAG8
Posts: 1
The damage is done now and the Angel Wings in question is RIP but I would love any thoughts on the mystery pest which killed it. The plant flourished in its first year growing to 10 times it's original size ❤️.
Then it died back in the autumn and I decided not to panic. By the winter it was rotting down the main trunk with the side branches unaffected. I decided it was likely rot from the weather, cut off the mushy top and moved it to better draining soil. At this point I checked the roots which were very healthy and was a little baffled it was rotting from the top down.
Today it got the kiss of death when I decided to try to remove the trunk and hope the rooted branches would survive. I found the root ball and bulb (do they have a bulb?) Still healthy but above this a soupy black and brown mush had taken over the entire trunk and was housing 3-4 white slimy worms. I can only assume it was the worms souping up the inside for dinner. Had I caught it earlier I think the base would have survived but the soup was just starting to hit the bulb which split in 2 as I investigated. New plant is the only option now.
So my question is - what the heck are the worms? Not aphids, caterpillar's or slugs which are the only pests I can find associated with angel wings. We had all of these in the summer and after removing the initial caterpillar invasion the plant flourished.
Then it died back in the autumn and I decided not to panic. By the winter it was rotting down the main trunk with the side branches unaffected. I decided it was likely rot from the weather, cut off the mushy top and moved it to better draining soil. At this point I checked the roots which were very healthy and was a little baffled it was rotting from the top down.
Today it got the kiss of death when I decided to try to remove the trunk and hope the rooted branches would survive. I found the root ball and bulb (do they have a bulb?) Still healthy but above this a soupy black and brown mush had taken over the entire trunk and was housing 3-4 white slimy worms. I can only assume it was the worms souping up the inside for dinner. Had I caught it earlier I think the base would have survived but the soup was just starting to hit the bulb which split in 2 as I investigated. New plant is the only option now.
So my question is - what the heck are the worms? Not aphids, caterpillar's or slugs which are the only pests I can find associated with angel wings. We had all of these in the summer and after removing the initial caterpillar invasion the plant flourished.
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Posts
I'm just wondering how easy it would be to strike cuttings from mine as it's got a bit straggly.