Problem: Hi! I think these are mealy bugs, google searches have not helped me confirm or move forward, all I know is that they’re sucking the life out of my gorgeous vines and they are HARD to kill. I bought the systemic houseplant pest control powder and it didn’t change a damn thing
How I care for the plant: Plant receives consistent indirect sun light during daylight hours and is watered weekly by means of soaking the soil and letting the excess drain out the bottom
How I plan to save the vines: I think I’m going to cut the vines at the top of the soil, dump the soil in the garbage because I hear the bugs can stay in it. I am going to submerge the vines in a big bucket of water for 24 hours to kill the bugs. I will propagate the surviving vines in fresh soil and move on with my life
My question: Will this plan fail? Surely the vines will survive long enough to drown the DEVILS (mealy bugs) that came into my home??
Please advise because I’m about to dunk em
by SketchyGirlScout
11 Comments
Currently getting mealy bugs off one of my potos vines and I’ve sprayed it with isopropyl alcohol about 5 times, let it sit to kill the bugs and then rinse it off with water after. It’s definitely mealy bugs. They are a bitch to treat but the alcohol kills them instantly for me. My plant is about 30 times the size of this little one though, so it should be an easy fix for you based on size of the plant. I would repot and treat roots if they are down in the roots too like you mentioned above. The alcohol doesnt harm the plant either.
I would also wipe off the bugs with a paper towel and qtips dunked in the isopropyl alcohol, and then spray again and do many times until there’s no more bugs on the plant. When I am spraying mine im literally drenching the plant in it bc my plant is so big I can’t individually wipe off each vine / leaf. Treating bugs is like plant surgery but worth it if you can save the plant baby.
Can you explain how you treat the roots? Alcohol? Soak in water? Castille soap or dawn? TIA!
Just make sure to obviously keep it away from other plants while getting the bugs off, like it’s in quarantine.
mealybugs 🙁
[Here’s](https://www.reddit.com/u/charlypoods/s/fB8XxJWjCY) my mealybug treatment protocol I’ve been updating and fine tuning for the last several months. It has been called an aggregation of many methods, so i guess hopefully at least one or two can be applicable for you. It’s really thorough I think and I really do believe in the step by step nature of it. I am always trying to make it more user friendly, accurate, and readable, so it is always a work in progress. If you have any questions, suggestions, or critiques please lmk.
I had them bad on a money tree. I was told to throw it out. I went to tractor supply and bought permethrin. Need to use it outside and let the plant sit for a while. Worked like a charm. I haven’t had a problem with them since. Tree is doing great too.
Water wont work. They have hard outer shells and a strong grip on the leaf tissue. What you need is insecticidal soap with a main ingredient of FATTY ACIDS, not Spinosad. The fatty acids break down their shells and then “melt” them on the inside. It’s the fastest and most reliable way to get rid of them. Better than isopropyl alcohol.
If they have “tails” treat the soil with systemic granules. If they do not have tails, only treat the stuff above the soil with the soap and spray the top layer of soil with it as well. Do not rinse after unless you are using the systemic granules, in which case you should top water afterwards but avoid wetting the foliage. Do not use the granules more than once every 3 months or as indicated on the package.
My advice is to take a deep breath and either remove the pests manually, or take a few cuttings and make sure your move the pests manually. If you cutting will get you a whole new plant in no time
I used systemic pesticides. It works like wonder and is much cheaper than other solution which are bound to get the newly bug back. Nothing erases the mealy bugs problem and prevents future infection like pesticides.
I use foliar spray followed by soil drench.
So far ladybugs have been the only surefire method that’s worked for me. Wasn’t even on purpose. I got sick on one infected plant and threw it outside so I didn’t have to look at it anymore. After about a week I realized the local lady bugs ate all the mealybugs!
It might be easier to throw it out.
If you really want to attempt to save it take it out of the pot. Take away all the soil (discard old soil). Shower the plant (knock off big bugs and remove soil). Spray it liberally with soapy water with isopropyl alcohol in it (kill the bugs remaining). Leave it to marinade and shower it again to rinse everything off.
Repot with new soil in a clean pot.
Spend the next few weeks checking for mealy bugs which you can spot kill using a q tip soaked in isopropyl alcohol.
I did it successfully but the plant I had had a much more minor infestation.