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My curry leaf plant has furry white clumps on its stem and branches. Any ideas?
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My curry leaf plant has furry white clumps on its stem and branches. Any ideas?


I had taken over watering the plants from a family member since they're away for the time. I noticed these white spots with some water droplets on them. I also noticed the white powdery-like substance on our plants right beside this one. Could it be a fungal infection?

The plant is along the corridor of a residential block, with ample natural sunlight and I water them 1-2 times a day.

by Doofenschmirt

24 Comments

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  2. IStayMarauding

    Looks like maybe a mealy bug infestation

  3. Maleficent_Set_7993

    Kill it with fire.

    That is one of the worst mealy bug infestations I have ever seen.

  5. curiousoutlook

    This sort of pest usually happens when you let the curry leaf plant go to flowers, which are very sweet and attracts all sorts of pests like scales or mealy bugs. Short term, OP needs to hard prune the branches affected and severely hose down the rest of the plant and then apply neem oil or captains jacks deadbug brew. Long term, don’t let the flower buds open and simply prune it as soon as you see the buds. You want to grow it for the leaves not the flowers or seeds, after all. Right?

  6. Purple_Arugula7

    I don’t think there’s any hope for this plant.

  8. Mister_Silk

    That’s a severe mealybug infestation. Unless that plant has some sentimental value for you I’d just toss it.

  9. Adorable-Jackfruit86

    There is a plant growing out of that mealy bug …

    On a serious note, chop of alllll those branches, don’t even bother treating … put it in a bag immediately n throw/burn it … rest of plant will survive

  10. PongACong

    that’s the wildest mealybug infestation i have ever seen

  12. PlatypusPitiful2259

    Everyone has already addressed the mealybugs, and the intensity of the infestation made me miss your second paragraph on first read. No plant needs to be watered 1-2 times per day, you’re going to drown them.

  13. Teeks86

    Dear lord. Don’t even try and save it. Throw it away and look at your other plants.

  14. rramosbaez

    I lost my curry leaf to mealy bugs. Best solution is to place outdoors so other critters can kill them and also wipe/squash what you can. Hose it down with high pressure. Add some neem oil. Good luck

  16. Still-Horse-9454

    That is pretty badly infested. But we just cleaned one of our palm plants that had a bad infestation as well. We wiped down all stems and leaves with rubbing alcohol. Also mixed and sprayed the soil with hydrogen peroxide. It’s been about a week or so and the plant is thriving now and we haven’t seen a single bug since.

  18. SleeplessAndSleepy

    HOLY FUCK. Please no.
    I’m sorry. That’s a mealy tree.

  19. FluffySoftFox

    Bad mealy bug infection sadly I think that plant is fucked

  22. CrazyPlantLady143

    Mealy bug. Get it outside (away from other plants though) and HOSE that down with as much water pressure as you can without knocking leaves off. And I mean you need to get every angle you can. Do that a couple times and they should be good to go. But if all else fails beneficial nematodes are your friends

  23. Asobimo

    Mealy bugs. Wash them off and the ones that survive the hoes blæst with water kill with rubbing alchocol

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