What are we doing about them? Need oil works so-so, I’ve ordered insecticidal spray (hate it but love my cactus more). I’m reading that I need to rinse it off to avoid residue buildup and burning the pads. Has anyone developed a treatment or method to deter them?
by Lost-Acanthaceaem
5 Comments
Insecticidal soap did it for me. I am a slave to my plants so I bought the actual stuff but I think regular Castille soap with a few drops of oil also works. Or someone correct this recipe.
Either way I hate these things. It might take a few passes to get them all so check every day at least.
Insecticidal soap works great on the young ones but the mature adults can shrug it off. Better trying to knock adults off and squashing manually. But if you stay on top on them when they are young, you can break the cycle.
What are these bugs called. I got em too
It’s funny that you posted this today because I just spent an hour on mine this afternoon! I flick them off the cactus with a pencil or chopstick and catch them in a bucket of with a little water and a drop of soap in it. I got them all early in the season, and I just noticed they’re back. I’ll keep at them again for a few days.
My wife vacuumed them off ours. We had hundreds. They haven’t returned.