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What’s this white stuff on my parlor palm?
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What’s this white stuff on my parlor palm?


Just noticed this white stuff on the base of my palm, plus some at the top of a new frond.

It gets watered weekly and the planter has drainage. Good amount of light from an east-facing window.

by ladyclare

29 Comments

  3. PhantomLuna7

    Looks like a severe mealybug infestation to me

  4. beeurd

    Definitely mealybugs – several of them are very visible in the photo!

  5. No-Bell488

    Mealy bugs!! Isolate the plant immediately and wash your hands before handling any other plants!!! These things spread quick and they are killers. If you notice anything similar on any other plant, treat it immediately. This plant may be too far gone but you could save your others. Do some research on mealy bugs and see if your plant is salvageable, and if not, throw it out!

  6. Euphoric-Worker9130

    Oh lord. This photo should be marked as NSFW 😂

  7. Less_Survey7426

    ![gif](giphy|51Uiuy5QBZNkoF3b2Z|downsized)

  8. ladyclare

    Thank you all!

    I’m fairly new to plant ownership: newly separated, husband disliked houseplants, now I’m collecting plants to (I guess) spite him. All this to say, there’s a heck of a learning curve for me, so I appreciate all of your expertise!

    I googled mealy bugs and am treating my palm; hopefully I can save it!

    Thanks again, and sorry for the shocking photos!

  9. Visual_Rise_2319

    Mealy bugs, which people have already confirmed. I would move this guy into your shower and give him the best rinse of his life. Use your hands and fingers to remove as much of them as you can. They create a sticky sap so they can be hard to remove.

    Once you give him a shower, treat your plant. I use Neem oil, many redditors use rubbing alcohol and water with a question tip or yoj could buy some more heavy duty if you don’t have animals in the house.

    Repeat this twice a week until they are gone. (Only twice a week if using alcohol or neem oil, other products are usually once a week)

    Don’t skip the rinse, this will make your life so much easier. Remove as many as yoj can with water. Use plastic wrap on the pot if you need to avoid over watering.

  13. No-Proposal2360

    I would also treat every other plant you have at the same time. Those damn bugs are sneaky!

  16. Chained_Wanderlust

    ~~Spawn of hell~~ mealies. How attached are you to this? Its so bad I would chuck it, but you could also take it outside and douse it in rubbing alcohol and prayers. Leave it outside, out of the sun, repeat process till they are gone.

  17. rhousden

    Mealy’s, and in the words of Usher “you got it bad”

  18. smolbeansjpg

    The most gigantic mealy bugs I’ve ever seen

  21. Histrix-

    Spray bottle with dishsoap and water. The soap drives out soft bodied insects like these. Alternatively you could add some drops of neem oil that. Id pray the whole thing down with water and then just spay the left oflver stragglers with the mixture.

  23. roraverse

    This is one of the worst mealy bug infestations I’ve seen posted in here. Get that far away from all your other plants and inspect everything in the house 😳

  26. Itsawonderfullayfe

    Mealybugs. You need to get them off the plant asap.

    Spraying them with a water, + Alcohol (isopropyl or ethanol)+ fatty soap solution(not dish detergent or shampoo, actual soap made from fats and hydroxides) will kill them. Something like 10% alcohol is all that’s needed, but plants are usually fine with up to 20%. It’s a drying agent, it breaks through their oily/greasy coating that keeps them from losing water. Soap helps it be more effective. Literally only need a squirt of that sort of soap. Something like Castile soap.

    You can remove most by hand. You may need to treat it a few times.

    You can also submerge in water. They’ll drown too, but with a large plant that can be difficult.

  27. NightOwlEye

    Friend, those are bugs. Douse with 70% rubbing alcohol to kill them and then wipe them off…also put this plant far, far away from any of your other plants.

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