Today I decided to save this guy from the grocery store discount section – and realized why heās discounted !!!
I really want to save this plant if possible. Iām a huge pothos lover and I couldnāt stand to see this guy sitting in a sad little corner of the store.
This isnāt my first rodeo with grocery store plants, I have a HUGE monstera that was turning brown when I got her too. But I have no idea how to conquer mealybugs or if itās even worth it to try.
I havenāt brought it home yet, and I do have a number of other plants so if itās not worth it I will leave it go I suppose š but I would love to save this beauty if itās possible !!
TIA !
by bubby327
10 Comments
I’ve been successful by dunking the leaves in a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water for a bit and washing em off after
I wouldn’t risk bringing it in the house no matter what anyone says if you have other plants.
I ended up with a couple new plants with mealy bugs over the summer. I removed the most damaged leaves that showed signs of visible infestation. I used cotton balls soaked in rubbing alcohol to gently wipe down stems and remaining leaves. Used tweezers to remove any remaining bugs/fuzz i couldn’t get with the cotton balls. Placed it in a plastic garbage bag, tightly closed, stored in my shower, for a few days. Then repeated the process for a couple weeks. I haven’t seen any since.
I once got mad at a succulent that was infested and doused it in diluted spray hand sanitizer. It survived, the mealy bugs did not.
trust me, ive dealt with mealybugs infestation on the smallest scale and they never go away – toss it – it’s NOT worth it
I have found rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle is pretty effective. Have to do it every couple days for a couple weeks until they’re all dead, as it doesn’t always kill the eggs, making sure to get underneath all the leaves and in all the crooks between branches/vines. Remove whatever visible bugs you see as you go, using tweezers or cotton swabs dipped in alcohol. If a leaf is already looking unhealthy, it’s not going to recover, so just cut it off.
And make sure it’s nowhere near any other plants in the process! You don’t want them spreading to your healthy plants.
I’d toss it. It’s not worth itĀ
Cut off the aerial part of the plant (throw away all the old substrate, if you want to keep the pot clean it until it shines); cut off the first 3-5 leaves from the base; soak the leafy branches in a combination of water, alcohol, and dishwashing detergent ( be sure to clean any crevices and tight joints thoroughly); apply a rooting hormone and replant to a depth of 3 nodes in the substrate and keep the substrate well moistenedāŗļø.
But that’s just the extreme opinion of someone who lost 17 orchids to those parasites. You can also try neem oil and hope it works for you, it didn’t work for meš„²…
Good luckā¤ļø!
take it to bare root, hose with water until all dirt is washed away, let air dry and spray any remaining mealies with alcohol. keep it bare root, soak in water every couple days and check for mealies. once you no longer see them, plant in aroid mix
Can I have a Cheez-it?
It’s a pothos, bin it and get a new one. Hell, I’ll send you one for free lol