In my experience, white powder that emerges with new growth is dead Eriophyid mites. Maybe from the seller’s last mite treatment, maybe part of the mite life cycle.
If you have access to a microscope … you can take a piece of matte Scotch tape, pick up some powder, affix the tape to a piece of paper with a cutout (so you have a makeshift microscope slide), then view under the microscope.
What you can’t tell is whether there are live mites deeper in the crown.
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In my experience, white powder that emerges with new growth is dead Eriophyid mites. Maybe from the seller’s last mite treatment, maybe part of the mite life cycle.
If you have access to a microscope … you can take a piece of matte Scotch tape, pick up some powder, affix the tape to a piece of paper with a cutout (so you have a makeshift microscope slide), then view under the microscope.
What you can’t tell is whether there are live mites deeper in the crown.
Edit: My mite photos. Link is also under this sub’s pinned mites discussion. [https://imgur.com/a/2022-eriophyid-mites-on-haworthias-rjCmaPN](https://imgur.com/a/2022-eriophyid-mites-on-haworthias-rjCmaPN)