I'm super new to houseplants and have definitely overreacted before, but I don't want to under-react and end up with a house full of nasty bugs and dead plants.
This birkin has been in a 30 gal vivarium with my crested gecko for over a month with no signs of any pests. I noticed a slightly yellowing leaf today so inspected further and audibly gasped when I found this.
I squished this guy, pulled the entire philodendron out, and inspected my other plants in the tank. The rest appear to be unaffected (so far) but now I have a sad, birkin sitting my kitchen with bare feet and I don't know what to do next. Halp!
by sweetgiverofhoney
22 Comments
That sure is a mealy bug 𼲠If you catch them early, it’s possible to just spot treat with like 70% alcohol or insecticidal soap. For a larger infestation, you may want to consider systemics. These little buggers love to hide in crevices and you also have to take the lifecycle into account. My epipremnum pinnatum albo from Lowe’s came home with a few mealies, I went over inch by inch, thought I got them all, and every 2-3 weeks I’d check it back over to see if it was safe to come out from quarantine and I’d find one more! Almost maddening lol. She’s still in quarantine right now because I’m a bit paranoid. Thankfully it was not a bad infestation.
You already know. Iâm so sorry. Hopefully you caught it early!
The first picture is mealybugs, the second picture may be spider mites or could be just regular spider.
i’m dealing with my first mealy bug infestation rn toođbest of luck to u.
Looks like mealy and spider mites
https://preview.redd.it/rxmnto7qtzwf1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5c9e03b6dd1ee9e57af1a3e1f42fb6328613313
I wiped some off with alcohol a few days ago and haven’t seen any come back. First time having them, not sure what to expect now.
Yes. They completely took over my large hydrangeas last year. I had to chop all the way down and then get some spray, just in case they were hiding in what was left. I went a bit apocalyptic. But good news, this year’s bushes have no sign of them.
A single mealybug isn’t always cause for conc- OH MY GOD
Mealy bugs đŻ
You might try mineral oil. I was fighting mealybugs on my outside plants (especially my jasmine and the trellis it’s on). Unfortunately they also got into the wood posts the trellis is attached to, and I wanted to cry every time I walked out my front door.
My Dad gave me a bottle of All Seasons Horticulture & Dormant Spray Oil Concentrate (I don’t know if there are other brands; that’s just the one he gave me) and told me to dilute it to 1.5oz oil with 22.5 oz water, then shake it up a bit and spray down my plants and the posts. He said it will take care of mealybugs, aphids, and whatever is on there. It smothers them.
I haven’t seen any live mealybugs since I did that, and my plants seem to be doing well!
Which insecticidal soap/compound is best to this. My hibiscus gets infested again and again and I want to keep it organic as want to use hibiscus in tea or oils.
Use a combination of washing with water and watering/sprinkling with pesticides, to remove them and kill the rest from outside with sprinkling and inside through plant juice they eat. That was the only thing that helped me
How do they travel? Do they fly or something? I recently got them and I cannot trace from where they came.
the problem with mealies is the adults look like a bug exactly like the one you found, but the juveniles / eggs (?) just look like white fuzz. check every nook and cranny of the plant especially the new growth points, and you may need to change the soil.
if there are other plants touching it then just assume those plants also have the mealie plague
Yep, it is.
I had them on my Boston Fern. I didn’t know what to do at the time so I isolated the plant and ignored it til they went away. I don’t know how it worked… The plant was very worse for wear but it’s bounced back now.
Oh no, poor little bug! Itâs so sad to see a creature like that hurt. Hopefully, it recovers soon and can go back to its happy, bug-filled life. Hang in there, and good luck with your plants!
I have only one experience with mealy bugs and it was traumatizing.  They hitchhiked on me from my job and infested my dragon plant. I caught it early and religiously sprayed neem oil and spot treated the plant with rubbing alcohol. It didnât work though⌠it was so scary looking under a leaf and seeing a giant mealy bug. It gives me chills thinking about it. I decided to cut my losses and cut the whole plant back to the stem and left it outside. It soon died lolÂ
I got a couple plants from a freind last year little did i know there was mealy bugs hitch hiking on one of them and where most my plants are touching theyve slowly spread to almost all of them it feels like an endless battle that im losing đ
In my experience, mealy bugs aren’t as destructive as say spidermites, specially if you catch them early. Give the plant a shower with soap and neem oil. Get rid of any more you can see with alcohol. Then you would just have to be vigilliant and look in crevices of new leaves specially and kill them as you spot one and continue this several days until you don’t see any for a atleast a couple of weeks.
I get them about once a year, it seems, on my hibiscus shrub in my front yard. Between those and snails, idk how that plant is thriving. She came with the house and has cost me a tiny fortune to keep alive đ