I don’t think anything will survive that. Including the houseplants.
bangingbew2
This is oddly poetic lol.
TomorrowOk3161
Throw the plants out the window and cut your lossesš if you live in the southern hemisphere where itās warm I make my afflicted plants into outside plants and simultaneously feed the local predatory insect population.
_Novel_Skin_
See this is why I just throw them out and start all over haha
corganmurray
I usually just do a few minutes. Iāve had every pest you can read about, including multiple bouts of thrips. This soaking Ā technique, followed by some Doktor Doom spray, then let them get good and dry before you water again and consider ordering beneficial nematode eggs online and sticking them in your soil. If you throw the entire kitchen sink at them, you can keep the majority of the plants, or at least that has been the case for me š good luck!
Academic-Change-2042
I don’t think this is going to work, but it was worth doing as an example of the desperation that a mealybug infestation will lead to. Could be good a good post to direct people to when they spot their first mealybug. Prevention is the best way, then inspection and quarantine, then thorough and intense response. Can’t let these guys establish.
rosh89
I did something similar, I washed away all substrate and then into the tub- soap, enough neem to gag a horse, and hot water. They all stayed in that over night, and then I did a peroxide solution dip on the roots before repotting. 3 months mealy free, praise cheebus
Uschisewpie
This will help with the mealybugs but it will not get rid of them. Mealies drop to the soil during their lifespans and eat the roots. You *MUST* repot the plants to fully get rid of mealies. It is also way more effective to use an insecticide rated for mealies. Actually a couple in combination has worked for me. Systemics in the soil and spraying the leaves every 5 days for at least a month are the only solution ime (I’ve had hundreds of houseplants for years).
Austin1975
When itās mealy bugs I throw the plant in the trash without hesitation. Itās not worth the anxiety for me especially having returned from vacation to see a cotton covered plant. I wish you luck in your fight!
Aromatic_Slide9596
I honestly lost the battle with wooly scales at my shop. Basically once a week when I’m watering I go around to each plant I know has scales and I give em the best damn Q-Tip dipped in 99% alcohol bath you’ve ever seen. I inspect each leaf front and back and each crevice . This pretty much keeps them at bay and no infestation
MemoryAshamed
Mealybugs are the worst. I hope you find peace in your war on them
New-Wash689
Disclaimers: only do this if these are indoor, non-flowering plants and there is no chance of pollinators accessing them.
Use a few drops of cat flea treatment (make sure the active is Imadacloprid) into 1L of water and water them all. It will take a bit because systemic insecticides need time to be absorbed by the plant but you wonāt have any issues as long as it remains in your plants.
You can check my profile for how horrific my post-depression collection got and they are beautifully recovered using this.
just did the same thing to my marble pothos 2 days ago! insecticides, insecticidal soap, rubbing alcohol, neem, a full bare root repot, etc. all failed, the mealies kept coming back. So I went nuclear and fully submerged it for 15 minutes. Then rinsed with insecticides lol. Two days later the plant is still alive and looks fine. Weāll see if the mealies come back. Good luck to you!
cookiesphincter
I did the same thing when fighting spider mites. Completely submerged a few plants in a bucket full of water and a bit of neem oil and dish soap for a few hours. There were a few casualties, but it was worth it as a last ditch effort.
Neither_Drag_835
Been there, done that, straight into the trash. I think I hate these bugs even more than trips……
Leela_bring_fire
I did this for thrips with soapy water and left them for 30-60 min depending on when I remembered to rinse them. It worked but I had to do it twice
dr_otto_ort-meyer
Hey OP, for more effective bug drowning use a towel, piece of clothing, blanket, whatever on top of them! That way it’ll weigh the leaves down into the water and also the fabric will get saturated and basically waterboard any bugs that crawl onto a piece of leaf that isn’t submerged.
I’ve been experimenting with how long it takes to drown thrips. Good luck š«”
Geronimo417
Interesting.. So this is what a plant massacre looks like..
Repulsive_Ad7148
Honestly I still have them after a 3 year battle. The only thing that kind of keeps my sanity is simply not keeping plants that mealy bugs like. I still have mealy bugs, to be clear. But I basically keep their population low by keeping pothos, certain succulents, monsteras and anything really soft and/or floppy out of my collection.
Mission_Ideal_8156
I did the soak for about twenty minutes, but theyāve gotta be fully submerged. I put a little bit of everything in the water to cover all the bug bases. Hydrogen peroxide, neem oil, dishwashing detergent, whatever i thought might help. And it worked. I got rid of the mealyās & the mites. Best move ever!
birbscape90
You chose violence šš (rightly so)
thealgernon
š¤
DysphoricBeNightmare
Without the brightness on my phone turned up I thought this was a tub full of collareds.
sagamama1
This is a recipe we used to combat mealy bugs and scale when I volunteered with the orchid greenhouse at my local botanical gardens. It works beautifully! Also, pests affect plants only when their culture is off- if your plants get pests itās usually because theyāre not getting something they need. With mealies and scale, itās usually that their watering is inconsistent.
I fought mealy bugs for a year and gave up. I tossed out probably 20 plants and their dirt – into the trash can – don’t dump in compost. I saved 4 and meticulously rinsed their roots in an alcohol/dawn soak and bleached all my pots. I saved cuttings from a pothos I really liked, soaked those in alcohol / dawn too. The cuttings had mealy bugs in 2 weeks, I just found mealy bugs in one of the 4 plants I saved yesterday.
QuickPie4635
I did the same, thought I had finally conquered them. They are back š
kangaroolifestyle
Probably too late in the season now, but Iāve found for mealybugs that persistently come back the moment a systemic is discontinued, that the best solution is to put the plant outside for predator insects to take care of the problem. Thus far, itās been the only long term solution that works, after literally years of fighting the same infestation returning on the same isolated plant.
Your root-zone dunk should drastically cull them back though ā and hopefully for good.
theresazuluonmystoep
Is that a spekboom top left? Mine kept attracting mealybugs and had to get rid of them
whynotehhhhh
Can’t you just spray them with alcohol? Usually kills them on contact, doesn’t burn the leaves generally but you can test one small leaf first just in case.
High_Hunter3430
Mealy bugs are soft bodied.
Just use Dr zymes eliminator. It uses citric acid and enzymes.
To be fair, Iām against MOST sprays, but this one isnāt toxic to the same degree. Not saying drink it, but itās also not gunna affect you up if you get it in your hands. Itāll just make them smooth.
Multi use as Iāve had success with athletes foot as a 1 shot and done (winter sucks)
And used it in a cotton swab for my dog when he got ear mites. That took 2 uses 2 days apart.
Promise Iām not sponsored. Just speaking highly of it from my personal experience. š«¶š» good luck.
Edit:typos. Because after all this advancement in tech it still thinks I said ātaxisā not ātoxicā š¤¦
Searchingforspecial
Lacewings & pirate bugs will kill them.
honestworkcanada
Ugh I feel that. I brought home a palm that found the plant superhigway to and from my shelf. I sat and watched all the youtube doomer videos and everything. Did the bath (I bagged around the soil bottoms) over 2 weekends and was religious about wiping leaves and stems and haven’t seen a mealy since.
They all died. Maybe 2 weeks later, I found one very weird, brown, disfigured mealybug. Applied again and the plant has been mealybug free ever since.
1043b
I started fighting the mealie bug war back in 2024. It wasn’t until i started using Bonide granules (slow rease imidacloprid) and a secondary fast release Imidacloprid 2F that I feel I may have won the war. The cost of throwing out so many old hoyas and jades is just too high.
Good-Adhesiveness868
Just came to wish OP and everyone else in this battle good luck. I like the tile in the šbath šš¾
aurora_rosealis
Has anyone here tried the bio-insecticide from Arber? We recently started testing it at the garden center where I work, and weāre really happy with it (took care of mealies in several 5-gal plants). I donāt currently have any pests in my houseplants, but if/when I do, Iāll be using it. Itās a bit pricey, but it seems like less of a hassle than keeping up with applying systemic granules, or dunking plants in the tub. It can be used indoors or outdoors as a topical application or as a soil drench, and itās safe for bees, other pollinators and beneficial predatory bugs. (Not an ad, Iām not affiliated with Arber, and not trying to get anyone to buy from our nursery, itās available to anyone to purchase online. Just wondering if anyone else has had experience with their products.)
Happy_Tumbleweed6762
I did this last year! They came back. And I went out of my way to make sure every plant was submerged. I ended up having to throw many away and I chopped many of my trees down to nubbins. Only some of those chopped trees were mealy bug free after the chop.
Sabby438
15 – 30 minutes, depending on the plant. Let the soil dry and repeat until eradicated
Sabby438
15 – 30 minutes, depending on the plant. Let the soil dry and repeat until eradicated.
nothatdoesntgothere
Wow. I went through hell with mealybugs a few years ago but all it took in the end was insect grade diatemaceous earth.
Moonlit_Moss89
Have you tried beneficial insects?
nogiveonlytake
Have you tried imidacloprid? Worked for me.
Abehajeme
They might return unless you poison them with something like thiamethoxam
Dope-Senpai
Another good way to deal with them is to just get the Mealybug Destroyer or Cryptolaemus montrouzieri as long as you can and are allowed to buy them.
chomu_champa
This could be a very nice album cover
tarantula_cawk
Good lord, you people will do anything but use an insecticide.
Longjumping-City2772
If these are for a bioactive habitat keep going. Buuuut if these are houseplants, you’re better off putting your plants in a bathroom seal it off and use a bug bomb. I use this method to treat spider mites as well.
poop_wagon
This isnt a reccomendation but, I got fed up with mealybugs and I just got some outdoor pesticide thatās safe for garden veggies, and sprayed like twice. I havent had a problem since. We donāt eat our houseplants so exposure is minimal, and mild pesticides tend to become inert quickly. Just take care while spraying. I donāt use pesticides outdoors because i donāt want to harm the balance of the ecosystem that takes care of the pests for me. Inside, i have no way of establishing a healthy ecosystem
liamhudson2011
I donāt know if this is unpopular in the sub, but systemic insecticides will save your plants if you have this bad of an infestation. They are granules that you mix in with the top couple inches of your soil. I had bad trips and mealy bugs and havenāt seen them since.
50 Comments
I don’t think anything will survive that. Including the houseplants.
This is oddly poetic lol.
Throw the plants out the window and cut your lossesš if you live in the southern hemisphere where itās warm I make my afflicted plants into outside plants and simultaneously feed the local predatory insect population.
See this is why I just throw them out and start all over haha
I usually just do a few minutes. Iāve had every pest you can read about, including multiple bouts of thrips. This soaking Ā technique, followed by some Doktor Doom spray, then let them get good and dry before you water again and consider ordering beneficial nematode eggs online and sticking them in your soil. If you throw the entire kitchen sink at them, you can keep the majority of the plants, or at least that has been the case for me š good luck!
I don’t think this is going to work, but it was worth doing as an example of the desperation that a mealybug infestation will lead to. Could be good a good post to direct people to when they spot their first mealybug. Prevention is the best way, then inspection and quarantine, then thorough and intense response. Can’t let these guys establish.
I did something similar, I washed away all substrate and then into the tub- soap, enough neem to gag a horse, and hot water. They all stayed in that over night, and then I did a peroxide solution dip on the roots before repotting. 3 months mealy free, praise cheebus
This will help with the mealybugs but it will not get rid of them. Mealies drop to the soil during their lifespans and eat the roots. You *MUST* repot the plants to fully get rid of mealies. It is also way more effective to use an insecticide rated for mealies. Actually a couple in combination has worked for me. Systemics in the soil and spraying the leaves every 5 days for at least a month are the only solution ime (I’ve had hundreds of houseplants for years).
When itās mealy bugs I throw the plant in the trash without hesitation. Itās not worth the anxiety for me especially having returned from vacation to see a cotton covered plant. I wish you luck in your fight!
I honestly lost the battle with wooly scales at my shop. Basically once a week when I’m watering I go around to each plant I know has scales and I give em the best damn Q-Tip dipped in 99% alcohol bath you’ve ever seen. I inspect each leaf front and back and each crevice . This pretty much keeps them at bay and no infestation
Mealybugs are the worst. I hope you find peace in your war on them
Disclaimers: only do this if these are indoor, non-flowering plants and there is no chance of pollinators accessing them.
Use a few drops of cat flea treatment (make sure the active is Imadacloprid) into 1L of water and water them all. It will take a bit because systemic insecticides need time to be absorbed by the plant but you wonāt have any issues as long as it remains in your plants.
You can check my profile for how horrific my post-depression collection got and they are beautifully recovered using this.
https://preview.redd.it/fmst6jlb2n0g1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=454d5d24b913945f4183dceec23b2b996e6b2a85
https://preview.redd.it/4k2yzcv12n0g1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c4b3116e72a6110ed9fd77e702b6f449979383fc
just did the same thing to my marble pothos 2 days ago! insecticides, insecticidal soap, rubbing alcohol, neem, a full bare root repot, etc. all failed, the mealies kept coming back. So I went nuclear and fully submerged it for 15 minutes. Then rinsed with insecticides lol. Two days later the plant is still alive and looks fine. Weāll see if the mealies come back. Good luck to you!
I did the same thing when fighting spider mites. Completely submerged a few plants in a bucket full of water and a bit of neem oil and dish soap for a few hours. There were a few casualties, but it was worth it as a last ditch effort.
Been there, done that, straight into the trash. I think I hate these bugs even more than trips……
I did this for thrips with soapy water and left them for 30-60 min depending on when I remembered to rinse them. It worked but I had to do it twice
Hey OP, for more effective bug drowning use a towel, piece of clothing, blanket, whatever on top of them! That way it’ll weigh the leaves down into the water and also the fabric will get saturated and basically waterboard any bugs that crawl onto a piece of leaf that isn’t submerged.
I’ve been experimenting with how long it takes to drown thrips. Good luck š«”
Interesting.. So this is what a plant massacre looks like..
Honestly I still have them after a 3 year battle. The only thing that kind of keeps my sanity is simply not keeping plants that mealy bugs like. I still have mealy bugs, to be clear. But I basically keep their population low by keeping pothos, certain succulents, monsteras and anything really soft and/or floppy out of my collection.
I did the soak for about twenty minutes, but theyāve gotta be fully submerged. I put a little bit of everything in the water to cover all the bug bases. Hydrogen peroxide, neem oil, dishwashing detergent, whatever i thought might help. And it worked. I got rid of the mealyās & the mites. Best move ever!
You chose violence šš (rightly so)
š¤
Without the brightness on my phone turned up I thought this was a tub full of collareds.
This is a recipe we used to combat mealy bugs and scale when I volunteered with the orchid greenhouse at my local botanical gardens. It works beautifully! Also, pests affect plants only when their culture is off- if your plants get pests itās usually because theyāre not getting something they need. With mealies and scale, itās usually that their watering is inconsistent.
https://preview.redd.it/arf49was7n0g1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8d34a6012c48ccd4d5a1dacb4b967435ea3597df
Does this method also work for thrips ?? :'(
I fought mealy bugs for a year and gave up. I tossed out probably 20 plants and their dirt – into the trash can – don’t dump in compost. I saved 4 and meticulously rinsed their roots in an alcohol/dawn soak and bleached all my pots. I saved cuttings from a pothos I really liked, soaked those in alcohol / dawn too. The cuttings had mealy bugs in 2 weeks, I just found mealy bugs in one of the 4 plants I saved yesterday.
I did the same, thought I had finally conquered them. They are back š
Probably too late in the season now, but Iāve found for mealybugs that persistently come back the moment a systemic is discontinued, that the best solution is to put the plant outside for predator insects to take care of the problem. Thus far, itās been the only long term solution that works, after literally years of fighting the same infestation returning on the same isolated plant.
Your root-zone dunk should drastically cull them back though ā and hopefully for good.
Is that a spekboom top left? Mine kept attracting mealybugs and had to get rid of them
Can’t you just spray them with alcohol? Usually kills them on contact, doesn’t burn the leaves generally but you can test one small leaf first just in case.
Mealy bugs are soft bodied.
Just use Dr zymes eliminator. It uses citric acid and enzymes.
To be fair, Iām against MOST sprays, but this one isnāt toxic to the same degree. Not saying drink it, but itās also not gunna affect you up if you get it in your hands. Itāll just make them smooth.
Multi use as Iāve had success with athletes foot as a 1 shot and done (winter sucks)
And used it in a cotton swab for my dog when he got ear mites. That took 2 uses 2 days apart.
Promise Iām not sponsored. Just speaking highly of it from my personal experience. š«¶š» good luck.
Edit:typos. Because after all this advancement in tech it still thinks I said ātaxisā not ātoxicā š¤¦
Lacewings & pirate bugs will kill them.
Ugh I feel that. I brought home a palm that found the plant superhigway to and from my shelf. I sat and watched all the youtube doomer videos and everything. Did the bath (I bagged around the soil bottoms) over 2 weekends and was religious about wiping leaves and stems and haven’t seen a mealy since.
Good Luck!
I had mealy bugs on one plant a few years ago.
I doused every inch of the plant and the soil with [Marius Fabre Savon Noir](https://www.marius-fabre.com/en/black-soap-for-plants-and-garden/197-black-soap-garden-spray-3298656600768.html) at the recommendation of a plant shop guy.
They all died. Maybe 2 weeks later, I found one very weird, brown, disfigured mealybug. Applied again and the plant has been mealybug free ever since.
I started fighting the mealie bug war back in 2024. It wasn’t until i started using Bonide granules (slow rease imidacloprid) and a secondary fast release Imidacloprid 2F that I feel I may have won the war. The cost of throwing out so many old hoyas and jades is just too high.
Just came to wish OP and everyone else in this battle good luck. I like the tile in the šbath šš¾
Has anyone here tried the bio-insecticide from Arber? We recently started testing it at the garden center where I work, and weāre really happy with it (took care of mealies in several 5-gal plants). I donāt currently have any pests in my houseplants, but if/when I do, Iāll be using it. Itās a bit pricey, but it seems like less of a hassle than keeping up with applying systemic granules, or dunking plants in the tub. It can be used indoors or outdoors as a topical application or as a soil drench, and itās safe for bees, other pollinators and beneficial predatory bugs. (Not an ad, Iām not affiliated with Arber, and not trying to get anyone to buy from our nursery, itās available to anyone to purchase online. Just wondering if anyone else has had experience with their products.)
I did this last year! They came back. And I went out of my way to make sure every plant was submerged. I ended up having to throw many away and I chopped many of my trees down to nubbins. Only some of those chopped trees were mealy bug free after the chop.
15 – 30 minutes, depending on the plant. Let the soil dry and repeat until eradicated
15 – 30 minutes, depending on the plant. Let the soil dry and repeat until eradicated.
Wow. I went through hell with mealybugs a few years ago but all it took in the end was insect grade diatemaceous earth.
Have you tried beneficial insects?
Have you tried imidacloprid? Worked for me.
They might return unless you poison them with something like thiamethoxam
Another good way to deal with them is to just get the Mealybug Destroyer or Cryptolaemus montrouzieri as long as you can and are allowed to buy them.
This could be a very nice album cover
Good lord, you people will do anything but use an insecticide.
If these are for a bioactive habitat keep going. Buuuut if these are houseplants, you’re better off putting your plants in a bathroom seal it off and use a bug bomb. I use this method to treat spider mites as well.
This isnt a reccomendation but, I got fed up with mealybugs and I just got some outdoor pesticide thatās safe for garden veggies, and sprayed like twice. I havent had a problem since. We donāt eat our houseplants so exposure is minimal, and mild pesticides tend to become inert quickly. Just take care while spraying. I donāt use pesticides outdoors because i donāt want to harm the balance of the ecosystem that takes care of the pests for me. Inside, i have no way of establishing a healthy ecosystem
I donāt know if this is unpopular in the sub, but systemic insecticides will save your plants if you have this bad of an infestation. They are granules that you mix in with the top couple inches of your soil. I had bad trips and mealy bugs and havenāt seen them since.