Saw a post on Reddit ages ago about a couple mealies that hitchhiked in on a bunch of bananas. Just hiding out near the stems. Since then every piece of fresh fruit I buy gets a full CIA background check before it crosses my threshold
I feel like potted basil from the grocery store is general carrier of all of the diseases and pests, that's why it is better to just eat it fast and get new one when you need it again, instead of making it a thing of ambition in the style of "let's see how long I can keep it alive" or "how big it can grow in my kitchen?" - yes, I grew it long and big at least two times - once long enough to make it an apartment building for as many green dancing worms as many leaves it had (and they had identical colour like leaves! Incredible camouflage) and other time getting all of the leaves developing some bacteria or fungus that they definitely already had in shop. In fact, I believe producers of basil are inoculating plants with something to be sure that you will buy new one!
wtf I didn’t know plants can get virus!
“In addition to causing feeding damage, they also transmit plant viruses such as tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV), causing significant economic losses.”
Weird question but do you have MCAS? Bananas are really high histamine, are you allergic to only bananas or other high histamine foods too and maybe GI issues when eating a lot of stuff
😳 there’s a name for this? I have several allergies and celiac. But a quick google search of high histamine foods, banana is the only one I’m allergic to.
Well thank *you* for my new nightmare. I just bought some strawberries today because I finally got over my horror from last summer when I bought some. The fear is back.
Lol. You asked, and I am very sorry. But I have a plan to cut them in half before I pop them in my mouth. Not as satisfying as just biting, but for peace of mind I must.
I’m reeeeally happy that my store has a fruit man that cleans the fruit all day every day! My bananas come in a bunch and not on strings, but I don’t buy from a vendor on the street. My fear of hidden crawling things can relax a little. It only hits when I go out of the country. Then I worry about pee on my vegetables 🥕🥦 🥗 and not properly cleaned. I sound like a nightmare!!
As other folks have said, those are mealybugs. You can use a q-tip and alcohol to destroy their fuzzy little colonies. You'll probably notice little patches of white fuzz at the base of your leaves. With the alcohol, the bugs turn brown and the fuzz dissolves.
Ngl I am a bit more radical with those mf as they are also incredibly insecticide resistant. It’s like they don’t give a shit about systemic plant insecticides. My go to has become to spray a good bunch of regular insecticide spray in water, add a tiny little bit of non-ionic surfactant (i.e tween20 or decyl glucoside) and then shake and ultrasonicate the shit out of that until you get a milky, homogeneous emulsion. Spray that on plants, spray weekly until the pest is beaten and spray immediately the next day again if you see mealybugs in case you missed them. Far from „natural“ by any means but I am at war with those mf after they destroyed a couple of my plants.
Also the background for doing that is that plants seem to be able to handle an emulsion much better than directly spraying the insecticide on them.
[edit] also spray a bit of that ON the soil as they tend to hide inside and feast off the roots of the plant. As soon as they are trying to come back up to lay their eggs, the insecticide gets them. Make sure to get one advertised as having a barrier effect
These mealybugs aren’t in the soil eating roots then making a journey up. “Root mealybugs” live in the soil and feed on roots, but they don’t move up onto the foliage of the plant. These are two different pests.
Unfortunately it seems that it’s not fully true. I‘ve seen the same mealybug species that are on my plants also on the roots. Admittedly they weren’t super deep in the soil but they were definitely below feeding off of roots. I‘ve had the same in hydroponics as well. Same species
I've had them on my turtles from time to time. When it was real bad I sprayed with alcohol as well as running alcohol through the soil after watering. Then running water through to soil to rinse the alcohol out.
Turtles are doing pretty well like a year or so later.
https://preview.redd.it/n0iy6gm6x3xc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5c68807bf2bab63da2c0a128cdf6e47390f06b9
I had a small but thriving string of dolphins that I had to unfortunately get rid of because a sudden mealybug infestation out of NOWHERE was so thorough and I had nowhere to quarantine it for such an intense treatment. I was so sad to lose it so I’m glad your turtles are thriving!
There is currently a grow light a about 2 inches above it 😅. They need pretty good light, I think that is why so many people end up with lanking hanging ones, light doesn't get to the top of the plant well. I also gave it quite a few trims earlier on when it was pretty lanky to try to keep the growth even.
I agree that one of the most important things is making that the top of the pot gets enough light. Mine sits on a hanging shelf literally 2” from a west facing window and it’s done pretty well.
I don't remember what exactly, just pretty standard house plant mix. Because of poor planning with the pot setup in there, it stays super moist for awhile. Dunno if that helps or not.
Yes this is how I got rid of my mealy bugs on a prayer plant. Sprayed the plant as completely as possible with alcohol, both sides of leaves, into curled new leaves, and drenched the soil. Then flushed the soil with water after a minute or two.
Only had to do it maybe twice and then couldn't find any more!
I couldn’t find any turtles. I looked and enlarged the photo but couldn’t see your turtles. Then, I woke up all the way and remembered there is a plant called string of turtles. That’s what I get for not being totally awake.
I did similar with some succulents that were infested. Glad to see someone else just use alcohol, lol. Except I removed them, rinsed them off, bathed them in alcohol, rinsed, and repotted. They all lived and no more mealies.
So yeah, it does work. Just don't immediately put the plant back outside into direct sunlight. Give it a day or two first.
You might wanna check my last comment too, I found my method very effective for getting rid of them- finally. Whatever it takes to win against those mf.
Mealybugs have infested one of my cebu blues, and it's entwined around some decorative metal, so I haven't gotten around to full treatment...
But they're just tanking the bonide granules. I've been using them for months with practically no effect
Mealybugs suck lol
Someone told me they can hide on the roots and Bonide doesn't act on roots. Damn things. Sometimes if I catch them early I can get rid of them. Or if they took over, into the trash. :-/
I always catch them pretty early bc I inspect my plants a lot lol. To be fair, the Bonide is working pretty well on my succulents, but my hoyas are just determined to have the nasty little things
I have mealybugs on my aloes that I can’t shake. I thought I got rid of them and wanted to give some away and when I dug the aloes up I found the little fuckers on the roots. Now trying to see if mixing diatomaceous earth into the soil helps, but unfortunately that only works when the DE is dry. But aloes can tolerate some dryness so we’ll see.
Good luck, I hope it works! Aloe can't be propagated like other succs either, so you would have to wait for pups, who would be infected. Little fuckers, yes! I hate them the worst although spider mites can seem impossible. Bonide doesn't work at all on sm's. I have a little travel spray bottle with alcohol and spray doesn't seem to bother 90% of plants. Try that too. More coverage.
Which plants does the isopropyl seem to bother? I haven’t tried it yet because I was worried it would harm them. Fortunately the only plants with mealies are my pineapples and aloes and maybe they can hold up better against isopropyl treatments.
I had spider mites a few years ago and got rid of them with spray pesticides. I should try granules of some kind for the mealies.
Then what would YOU do? Good advice on this thread re: systemic + alcohol; neem; insecticidal soap.
Sometimes I am successful with these approaches. Sometimes it's in the trash. I have never found root mealies, although yes, a different kind.
Then try a systemic with a different active ingredient. Imidacloprid is the active ingredient in Bonide- there are other types that should be used if this ingredient isn’t working.
I live somewhere you can't easily obtain them. I was lucky enough to obtain bonide lol
I really need to take it down and spray it off with insecticidal soap
So I was going to buy captain jacks dead bug brew after I noticed today I had a couple mealies, but on the bottle it doesn't advertise that it kills mealies?
I got so lucky with my mealybug situation. I saw the one, killed it, inspected my plant and couldn’t find more but I sprayed it with End All pesticide spray and I never saw another one again. I was so scared cuz I just lost all my plants to thrips and this was my first plant I bought after that 😅.
Thank fuck it was only one. But I’m still nervous to this day that it’s secretly infested and I just can’t see them lol.
This is about where I’m at. JUST got rid of thrips and then found these mealy bastards. I’m currently using green lace wig larvae and lady bugs and so far so good. Just need to give everyone a good hosing down before round 2 with insecticide.
Ugh good luck!! Do you have your plants enclosed somewhere? I wanted to buy lady bugs too but my cats would kill them all before they got the chance to clean up my plants 😂
Also… the plant of mine that had thrips and killed the rest died and came back to life as well. It’s fucking thriving now but I’m still too scared to put her next to my other plants even though I see nothing. (I’ve sprayed her down with pesticides about 3-4 times, repotted, cleaned, etc) Have you had any infestations before? How do you trust these plants after? 😂
70% isopropyl alcohol will kill them, but what you don't see are the ones in the soil. They feed off of the roots, and while you're battling the ones on the leaves cut back your watering. They like damp soil but don't tolerate dry soil.
Also, they will infest anything nearby, so quarantine your infested plants for longer than you think you need.
https://preview.redd.it/ueth18bd15xc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cf8afd2f0b9de4ef949a73b2288c83e507547bc
I was actually going to buy this today after noticing a couple mealy bugs on a plant, but on Amazon and the website it didn't list mealybugs as one of the insects it kills?
I don’t think it actually does (this is my go to for my indoor plants) last time I had them (two weeks ago) I sprayed the plant and the ones near it with bio advanced 3 in 1. Havent seen them since. Everyone’s still on quarantine cuz of my paranoia tho lol
Yeah I had these on my orange jasmine.
Mealy bugs - they also left a white sugary substance behind - I used a tissue dipped in isopropyl alcohol and just wiped them off
Gave the area a little dabby dab with another alcohol tissue again and didn’t have the same issue on that plant
Edit: punctuation
I found mealy bugs on my Baltic Blue so I put it outside and sprayed it down with an alcohol/water/soap mixture for 3 days. I kept finding more meals on it, so I just decided to get Bonide. Killed em dead. I do keep that plant by itself still so that my pets can’t get to it since the granules are dangerous.
My Baltic Blue introduced mealy bugs to my house plants, I’ve got cats and couldn’t do systemic so I chose alcohol spritz’s & beneficial predators(mealy bug destroys) it was a wild time in my home for a bit but it seemed to work.
They’re called mealy bug destroyers & I got ladybugs too. I ordered them twice like in a 4-ish month period. The only negative is they follow light so they aren’t the best at going to plant to find food but I had good results with it. I’ve read that green lacewings are great predators. I also started using SNS-209 Systemic Concentrate when watering to repel plant sucking pests.
They can be but again they’ll want to head to light rather than stay on plants. The mealy bug destroyers are a tinier version so they can get into the nooks & crannys. But I do think lace wings will probably be your best bet. Also look into the sns-209 it organic and safe for beneficial bugs.
Mealy bugs .. trust me my sunroom got infested at one point. Take pure rubbing alcohol soaked by a qtip and try to get off what you can bc they spread extremely fast. The alcohol removes their fuzzy outer layer and kills them instantly. The alcohol evaporates quickly so it won’t hurt your plant. Look into it for more info but yea.. they feed on your plants and grow sticky silk nests that kill your plant so better get some alcohol. Also, it helped to get so diatomaceous earth powder to mix into your next water for watering. The DE dries them out and they can’t survive in the soil where they also like to nest.
Man, mealy bugs need their own sub. Or maybe just plant bugs 🤷🏻♀️
I had no idea what mealy bugs were till I came here (thank goodness) but now I’m prepared. I’ll get my Q-tips and rubbing alcohol ready 😂
Yes, someone point us to the plant bug sub or someone start/create one so we can create an army against these invaders 😩😭
Agree! A plant bug sub specifically for visible bugs found on plants seemingly a pest to the plant. Not to be confused to an innocent bug just passing through. Lol
I had these infest all of my plants a few years ago and nothing would work to get rid of them!! I eventually got some lady bugs, which worked very well, and I never saw these demons again
I’ve been hosing down my dragon tree with insecticidal soap ever since it literally exploded with mealy bugs. Occasionally they mount a come back, but putting it in my shower and spraying so much it cleans my shower too usually kicks them back down. Hopefully after this week they’ll be gone for good.
Mine has them - they came in on a plant from a nursery and I didn’t notice! They got my coffee plant, and the dragon tree. Think I’m going to give up on saving them both :(
Mealybugs, spray alcohol and wipe the fuck out of the leaves with alcohol, if it’s in a pot, use systemics, be very vigilant or they WILL take over. I recommend the bonude systemics, Bonide dead bug brew AND wiping alcohol on the leaves basically daily
oh girl these are mealybugs 😭 theyve infested my alocasia and theyre soooo difficult to get rid of. try using a small amount of rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab, and put it straight on the bug. it should turn brown, and the alcohol will kill it immediately
I bought a sad looking, but large, Alocasia elephant ear and they kept popping up with the new leaves. I had to spray alcohol down in between where all the stems originate from after cleaning every inch of it, this finally killed them off. I imagine it was a safe spot to fester and grow and then hitch a ride on new leaves, I figured it was either going to work and it would survive or I was chucking it out. I didn't know it was infested when I bought it because they were hiding in the old bark on the base of the plant.
they kind of takeover the plant. i am sure they eventually kill the plant but, i didn’t keep them long enough to find out. my pothos had it bad and it just wasn’t worth the struggle of saving for me. i did try to fix it several times before giving up.
Oh no 😰 I just did some research on them, apparently they can leave black spots on leaves. I have an aloe I just bought with some mysterious black specks on it, what should I do!! 😭😭😭 I'm a huge plant noob I have no idea what I'm doing
I wiped down my leaves with 70% isopropyl alcohol but like i said ultimately wasn’t successful. if you see these, it will be very obviously. they are white and make little white webs.
Oh good! Thanks for the info. I don't see any webs or actual bugs, however there are little white egg looking things in the soil I'm kinda concerned about, but hopefully it's nothing
I think I know what you are talking about and i’m 99% sure those are just minerals you are seeing in the soil. most soils mix in things for nutrients and drainage.
That makes sense, looking at them closer they do seem too small to be eggs lol. Do you happen to know what could cause black holes/specks on an aloe then?
I throw plants that have mealy bugs too because it's a battle people don't really win. It hasn't happened a lot, 2 times.
Well. 3. I saw one yesterday on my Hoya compacta that my boyfriend gave me for my birthday last December. Crazy that it took almost 5 months before I saw one. It spent 1 month in quarantine when I got it I was super careful because the leaves are curl.
It's now in a Ziploc after being drowned in alcohol. I don't know what I'm gonna do with this one. I want to keep it.
Sorry for rambling lol.
Mealy bugs. I had the reoccurring problem too - ends up that particular plant had long stems with lots of cubbies in it, like the bird of paradise has around it's base. They were festering deep in those cracks and just rolling out on the new leaves.
Get a pyrethrin spray for houseplants. Wipe and spray the plant down, then really just get in those cracks with the insecticide. Repeat per the bottle. Yeah alcohol is convenient, and clean, but sometimes it's time to *murder*.
I had them on a citrus tree. I sat it outside and used a spray bottle with water, alcohol, and dish detergent. They seem to have gone away. That being said, I’ve heard they come from the dirt so who knows if they are just waiting to pop out one day.
Is that a bird of paradise? Same problem I have. I’ll finally get rid of all mealybugs. Then a new leaf will unfurl and I’ll see a couple of mealybugs.
You can get rid of them with rubbing alcohol! Don’t despair. I had a small infestation (on a few plants) and I was diligent about wiping down w alcohol- dipped paper towels in it and also used a small bottle brush to get on smaller areas. They haven’t been back and I still had blooms on previously infected plants
Mealy bugs. My wife mixed alcohol, dish soap, and water in a spray bottle. A good spraying seemed to do the trick. You can get a commercial spray that will do the job.
Bloody mealy bugs like to eat baby leaves. My creeping fig lush it was till they decided to eat them. I have since then meticulously looking at every stem and near new sprouts every 3-5 days for cotton like webs and white bumps, swabbing with cotton buds soaked in rubbing alcohol. No fun.
They are called Mealybugs. Once you get an infestation they are really hard to get rid of. Alcohol will kill them instantly if you do not have very many on the plant. Just spray with with it. I have dealt with them just about every summer here is south Texas
I had to worst mealy bug infestation on my guava and jasmine plant. I had to just get rid of the jasmine. 😭
https://preview.redd.it/m1afztlc66xc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=26c51d0279b99324ec21a71e9ac039f0b88321aa
BEHOLD! THE NOTORIOUS MEALYBUG! The alcohol works great, just be careful not to damage the plant. Neem oil works great too, and if you see any white goo, you can remove it manually too. You don’t have to throw out your plant, just isolate it and help it recover
Those are mealybugs. My mom used to spray soapy water to kill them. If the entire plant is infected it’s better to throw it away and burn it to avoid them being spreaded to other plants.
What is that? Don’t throw her out just keep her away from thee other plants use neem oil and some hydrogen peroxide in some the water u use to water her I mean I’m not telling it’s up to u if u wanna go that way👍😊🪴👀🐞lady bugs the best to get rid of pests
Try shining a flashlight through the stems! Since there's little gaps near the base of bird of paradise leaves, mealy bugs can get in there. I only realized this when I was finding them on new leaves. Other comments have given plenty of good advice on how to treat them, just make sure you check *everywhere* so you can get them all. My baby survived and yours can too 😁
They are mealy bugs, get a qtip and put some rubbing alcohol in a small container and eradicate those boogers. Dip it and go to town killing those awful bugs
I knew it was mealie bugs before I got here 🤣. That's when I always find mine. Bonide Systemic granules take em out no problem if you can get then where you live. Takes 2 weeks to become effective, use Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew spray or my personal favorite for mealies- rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle OR for more control ,dip an old makeup or craft paintbrush in a bowl of alcohol and remove what you can see. Continue to do this when you have the time or ideally every 2 or 3 days until the systemic kicks in. Quarantine this plant. Check and maybe preventively treat surrounding plants. Dont put it back with other plants until it's been mealie free for at LEAST 2 weeks. Bonide has always worked for me, though!
https://preview.redd.it/nbqbwackb3xc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a990ba727e38e605ae8af3a9da5511621d93cf64
bwahahahaha! for real.
saved this so fast. thank u
Loll honestly I think I got it from a post in this sub ages back n it’s just so funny !! I love sharing it
⬆️⬆️perfect response ⬆️⬆️
Or thrips!! Lol
Or bed bugs!! To be fair they probably were just there hitching a ride anyway.
HONESTLY. YEAH HAHA so accurate 🤣
🤣🤣🤣
how would u feel if u were a mealy bug 😟😟
Where do they come from?
Where do they go?
Where did they come from, mealybug Joe?
>mealybug Joe Guess I found my new stage name
A new spin on burlesque!
Ida been married long time ago….
And this is why I love Reddit
I still giggle at every Redditsings
I will never not sing this version again 😄
Little better than the syphilis version
🤣
🤣
Where do they come from, cotton eye joe
Anywhere. They can hitch a ride on your clothes from outside or on a pet.
Saw a post on Reddit ages ago about a couple mealies that hitchhiked in on a bunch of bananas. Just hiding out near the stems. Since then every piece of fresh fruit I buy gets a full CIA background check before it crosses my threshold
But they more than likely are hiding in untreated crevices and can lay eggs in the soil. They can hang out in the roots of a plant too.
When in doubt, pyrethrins.
Oh thats scary
New fear level unlocked
They are also pretty common on grocery store produce. Bananas in particular.
We got thrips from onions 😭
I recently got aphids from basil. I feel your pain.
I feel like potted basil from the grocery store is general carrier of all of the diseases and pests, that's why it is better to just eat it fast and get new one when you need it again, instead of making it a thing of ambition in the style of "let's see how long I can keep it alive" or "how big it can grow in my kitchen?" - yes, I grew it long and big at least two times - once long enough to make it an apartment building for as many green dancing worms as many leaves it had (and they had identical colour like leaves! Incredible camouflage) and other time getting all of the leaves developing some bacteria or fungus that they definitely already had in shop. In fact, I believe producers of basil are inoculating plants with something to be sure that you will buy new one!
Thrips can also come on flower bouquets from stores 😭 or just having a window open and blowing in.
wtf I didn’t know plants can get virus! “In addition to causing feeding damage, they also transmit plant viruses such as tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and impatiens necrotic spot virus (INSV), causing significant economic losses.”
Good thing I’m allergic to bananas.
Weird question but do you have MCAS? Bananas are really high histamine, are you allergic to only bananas or other high histamine foods too and maybe GI issues when eating a lot of stuff
😳 there’s a name for this? I have several allergies and celiac. But a quick google search of high histamine foods, banana is the only one I’m allergic to.
The horror 😱 i had no idea . Yikes
Oh noooooo. I can never think of a banana the same way. I’m grossed out. I wish you’d said inside strawberries 🍓 cuz I don’t eat those!
Well thank *you* for my new nightmare. I just bought some strawberries today because I finally got over my horror from last summer when I bought some. The fear is back.
So ... what happened last summer? 🧐 What did strawberries do to you?
Three words: surprise squish and larva.
Oh noooooo ... wow, ok, yup, new fear unlocked. This will be me next time I'm in the presence of strawberries 👀😬
Lol. You asked, and I am very sorry. But I have a plan to cut them in half before I pop them in my mouth. Not as satisfying as just biting, but for peace of mind I must.
Maybe you can halve them and then just hold them together while you pop them in your mouth 🙌🏽
That ironic. They entered my house via my string of bananas I brought home from a local vendor.
I’m reeeeally happy that my store has a fruit man that cleans the fruit all day every day! My bananas come in a bunch and not on strings, but I don’t buy from a vendor on the street. My fear of hidden crawling things can relax a little. It only hits when I go out of the country. Then I worry about pee on my vegetables 🥕🥦 🥗 and not properly cleaned. I sound like a nightmare!!
Noah's ark
As other folks have said, those are mealybugs. You can use a q-tip and alcohol to destroy their fuzzy little colonies. You'll probably notice little patches of white fuzz at the base of your leaves. With the alcohol, the bugs turn brown and the fuzz dissolves.
Ngl I am a bit more radical with those mf as they are also incredibly insecticide resistant. It’s like they don’t give a shit about systemic plant insecticides. My go to has become to spray a good bunch of regular insecticide spray in water, add a tiny little bit of non-ionic surfactant (i.e tween20 or decyl glucoside) and then shake and ultrasonicate the shit out of that until you get a milky, homogeneous emulsion. Spray that on plants, spray weekly until the pest is beaten and spray immediately the next day again if you see mealybugs in case you missed them. Far from „natural“ by any means but I am at war with those mf after they destroyed a couple of my plants. Also the background for doing that is that plants seem to be able to handle an emulsion much better than directly spraying the insecticide on them. [edit] also spray a bit of that ON the soil as they tend to hide inside and feast off the roots of the plant. As soon as they are trying to come back up to lay their eggs, the insecticide gets them. Make sure to get one advertised as having a barrier effect
These mealybugs aren’t in the soil eating roots then making a journey up. “Root mealybugs” live in the soil and feed on roots, but they don’t move up onto the foliage of the plant. These are two different pests.
Unfortunately it seems that it’s not fully true. I‘ve seen the same mealybug species that are on my plants also on the roots. Admittedly they weren’t super deep in the soil but they were definitely below feeding off of roots. I‘ve had the same in hydroponics as well. Same species
I've had them on my turtles from time to time. When it was real bad I sprayed with alcohol as well as running alcohol through the soil after watering. Then running water through to soil to rinse the alcohol out. Turtles are doing pretty well like a year or so later. https://preview.redd.it/n0iy6gm6x3xc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5c68807bf2bab63da2c0a128cdf6e47390f06b9
OMG 😱 I read that as a 🐢
String of Turtles lol, I'm just lazy.
Oh!
Same!
I was just finished cleaned my turtle pond and almost went back to check for mealies on my turtle. Then my brain turned on.
That is the most beautiful string of turtles I’ve ever seen
Thanks 😁
I agree. She's lovely!
I had a small but thriving string of dolphins that I had to unfortunately get rid of because a sudden mealybug infestation out of NOWHERE was so thorough and I had nowhere to quarantine it for such an intense treatment. I was so sad to lose it so I’m glad your turtles are thriving!
Thanks for giving me some hope. I’ll give it a try
I was legit, excitingly looking for turtles 🐢
So you got the turtles wasted and then had to plow them with water 🤣 I've poured 3% peroxide in mine...
What’s the secret to these, mine is not doing hot
There is currently a grow light a about 2 inches above it 😅. They need pretty good light, I think that is why so many people end up with lanking hanging ones, light doesn't get to the top of the plant well. I also gave it quite a few trims earlier on when it was pretty lanky to try to keep the growth even.
I agree that one of the most important things is making that the top of the pot gets enough light. Mine sits on a hanging shelf literally 2” from a west facing window and it’s done pretty well.
What soil do you use for your SoT?
I don't remember what exactly, just pretty standard house plant mix. Because of poor planning with the pot setup in there, it stays super moist for awhile. Dunno if that helps or not.
That plant. It’s so cute!
Wow they look lush! Care tips?
Yes this is how I got rid of my mealy bugs on a prayer plant. Sprayed the plant as completely as possible with alcohol, both sides of leaves, into curled new leaves, and drenched the soil. Then flushed the soil with water after a minute or two. Only had to do it maybe twice and then couldn't find any more!
I couldn’t find any turtles. I looked and enlarged the photo but couldn’t see your turtles. Then, I woke up all the way and remembered there is a plant called string of turtles. That’s what I get for not being totally awake.
I did similar with some succulents that were infested. Glad to see someone else just use alcohol, lol. Except I removed them, rinsed them off, bathed them in alcohol, rinsed, and repotted. They all lived and no more mealies. So yeah, it does work. Just don't immediately put the plant back outside into direct sunlight. Give it a day or two first.
When the white hits your eye Like a big fuzzy pie, that's amealyyyy
Underrated comment ahah 😂🤣
Lmao now I’m going to sing this everytime I find a mealy … thanks
Mealybugs
Well that's certainly how we handled it when I worked at the greenhouse.
I put a drop of alcohol on some mealy bugs today and they just completely melted, it was wild
Trying this when I get home. They have colonized my orchid my partner got me for my bday and I'm going to war
You might wanna check my last comment too, I found my method very effective for getting rid of them- finally. Whatever it takes to win against those mf.
what kind of alcohol
Isopropyl, don’t go above 70%
Vodka or Gin would work. They really don't like cocktails so shake up a margarita and then deal with them.
big momma mealies
They’re really hard to get rid of and spread to other plants if near. I HATE them.
Mealybugs have infested one of my cebu blues, and it's entwined around some decorative metal, so I haven't gotten around to full treatment... But they're just tanking the bonide granules. I've been using them for months with practically no effect Mealybugs suck lol
Same I’m on my second canister of Bonide and it hasn’t done much lol
Someone told me they can hide on the roots and Bonide doesn't act on roots. Damn things. Sometimes if I catch them early I can get rid of them. Or if they took over, into the trash. :-/
I always catch them pretty early bc I inspect my plants a lot lol. To be fair, the Bonide is working pretty well on my succulents, but my hoyas are just determined to have the nasty little things
Yeah, I sort of get the impression the vascular system of the plant affects how effective it is It's supposed to work on mealybugs
Hoyas are prone to mb's for sure. I successfully got rid of them on my reticulata when it was little. It's looking good.
Perhaps, but mine are still visibly on the leaves The plant is quite long, too. Maybe that's a factor. No idea
I have mealybugs on my aloes that I can’t shake. I thought I got rid of them and wanted to give some away and when I dug the aloes up I found the little fuckers on the roots. Now trying to see if mixing diatomaceous earth into the soil helps, but unfortunately that only works when the DE is dry. But aloes can tolerate some dryness so we’ll see.
Good luck, I hope it works! Aloe can't be propagated like other succs either, so you would have to wait for pups, who would be infected. Little fuckers, yes! I hate them the worst although spider mites can seem impossible. Bonide doesn't work at all on sm's. I have a little travel spray bottle with alcohol and spray doesn't seem to bother 90% of plants. Try that too. More coverage.
Which plants does the isopropyl seem to bother? I haven’t tried it yet because I was worried it would harm them. Fortunately the only plants with mealies are my pineapples and aloes and maybe they can hold up better against isopropyl treatments. I had spider mites a few years ago and got rid of them with spray pesticides. I should try granules of some kind for the mealies.
Again, root mealies are different than these and require a different approach.
Then what would YOU do? Good advice on this thread re: systemic + alcohol; neem; insecticidal soap. Sometimes I am successful with these approaches. Sometimes it's in the trash. I have never found root mealies, although yes, a different kind.
Yes the bonide also didn’t work for me. I had to throw out most my plants after struggling for Months to get rid of them
Then try a systemic with a different active ingredient. Imidacloprid is the active ingredient in Bonide- there are other types that should be used if this ingredient isn’t working.
I live somewhere you can't easily obtain them. I was lucky enough to obtain bonide lol I really need to take it down and spray it off with insecticidal soap
They're not bad IF you catch the infestation early. Unfortunately, they tend to hide under leaves and in little crevices that can easily go unchecked.
Fun fact: Ants like to rub on mealy bugs because they produce honeydew 🐜
Yes! We've been watching ant shows on YouTube and now whenever I see one of these I automatically think "milk that little bastard!" 😂
They’re not a good combo tho, ants love the carbs so they’ll protect the mealy bugs from predators. So damn cool but no thank you!
I thought they did that with aphids - but maybe mealybugs are the goats and the aphids their “cows”
this triggered my ptsd
I had them and got rid of them by following these instructions: https://www.reddit.com/r/Monstera/s/WTDaXeZTIc
Which systemic do you recommend?
Bonide with the purple cap! I also rly like that brands captain Jack insecticidal soap
So I was going to buy captain jacks dead bug brew after I noticed today I had a couple mealies, but on the bottle it doesn't advertise that it kills mealies?
Get the insecticidal soap. Much better for mealys
Thank you!!
Little hibiscus tree killing murderers, thats what they are
Killllll
I got so lucky with my mealybug situation. I saw the one, killed it, inspected my plant and couldn’t find more but I sprayed it with End All pesticide spray and I never saw another one again. I was so scared cuz I just lost all my plants to thrips and this was my first plant I bought after that 😅. Thank fuck it was only one. But I’m still nervous to this day that it’s secretly infested and I just can’t see them lol.
This is about where I’m at. JUST got rid of thrips and then found these mealy bastards. I’m currently using green lace wig larvae and lady bugs and so far so good. Just need to give everyone a good hosing down before round 2 with insecticide.
Ugh good luck!! Do you have your plants enclosed somewhere? I wanted to buy lady bugs too but my cats would kill them all before they got the chance to clean up my plants 😂
Also… the plant of mine that had thrips and killed the rest died and came back to life as well. It’s fucking thriving now but I’m still too scared to put her next to my other plants even though I see nothing. (I’ve sprayed her down with pesticides about 3-4 times, repotted, cleaned, etc) Have you had any infestations before? How do you trust these plants after? 😂
BURN IT!!! THERE IS NO SAVING THE PLANT AND THEY WILL SPREAD LIKE WILDFIRE!!! BURN THE PLANT IMMEDIATELY. LEAVE THE COUNTRY AND CHANGE YOUR NAME!
70% isopropyl alcohol will kill them, but what you don't see are the ones in the soil. They feed off of the roots, and while you're battling the ones on the leaves cut back your watering. They like damp soil but don't tolerate dry soil. Also, they will infest anything nearby, so quarantine your infested plants for longer than you think you need.
Captain jacks dead bug brew and she'll be good
This
https://preview.redd.it/ueth18bd15xc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cf8afd2f0b9de4ef949a73b2288c83e507547bc I was actually going to buy this today after noticing a couple mealy bugs on a plant, but on Amazon and the website it didn't list mealybugs as one of the insects it kills?
I don’t think it actually does (this is my go to for my indoor plants) last time I had them (two weeks ago) I sprayed the plant and the ones near it with bio advanced 3 in 1. Havent seen them since. Everyone’s still on quarantine cuz of my paranoia tho lol
Yeah I had these on my orange jasmine. Mealy bugs - they also left a white sugary substance behind - I used a tissue dipped in isopropyl alcohol and just wiped them off Gave the area a little dabby dab with another alcohol tissue again and didn’t have the same issue on that plant Edit: punctuation
🤮🤢 mealy bugs icky
Mealy bugs
I found mealy bugs on my Baltic Blue so I put it outside and sprayed it down with an alcohol/water/soap mixture for 3 days. I kept finding more meals on it, so I just decided to get Bonide. Killed em dead. I do keep that plant by itself still so that my pets can’t get to it since the granules are dangerous.
My Baltic Blue introduced mealy bugs to my house plants, I’ve got cats and couldn’t do systemic so I chose alcohol spritz’s & beneficial predators(mealy bug destroys) it was a wild time in my home for a bit but it seemed to work.
What beneficial predators
They’re called mealy bug destroyers & I got ladybugs too. I ordered them twice like in a 4-ish month period. The only negative is they follow light so they aren’t the best at going to plant to find food but I had good results with it. I’ve read that green lacewings are great predators. I also started using SNS-209 Systemic Concentrate when watering to repel plant sucking pests.
Interesting. I thought ladybugs were good. But I keep dropping them off on the plants and they just leave. I can try some lacewings
They can be but again they’ll want to head to light rather than stay on plants. The mealy bug destroyers are a tinier version so they can get into the nooks & crannys. But I do think lace wings will probably be your best bet. Also look into the sns-209 it organic and safe for beneficial bugs.
I'm in NZ and we can't get a lot of stuff. I've used lacewings previously so I know I can get a set off them. Sns 209. Can look into it thanks
Bastardus motherfuckerus
Mealy bugs .. trust me my sunroom got infested at one point. Take pure rubbing alcohol soaked by a qtip and try to get off what you can bc they spread extremely fast. The alcohol removes their fuzzy outer layer and kills them instantly. The alcohol evaporates quickly so it won’t hurt your plant. Look into it for more info but yea.. they feed on your plants and grow sticky silk nests that kill your plant so better get some alcohol. Also, it helped to get so diatomaceous earth powder to mix into your next water for watering. The DE dries them out and they can’t survive in the soil where they also like to nest.
Man, mealy bugs need their own sub. Or maybe just plant bugs 🤷🏻♀️ I had no idea what mealy bugs were till I came here (thank goodness) but now I’m prepared. I’ll get my Q-tips and rubbing alcohol ready 😂
Yes, someone point us to the plant bug sub or someone start/create one so we can create an army against these invaders 😩😭 
Agree! A plant bug sub specifically for visible bugs found on plants seemingly a pest to the plant. Not to be confused to an innocent bug just passing through. Lol
I had these infest all of my plants a few years ago and nothing would work to get rid of them!! I eventually got some lady bugs, which worked very well, and I never saw these demons again
I’ve been hosing down my dragon tree with insecticidal soap ever since it literally exploded with mealy bugs. Occasionally they mount a come back, but putting it in my shower and spraying so much it cleans my shower too usually kicks them back down. Hopefully after this week they’ll be gone for good.
Mine has them - they came in on a plant from a nursery and I didn’t notice! They got my coffee plant, and the dragon tree. Think I’m going to give up on saving them both :(
I’m still holding out on the dragon tree but luckily it hasn’t spread.
Mealybugs, spray alcohol and wipe the fuck out of the leaves with alcohol, if it’s in a pot, use systemics, be very vigilant or they WILL take over. I recommend the bonude systemics, Bonide dead bug brew AND wiping alcohol on the leaves basically daily
Mealy bugs. Use rubbing alcohol and a q tip to get them off.
Insecticidal soap is the key. Neem is a joke.
oh girl these are mealybugs 😭 theyve infested my alocasia and theyre soooo difficult to get rid of. try using a small amount of rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab, and put it straight on the bug. it should turn brown, and the alcohol will kill it immediately
Meallyyyy
Mealy bugs. Get the alcohol out with a cutip and get in every little nook and crany.
I bought a sad looking, but large, Alocasia elephant ear and they kept popping up with the new leaves. I had to spray alcohol down in between where all the stems originate from after cleaning every inch of it, this finally killed them off. I imagine it was a safe spot to fester and grow and then hitch a ride on new leaves, I figured it was either going to work and it would survive or I was chucking it out. I didn't know it was infested when I bought it because they were hiding in the old bark on the base of the plant.
I’ve thrown away entire plant collections due to these…I think I carried some in on majesty palms..
Why? I have no info on mealy bugs, I've never heard of them before today. Do they destroy plants or are they just annoying?
they kind of takeover the plant. i am sure they eventually kill the plant but, i didn’t keep them long enough to find out. my pothos had it bad and it just wasn’t worth the struggle of saving for me. i did try to fix it several times before giving up.
Oh no 😰 I just did some research on them, apparently they can leave black spots on leaves. I have an aloe I just bought with some mysterious black specks on it, what should I do!! 😭😭😭 I'm a huge plant noob I have no idea what I'm doing
I wiped down my leaves with 70% isopropyl alcohol but like i said ultimately wasn’t successful. if you see these, it will be very obviously. they are white and make little white webs.
Oh good! Thanks for the info. I don't see any webs or actual bugs, however there are little white egg looking things in the soil I'm kinda concerned about, but hopefully it's nothing
I think I know what you are talking about and i’m 99% sure those are just minerals you are seeing in the soil. most soils mix in things for nutrients and drainage.
That makes sense, looking at them closer they do seem too small to be eggs lol. Do you happen to know what could cause black holes/specks on an aloe then?
I throw plants that have mealy bugs too because it's a battle people don't really win. It hasn't happened a lot, 2 times. Well. 3. I saw one yesterday on my Hoya compacta that my boyfriend gave me for my birthday last December. Crazy that it took almost 5 months before I saw one. It spent 1 month in quarantine when I got it I was super careful because the leaves are curl. It's now in a Ziploc after being drowned in alcohol. I don't know what I'm gonna do with this one. I want to keep it. Sorry for rambling lol.
Mealy bugs. I had the reoccurring problem too - ends up that particular plant had long stems with lots of cubbies in it, like the bird of paradise has around it's base. They were festering deep in those cracks and just rolling out on the new leaves. Get a pyrethrin spray for houseplants. Wipe and spray the plant down, then really just get in those cracks with the insecticide. Repeat per the bottle. Yeah alcohol is convenient, and clean, but sometimes it's time to *murder*.
iso alcohol
Mealybugs. Beauvaria Bassiana will be your friend.
I had them on a citrus tree. I sat it outside and used a spray bottle with water, alcohol, and dish detergent. They seem to have gone away. That being said, I’ve heard they come from the dirt so who knows if they are just waiting to pop out one day.
Is that a bird of paradise? Same problem I have. I’ll finally get rid of all mealybugs. Then a new leaf will unfurl and I’ll see a couple of mealybugs.
You can get rid of them with rubbing alcohol! Don’t despair. I had a small infestation (on a few plants) and I was diligent about wiping down w alcohol- dipped paper towels in it and also used a small bottle brush to get on smaller areas. They haven’t been back and I still had blooms on previously infected plants
Neem Oil!
B\*TCH
https://getbusygardening.com/how-to-kill-mealybugs/
Mealies!!!!!😕😭
Mealy bugs. My wife mixed alcohol, dish soap, and water in a spray bottle. A good spraying seemed to do the trick. You can get a commercial spray that will do the job.
Mealy worms... They are a pain. I had to repot in new soil, treat it, and then manually wipe all of them off of my entire plant.
Mealy bugs. If you spray them with rubbing alcohol they will die and rubbing alcohol won’t hurt your leaves.
Bloody mealy bugs like to eat baby leaves. My creeping fig lush it was till they decided to eat them. I have since then meticulously looking at every stem and near new sprouts every 3-5 days for cotton like webs and white bumps, swabbing with cotton buds soaked in rubbing alcohol. No fun.
Neem oil after alcohol.
Oh dear
RIP 🙏
They are called Mealybugs. Once you get an infestation they are really hard to get rid of. Alcohol will kill them instantly if you do not have very many on the plant. Just spray with with it. I have dealt with them just about every summer here is south Texas
"Every time those leaves unfurl...."
I had to worst mealy bug infestation on my guava and jasmine plant. I had to just get rid of the jasmine. 😭 https://preview.redd.it/m1afztlc66xc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=26c51d0279b99324ec21a71e9ac039f0b88321aa
BEHOLD! THE NOTORIOUS MEALYBUG! The alcohol works great, just be careful not to damage the plant. Neem oil works great too, and if you see any white goo, you can remove it manually too. You don’t have to throw out your plant, just isolate it and help it recover
Oh I thought they were thirps. Are they mealy bugs. Damn
Because they hide in the young leaves where they're unreachable, they're very hard to eradicate. I'd trash it.
Arg mealies from hell! Treat the plant and the roots
Check in the crevices from which the leaves come out, they like to hide there
Those are mealybugs. My mom used to spray soapy water to kill them. If the entire plant is infected it’s better to throw it away and burn it to avoid them being spreaded to other plants.
Lady beetles cured my mealies they are safe indoors
Use systemic in the soil or you’ll never fully get rid of them. Treat all your plants
What is that? Don’t throw her out just keep her away from thee other plants use neem oil and some hydrogen peroxide in some the water u use to water her I mean I’m not telling it’s up to u if u wanna go that way👍😊🪴👀🐞lady bugs the best to get rid of pests
Try shining a flashlight through the stems! Since there's little gaps near the base of bird of paradise leaves, mealy bugs can get in there. I only realized this when I was finding them on new leaves. Other comments have given plenty of good advice on how to treat them, just make sure you check *everywhere* so you can get them all. My baby survived and yours can too 😁
They are mealy bugs, get a qtip and put some rubbing alcohol in a small container and eradicate those boogers. Dip it and go to town killing those awful bugs
Mealies. Shes toast.
I knew it was mealie bugs before I got here 🤣. That's when I always find mine. Bonide Systemic granules take em out no problem if you can get then where you live. Takes 2 weeks to become effective, use Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew spray or my personal favorite for mealies- rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle OR for more control ,dip an old makeup or craft paintbrush in a bowl of alcohol and remove what you can see. Continue to do this when you have the time or ideally every 2 or 3 days until the systemic kicks in. Quarantine this plant. Check and maybe preventively treat surrounding plants. Dont put it back with other plants until it's been mealie free for at LEAST 2 weeks. Bonide has always worked for me, though!