Maybe my first ever case of mealy bugs ever. I’ve had plants for years and thanks to my boyfriend telling me I had a spider next to my plant (a real spider but I panicked and thought I had spider mites) it when I actually found these. I’m baffled because I’ve not bought a new plant in months! Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I will grab some neem oil tomorrow.
Are you sure it isn't mold? I've never had mealies before so I don't have first hand experience with them but I've had this sort of thing on my plants before and it's been mold. But usually it's only when it's near somewhere humid or damp
1 Like I’ve had powdery mildew before on some succulents I have but this is genuinely the only spot (apart from the odd fleck of white on leaves) that has this. It is honestly so small too, I’ve just zoomed right in to get an idea of it. It looks like mealys when I’ve googled it. Apparently you can’t actually see them with the naked eye though so who knows.
0 Likes That’s it on my calathea makoyana.
Be very careful. Dish detergent can kill houseplants. What you want is soap
0 Likes Yeah I'd say if it isn't very humid or damp around where you keep it then it is a sign of mealies, you can remove the fluffy areas with a cotton pad or swab soaked in alcohol. And just do your regular pest treatment that you'd normally use like pesticides or neem oil
0 Likes I’ve genuinely never had pests before other than powdery mildew so I have nothing. Someone mentioned diluted dish soap on another post so I’m going to wash it and try that and keep an eye on it. Yeah I used to use a humidifier but that caused the powdery mildew on my succulents and snake plants so I stopped using it. It’s 54% humidity right now which is average for here 😮💨
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It definitely looks like mealy bugs to me. I just had a horrible case on one of my plants. Get some Q-tips and some alcohol and just dab them all off. After you do that, pour a mixture of one part hydrogen peroxide to three parts water through the soil until it drips out the bottom. Then put the plant in quarantine for at least a week and keep checking it for any more bugs. Carefully check any plant that was near it. They spread really really quickly.
1 Like And when you hit it with the Q-tip with alcohol, if it turns a brownish red on the Q-tip it was definitely a mealy bug.
1 Like Ahh sadly I only used dishsoap that contained teatree oil on the q tips as I had no rubbing alcohol. I washed the plant in the shower after and then sprayed it with diluted dish soap top to toe and in the soil as I don’t have any peroxide. I’m going to rinse in the morning and change the soil. But yes I’ll quarantine. Thankfully it was only a small infestation so far and none of my other plants have anything as of yet. Will continue to check her daily. God knows where they came from. Thank god my boyfriend pointed out the ‘tiny spiders’ next to it or I would have never known. I barely check my makoyana because she’s been the most chill out of all my plants 😅
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