---
title: "Some of my plants have signs of mealy bugs. No idea how they got in…"
description: "Some of my plants have signs of mealy bugs. No idea how they got in since i live in an 8th floor apartment and I haven’t brought in a new plant since…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ/Wqx8xk1c5vyqiM7YNntn8l"
community: "Pests, diseases and problems"
author: "ISp3nnyK3y"
published: "2026-05-04T23:53:46.665311Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v2/cloudinary/global_data/communities/pestsDiseasesAndProblems.jpg"
---

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# Some of my plants have signs of mealy bugs. No idea how they got in…

_Posted by ISp3nnyK3y on 2026-05-04_

Some of my plants have signs of mealy bugs. No idea how they got in since i live in an 8th floor apartment and I haven’t brought in a new plant since October2025. But after I repotted my 3 weeks ago dessert roses I noticed they had that cobwebby stuff on the leaves. I got the alcohol and wiped the leaves. Have a spray with neem oil. But I keep seeing the little buggers every other day. I repotted my snake plant at the same time and I’m worried I cross contaminated someone.

Any advice? How long and how regularly should I be checking and spraying before I give up an send my plants to the graveyard?

## 3 comments

### LadyTenorJD commented on 2026-05-06

Can you post a picture?

### Waspinator commented on 2026-05-07

Inspect all of your plants each day and quarantine any with signs of mealies; they do travel. For adult mealies, your best option is to soak a q-tip in isopropyl alcohol, touch it to the bug, and physically remove it with the q-tip. (Alcohol can hurt the plant, so only spot-treat. Seal used q-tips in baggies when you throw them away in case the mealy didn't die.) For younger mealies, use a preventative treatment (neem oil will work, or hydrogen peroxide.) on the entire plant. Re-treat with the alcohol as needed only on adult/visible mealies, and redo the preventative treatment every 5 days to ensure you're getting the young ones. You can also replace the soil for affected plants to remove any eggs hidden in there. The full lifespan of a mealybug is 31 days, so if you can go two months with no sign of them, you're done with treatment

### ZucchiniZaddy commented on 2026-05-07

mealies go everywhere

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