My birds of paradise sadly has another bug infestation. Sadly this time, mealybugs. I’ve thought my leaves were just a bit dusty for weeks but when I’ve had a proper look today, there the little suckers were. How do I even begin to treat this? I’ve consulted ChatGPT but I’m still new to owning plants and want to get it right as I’ve got two new shoots/leaves emerging and don’t want to damage them.
First step isolate this plant from all your other plants, mealy bugs can spread unfortunately :( Then wipe off all the visible bugs using rubbing alcohol, and spread the whole plant with rubbing alcohol, it can infiltrate the wax on the bugs body very effectively. Repeat this treatment every 3 days, make sure spray both side of the leaves and the stems near the pot.
1 likeCan also get some neem oil spray and insecticidal soap spray, and rotate with rubbing alcohol
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Neem oil killed all my alocasias and philodendrons……. I refuse to use it ever again.
1 like Oh no! It’s in my bedroom with all my other plants, but I’ve now moved it to the other side of the room. I’ve wiped the whole plant down with alcohol and also used q-tips. Hopefully doing this every few days will do the trick!
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First of all quarantine. Use the alcohol and swab technique to remove the visible ones and egg sacks. Then thoroughly spray the plant. I use insecticidal soap or Systemica. Spray every three days for about three weeks. Both kill on contact and Systemica claims that their product is absorbed by the plant. I’ve never damaged any plants with these products as opposed to neem oil. Which damaged at least three of my Echeveria before I stopped using it.
4 likes Got it. Moved it to the other side of the room away from my other plants and thoroughly sprayed and wiped it with rubbing alcohol, using q-tips on the crevices. And got bug spray on the way! Fingers crossed they should be gone soon 🤞🏼
2 likesQuarantine, spot-treat with a q-tip soaked in alcohol (it's harsh on the plant so try to keep it on the bugs as much as possible.) If you want to be extra thorough you can repot and replace the soil in case of mealybug eggs in there. Once all visible mealies are gone, you can spray with a gentle preventative insecticide (like neem oil.) Inspect the plant daily and repeat the alcohol spot-treat on any visible mealies. Repeat the gentle spray every 5 days, since those only kill young mealies. The entire lifespan of mealybugs is 31 days, so if you're clear for 2 months, you're done. Also if it's only a few bugs, you can get away with just spot-treating as long as you're consistent about it
1 like Thanks so much! I didn’t realise their lifespan was 31 days so I was beginning to lose hope, but that has made me feel better. I’ll persevere with rotating between alcohol & pesticide every few days!
1 likeI am a new birds of paradise owner, what steps I can take now to prevent this bug infestation? What should be my routine and can you recommend which brand I should be using? I only have neem oil wipes which i have been using occasionally. My plant is healthy and growing at this point.
1 like My advice may be futile as I wasn’t able to prevent the infestation myself, but I’d recommend changing the soil if you’ve bought it from somewhere, and regularly inspecting the leaves/stems for any changes or signs of infestation
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Like others have said, alcohol is the way. Also chatgpt is not so great for a lot of reasons, it is irreliable a lot of the time too
1 like Thank you! Yeah I’ve been getting conflicting advice from AI so I’ll stick to here from now on
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