---
title: "Are these pests or am I being paranoid? I bought this beautiful…"
description: "Are these pests or am I being paranoid? I bought this beautiful Primulina ‘Loki’ this week and have been keeping it isolated for now but am curious if the…"
url: "https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ/ujzTBraomADAtITR4XbBVP"
community: "Pests, diseases and problems"
author: "Kk"
published: "2026-05-15T19:14:26.940159Z"
language: "en"
image: "https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/Kx-ShyjqrxYDpkPKDI76yxXt3Z7YLGjSO0xEzn6DdlY/Xb2f45FcT5CkaKgM_V0b2g.webp?size=large"
---

[Community](https://getplanta.com/community.md) / [Pests, diseases and problems](https://getplanta.com/community/lKxUkhzRR_aIJD7o1QvtwQ.md)

# Are these pests or am I being paranoid? I bought this beautiful…

_Posted by Kk on 2026-05-15_

Are these pests or am I being paranoid?

I bought this beautiful Primulina ‘Loki’ this week and have been keeping it isolated for now but am curious if the sandy/ grainy speckles on the leaf stems are pests or not? There aren’t any on the other areas of the leaves and kind of seem like sand.  
They don’t exactly seem like they are pests but I want to be extra sure before I introduce it to the rest of my household plant family.  
Any ideas? Thanks!

![Attachment 1 of 4](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/Kx-ShyjqrxYDpkPKDI76yxXt3Z7YLGjSO0xEzn6DdlY/Xb2f45FcT5CkaKgM_V0b2g.webp?size=large)

![Attachment 2 of 4](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/Kx-ShyjqrxYDpkPKDI76yxXt3Z7YLGjSO0xEzn6DdlY/IkOC2sqRSp-XJOd2DiSpgw.webp?size=large)

![Attachment 3 of 4](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/Kx-ShyjqrxYDpkPKDI76yxXt3Z7YLGjSO0xEzn6DdlY/uc_GgBCTSSaCvvt272uyww.webp?size=large)

![Attachment 4 of 4](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/Kx-ShyjqrxYDpkPKDI76yxXt3Z7YLGjSO0xEzn6DdlY/S9e0YPzxQc6RR6U18mTeCA.webp?size=large)

## 3 comments

### Waspinator commented on 2026-05-16

Looks like sand to me, but you can always quarantine it for a few days to be sure. Visually, the closest kind of pest to that would be baby mealybugs, and if it's those you'll see adults after about 5 days

#### Kk replied on 2026-05-16

Thanks I appreciate your insight! I’ll keep an eye on it

### Bebe🌵🤍 commented on 2026-05-16

I agree with Waspinator, it’s either sand or mealy bugs. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to treat with a pesticide for precaution/preventative. You can get a systematic pesticide

![Attachment 1 of 1](https://images.getplanta.com/v1/resize/EKbKISFhrkptGCozrTPTuD0vgyW2Myf0SIis-60LlxE/YP_BUfybTa-OZMkN8pU0LQ.webp?size=large)

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