Update, definitely mealybugs again. Just saw one moving. Treating with alcohol and pouring hydrogen peroxide mix through the soil. Why does this keep happening??? Does anyone know what this stuff is that is always on this cactus? It's my only one that does it and I've cleaned it off numerous times with alcohol but it always comes back. I'm concerned about putting it near my other cactus until I know what it is.
Plant AI says mealy bugs and that's what I thought at first which is why I cleaned it off with alcohol. But on a cactus? And why do they keep coming back?
I’d be concerned about fungal lesions. I don’t know much about cacti but with high humidity and overwatering….best to keep isolated.
0 likes It wasn't overwatered at all. So I don't think that's it but I did treat it for mealy bugs and quarantine it.
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I would take out of soil then spray it off very good, treat for mealies then repot in fresh cactus soil.
0 likes I did treat for mealy bugs but I didn't change the soil. I treated it with a one to three part mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water. And it's in quarantine.
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Omygoodness… they are mealybugs. And mealies LOVE all succulents. They keep coming back because they were never fully eradicated. Just like fungus gnats we need to interrupt their life cycle which could take a couple months so diligent treatment is needed. It’s also worth checking to see if it has root mealies (different from the ones you see on top of the cactus).
1 like I just treated it for mealy bugs with alcohol and then washed it with dish soap and water and poured a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water through the soil. It's in quarantine.
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I hate them. Ladybugs dig them, though.
Ps that Astrophytum is supposed to have that many spots; the bugs were up in the top crevices.
1 likeSo I follow this girl on TikTok that talks about these bugs. I’m super new to all of plants stuff by the way. She said to use Mosquito Bits. You can mix it into the soil as well as make a “tea” with it as it says in the instructions and use it to water your plant. It felt like our SOIL is was caused the issues for us.
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