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Mealybugs are a far-flung houseplant blighter that can be fabulously frustrating and difficult to extinguish when an infestation come about .
Found almost only indoorsmealybugs on houseplantslive well in home and glasshouse . They do not survive in many office outside because they can not endure freezing temperature .
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How Mealybugs Spread
mealy bug are almost always brought into the family or glasshouse on new plant life brought in from some external source .
object lesson are buying plants from a garden center or receiving a plant from someone as a gift .
The mealybugs on the infested plant life will easy spread out to other plant .
Once a population is found , it is a conflict to get rid of them and preserve your plants from the damaging effects of mealy bug .
This pathfinder is to facilitate you make the upper handwriting not only to remove mealybugs from your treasure plants but also to foreclose them from becoming an issue in the first place .
Mealybug Identification
There are several mintage of mealybugs you may find while taking care of your houseplant .
However , all mealybugs have exchangeable features that make them easy to recognize and place from other common pests .
Adult female mealybugs have ellipse - form body , no wing , and are covered with white wax with a foggy look to them .
They have ramification and are mobile . Despite this , they do n’t jaunt very far once established , and they do not move quickly .
Female nymphs are oval and colored yellowish , orange , or pinkish . The white accumulating flossy white wax will increase as they get older .
When they miss the white coating , mealybug nymphs are very nomadic , and this is when they will move from an infected plant to a non - infected plant in lookup of fresh feeding field .
Male mealybugs are much different from their female counterparts and are very diminutive and gnat - like .
They have wing that they can apply to move around and find female mates . They find female to mate with and prove a new population on a plant .
When scouting the plant foliation , they are seldom noticed .
Most multitude do not notice mealy bug until a mostly female population has already become well - established , making them so voiceless to extinguish .
Mealybug Damage
Mealybugs are puncture and suction feeders , using their pierce - sucking mouthparts to feast on plant juice and sap .
They excrete a waste ware from their feeding , a sweet-smelling , gummy fluid called honeydew .
Due to the sugary content of this fluid , an ugly black fungus visit sooty cast often grows on the honeydew melon .
The more honeydew melon there is , the more jet-black mould there can be , and this can damage leaves , occlude sunlight absorption , and stall out photosynthesis .
This is in summation to the tenseness of the bugs feed on the plant ’s internal blackjack and draining it of nutrients .
Heavy mealy bug infestation can seriously damage the industrial plant and stunt growth .
Small populations of mealybug often go undetected due to the colouration and small numbers that are easy to hide out in leafage crevices .
In most sheath , by the time the mealybugs have been identify , or wrong has been noted , the pest have likely been feeding on the plant for several week .
Control Options
Mealybugs dine on a across-the-board array of houseplant but do have their favorite .
Here are various ascendance steps to remember :
Check for mealybugs if you have coleus , ferns , cactus , hoya , palms , jade , orchids , philodendron , genus Ficus , Schefflera , and citrus plants . This must be specifically a part of universal plant care .
Carefully scout any plants you bring home and keep an eye on them for a few hebdomad to insure no plague is detected .
Quarantine Plants
If you discover mealybugs on the plants , either quarantine the plant until the infestation is get going or thrash the flora out to avoid circulate the infestation to your healthy plant .
Cleaning and Washing Leaves
If you hitch a mealybug infestation betimes on , you may try wash the leaves and staunch by hand to get rid of the pests . you may do this with a diluted modest dish detergent and piss commixture .
utilise a soft cloth or a very indulgent soup-strainer to move out both the mealybugs and the honeydew by lave the leave .
Handpicking or using a cotton swab dipped in alcohol may also be effective , though this should be slenderly done as there is a endangerment that the alcoholic beverage will cauterise the leaves if it is done too frequently .
To reject the mealy bug , washing , and handwriting removal will also be necessary to ensure all nymph are get rid of .
Using Insecticides – Chemical and Natural
If unsuccessful with the above methods , you could consider using an insecticide .
The bodies of mealybugs and the finish on their eggs make them repellent to many typical spays and chemical .
They are also very good at hide in nook and crannies where spray and liquid state can not pass easily .
Less toxic option for those worried about the risk to themselves , minor , or pets include insecticidal soap , horticultural oil , and specialized spray formulations . Will Neem Oil Kill Mealybugs ?
It is crucial to note that some systemic insect powder are peculiarly design for houseplant and mealy bug .
However , these are very expensive and contain the active ingredient imidacloprid , which is efficient but extremely expensive .
For this grounds , this remotion method is urge only for extremely valuable flora that can not well be replaced .
Closing Thoughts
It can be unmanageable to get rid of mealybug once they get established on your houseplant .
For this reason , prevention and right precaution is the honest way to manage the menace of mealybugs on your prized houseplants .
