Mealybugs are clever little devils, they like to hide and then come in for the sneak attack. Your houseplants look fine one day, and then it seems like overnight the stems are covered with white fluffy stuff. Dreaded mealybugs are tough opponents, but we can be smarter, and ultimately win the battle.
What Are Mealybugs?
Mealybugs are scale insects that suck the sap out of the leaves and stems of plants; resulting in stunted or deformed leaf growth, yellowing of the leaves, and leaf drop.
The damage caused by mealybugs is not as quick to occur or as devastating as it is with spider mites.
But if a mealybug infestation goes left untreated, the plant will eventually die; although it will usually take a long time for mealybugs to kill a plant.
Mealybugs On Houseplants
Mealybug Plant Pest Identification
Mealybugs can be found anywhere on a plant, but are most commonly found on new growth, along the veins of leaves, and at the leaf joints.
They are white and most commonly look like cotton around the base of the leaves or stems of the plant. Mealybugs can also appear brown or cream colored, and waxy in immature stages.
They don’t look like bugs, and are commonly mistaken for disease or mildew rather than plant bugs.
Related Post: Controlling Aphids on Houseplants
It takes a week or two for mealybug eggs to hatch. Most of the time mealybugs don’t appear to move, but in their early stages mealy bugs can crawl around on a plant and move to other houseplants in the area.
The worst part is that mealybugs will leave the houseplant to hide, and can live for a long time in spaces and crevices without having a host plant.
So just when you think you have conquered the beast, they will come out of hiding and re-infest your houseplant when you’re not looking.
Gross!
Mealybugs On Bottom Of Houseplant Pot
How To Kill Mealybugs On Houseplants
As with any houseplant pest infestation, when you first spot a mealybug problem begin treatment immediately.
I don’t recommend using synthetic pesticides, because mealybugs are resistant to most chemical pesticides. They also have the ability to develop a resistance to any pesticides they are exposed to on a regular basis.
So, skip the toxic stuff and use these safe pest control methods instead!
Related Post: Controlling Houseplant Scale
Mealybug Indoor Pest Control Tips
- One way to kill mealybugs on houseplants is by touching them with a cotton swab that’s been soaked in rubbing alcohol. In order for rubbing alcohol to be effective, it must come in direct contact with the mealybugs.
- As you treat a houseplant, make sure to inspect underneath all leaves, around the leaf joints, in folds and at the base of the plant for mealybugs. These elusive plant pests like to hide so check the plant from several angles and under each leaf. Also brush away a little dirt and check the base of the stem at the point where it sticks out of the dirt, you may find some mealybugs hiding there.
Use Rubbing Alcohol To Kill Mealybugs
- Use organic insecticidal soap, or a solution of soapy water and spray it on the leaves of your infested plant (I use 1 tsp of Dr. Bronner’s Baby-mild Liquid Soap per 1 liter of water). If the plant is small enough, bring it to the sink or shower and wash the leaves with this soap and water solution. Keep in mind that soap can damage the plant, so it’s best to test it on a few leaves before spraying the entire plant.
- Neem oil is very effective for controlling mealybug infestations, and is great for residual pest prevention as well. You can buy neem oil for pretty cheap, and a big bottle will last a long time. A pre-mixed horticultural oil or hot pepper wax spray also work very well when used directly on mealybugs.
Neem Oil And Soap To Kill Mealybugs
- Mealybugs can live in the soil of a houseplant so if a plant is plagued by recurring infestations, you could try removing the top inch of dirt from the pot and replacing it with fresh potting soil.
- Remove the plant from the area and clean any crevices where mealybugs could be hiding. Be sure check around the outside lip and inside edges of the pot and tray, and also the bottom of the pot for hiding mealybugs.
- If you have ants, they may be causing the problem! Ants will bring mealybugs to a houseplant so that they can feed off of the honeydew residue that’s produced by mealybugs. I know this sounds crazy, but it’s a fact. So make sure that you watch out for ants.
It’s hard to get rid of all of the mealybugs the first few times you try. Even if you are able to kill all of the adults, the eggs and babies are tiny and easily overlooked.
It can be frustrating, but it’s worth it to save your favorite houseplants.
Organic Pest Control Products I Recommend
Recommended Reading:
- Winter Houseplant Care
- Houseplant Pest Control
- The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual
- The House Plant Expert
More Information About Indoor Plant Pest Control
- All Natural Pest Control Supplies
- Neem Oil as Organic Pest Control
- How To Control Houseplant Pests
- Where Do Houseplant Pests Come From?
- Debugging and Cleaning Potted Plants
For more information and tips for how to combat those super annoying indoor plant pests, click here… Houseplant Pests
How do you kill mealybugs on your houseplants? Share your tips in the comments below.
Thanks for the advice on Mealy Bugs. However, where does the mother Mealy bug come from to assault the plant? We have a lot of Hibiscus bushes and it seems that [they] assault all the bushes at the same time.
Would it be the case to spray early; say Mid May, to catch them out?
David
Haha, who knows where the mother comes from. That sounds like a chicken and egg question. 😉 Yes, it does seem like they appear all at once, but they are probably there all the time. You just don’t notice them until the plant is infested. I would definitely recommend spraying the plant early, and keep up on it a few times over the summer to see if you can get rid of the mealybugs.
How much neem oil? Do you add it to water and spray on the plant or add it to the soap solution?
It depends on the type of neem oil you get. Some products come ready-to-use. There should be instructions for use on the package.
I mostly gave up on natural sprays; now I just but lady bugs a few times a year on Amazon.
You buy the ladybugs for your houseplants inside the house? I’ve heard of others doing that. My cats would love it! LOL!
Lady bugs? Did it work? Are they a special kind, because we have a lot of them right out my doors and windows here in Michigan. I need to try, nothing else has worked. Neem oil and soapy water and alcohol have not worked. It’s a big Gardenia tree, I just transplanted in a big heavy pot, I wonder if they were in the potting soil I bought? Well sorry I’m just so sick of these nasty little insects, and I really like this tree. I hope the neem oil doesn’t hurt the lady bugs because I’m off to catch some ladybugs.
The bugs that are hanging around your doors and windows aren’t ladybugs, they are Asian lady beetles. Ladybugs don’t swarm like that. 🙂 Asian lady beetles eat pest insects too, but they are an invasive species (and be careful, because they can bite too – though it’s not too painful). Neem oil is a natural organic pesticide, but it should be treated like any other pesticide. So yes, it will likely also kill the Asian lady beetles (as would soapy water spray if it’s used directly on the beetles).
Need oil, rubbing alcohol, and soapy water are not killing meelybugs on my indoor Gardenia tree. I have tried everything it’s big and heavy to move into the shower. HELP I can’t kill these things.
Sorry to hear about your mealybug infestation, it’s so frustrating! Mealybugs are one of the most difficult pests to get rid of. You have to be diligent and patient. It can take several months to get rid of mealybugs. Mealybugs are good hiders, so even if you think you’ve gotten rid of them, they come right back. Some of their favorite hiding spots are under the edges of pots and trays, on the bottom of pots, in drainage holes, at the base of the plant just under the soil, around the edge of the soil. So make sure to inspect these areas for signs of mealybugs. They can even leave the plant all together and hide in window ledges, cracks and crevices. They are not nice! So, you have to keep checking your plant for signs of infestation even after you think you got them all killed. Good luck with your fight!
Lots of good advice and products and mixtures of stuff — but leaving out the most important part. You MUST spray whatever you decide to use WEEKLY FOR FOUR WEEKS. If you spray once, wash, clean off all the bugs, then don’t treat again until you see new bugs, you have to start over. The trick is to kill the baby bugs BEFORE you can see them, so they can’t lay eggs to start the cycle over again.
Thanks for your additional tips!
Hi,
I also had mealybugs in my mango fruits and managed it successfully by applying neem oil every 4-5 days. You can see details in my blog
Awesome! So glad to hear the neem oil worked for you.
You helped me so much before and I’m sure you can again. My old lady cactus has small white cottonballs between the needles and I don’t know if they are mealybugs or part of the plant. I looked up photos of the cactus and some seem to have cotton while others don’t, so anyway I sprayed it with some alcohol and tested to see if I could remove the cotton, which I could for the most part but I didn’t finish for fear that it may be growth on the plant. My other plants don’t show signs of mealybugs yet but if these are the pests then your guidance would be helpful!! Should I remove all the cotton for safety, or is it part of my cactus? Thank you for your time!!
Oh wow, glad to hear that I’ve helped you so much in the past. Awesome! 🙂 It’s totally normal for the old lady cactus to have white furry hairs over it, that’s part of it’s charm. There are a few ways to tell if it’s mealybugs, or just the normal hairs on the plant. When you squish the mealybugs, you can see a tiny bit of pink/red on the cotton swab. Also, mealybugs would be sticky. When they feed, they produce a sticky residue which will make them feel a bit sticky when you clean them off. You’ll sometimes also notice a sticky residue on and around the pot. You can also take a magnifying glass and get a closer look at the plant. If there are mealybugs present, you’ll be able to see individual bugs in there. Fingers crossed that it’s not mealybugs!!
I have a largge white…. something stuck to my mint plant. It’s similar to an animal skin thats been shedded. About the size of a toddler’s thumb….complete with a tail. I took a picture. Could this be a chrysalis of some sort? Its the oddest rhing I’ve ever seen!
Yes, it sounds like it could be a chrysalis to me. The first things that come to mind are chrysalis of a swallowtail butterfly (though they are usually more brown than white) and the chrysalis of a cabbage moth. I’m not sure where you live though, so it could be something completely different. Try searching for “white chrysalis” and look at the images in the search results to see if you can find it. 🙂