I’m the mealy bug hunter, I inspect my collection on a daily basis, It’s a sickness I tell you, I have 21 Hoyas and a fabulous succulent collection similar to yours and I swear I can see those suckers walking on my plants as I approach, 😂 lol, god forbid if I had to work, it really is like a full time job, but I Love it 🥰
Alyana Michaels we can’t get neem oil in Canada, not the same stuff you can get in the USA, we can get a full strength essential neem oil from the health food store, that you can mix with directions, but it’s a pain in the butt, I sure would love a couple jugs, if I get a chance to go to my daughters in Texas this year I will mail some home to myself 😁
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and your techniques for dealing with these pests. The way you handle this with such composure is an inspiration. If it were me it would involve a lot of crying and getting day drunk.
Oh Marija, I am so sorry that this happened to so many of your beautiful Stapelia collection, I hate those little stinkers and I think we have all had to deal with this pest at one time or another. Growing and taking care of plants is always a learning process, I don't get Ivy's ever because they tend to be mealy bug magnets. I wish you the best of luck in saving as many of your beautiful succulents as you are able to. Thank you for sharing this reality, I hope you have a wonderful week , bye for now.
Oh Marija you are so patient and calm... sorry this happened to your collection and hope it recovers well - you certainly did what you could to blast the mealies :(
Soo gross I hate mealies. Now I gotta check the roots for them too lol. So yucky. Thank you for sharing a really clear image/video of what to look for. Really makes a huge difference when I've never seen this in person before ❤️❤️❤️
I discovered root mealy bugs in my succulents. Had the same signs as you had mentioned. The plants weren't growing. And the leaves kept dying every few days one by one. 1. I treated the roots with a dilute solution of neem oil and mild detergent and potted in fresh soil. However, they returned after 2 months😭 2. I decided to try a new treatment. 2 litres of water to 1 teaspoon each of mild detergent, neem oil and hydrogen peroxide. Soaked the roots in this mixture for 15 mins. Then washed them thrice in warm water and finally potted in fresh soil. Really hope this works!😭 3. I think the best thing to do when you have root mealies is to take cuttings and discard the root system all together! I'm definitely going to try your method with 70% alcohol! 🤗
Just found your post today.My staps just finished blooming,so guess i better check them for mealies. Thanks for a very informative post..I just subscribed as well.
They really are taking over. Terrible thing to happen to your very nice collection. I bought a gallon container of something recommended by Maria on Maria's Garden. It's 41.00a gallon but got plants and plant area you only use 3 Oz's. per gallon of water. It kills them fast and has not harmed anything Spray foliage and soil.
It has been a constant battle against mealy bugs on my stapelia and huernia plants. I dreaded bringing them inside for fall. I'm sorry you had to throw away some of your plants.
Thank you so much for your demonstration. I have had some problems with mealy bugs in jade plants and aeoniums. I looked on the roots however it was hard to tell if it was perlite. I could tell in your video so thanks so much.
i wish you the best luck fighting mealy bugs. my few years battle with that little peace of sh... was painfull. i've lost all the highest risk stapelias, huernias and carallumas. bugs mechanical removing goes to nowhere, mainly due to underground surviving. my current (indoor) succulents collection is approx 300 and I used to add VERTIMEC 018EC to watering, and time to time spraying (outdoor) particular plants with ACTELLIC 500EC (pay an attention becuase very stinking). my opinion the only way to limit mealy bugs. ps. i live in Poland and both Vertimec and Actellic are available at stock.
Mount Blanc till 2027 thank you for the tips! I’ll remember! Mealies are pain... they always come back but these root mealies were the worse. Hope I don’t get them again!
So sorry to hear. Mealybugs are awful and not that easy to get rid off. My first Buddha's temple had to go to the bin because of them. One tip every time I water I look at saucer and at the bottom hole of succulents for any pests. Funny though I have hoya that has root mealybugs and it is thriving for some reason. It's just about to bloom. I believe that you can have a very healthy looking plant and still some pests hidden somewhere 🤦♀️😕😕
I found black bugs with wings in my cactus and the plants died near it. Do you know what type of bugs those might be. There were hundreds. Maybe from the soil
K Titus it’s probably gnats ... they live in moist soil. Too much moisture killed your succulents not gnats, they are not harmful but indicate soil is too moist
What can we do? There is just the chance digging them out and clean right? You spray that 70 % alcohol on the plant or on the roots? Hope it's gonna work out
Hi Marija, do you have experience with string of bananas? I'm on my second plant and the bananas keep getting soft and drying out. Maybe I'm under watering it? I'm also using LED grow lights.
Have you ever washed your entire plant in Murphy's oil soap? I have been told by a few to dilute the oil soap in water and dip and swish the plant for a minute or so and rinse then allow to dry then replant.
@@succulentlivingbymarija8872 I'm thinking about trying it if/when I get a infestation. On my doubles and see how it goes. But it makes sense because the soap and oil would smother the bugs and wash them off
@@succulentlivingbymarija8872 thank you so much for responding. 🙏 I am definitely going to treat my plants as soon as the sun comes up ☀️ .God bless Thank you again
Agree. Submerge in very hot water for ten minutes. Just to be sure. I will even run very hot water over any soil mix I use in the empty pot prior to using the soil to plant in: again, just to be sure.
They did came back, so half a year later I used neem oil and alcohol repeated treatment and I have saved a lot of them. I ended up soaking whole plants in neem oil mixture and then week after alcohol spraying and week after neem oil treatment and I just checked today and there was no mealy bugs. They look crappy though but I believe they will grow new branches and look pretty eventually again.
To clarify they look bad because neem oil damaged the plant and caused stains which is my experience with many succulents when I use the neem oil. Important thing though I conquered mealy bugs and they are growing. It may take a year to get a lot of new growth and discard damaged branches.
They're such a pain. My haworthia have been plagued by them for a long time. Could you not chop the roots systems off all the plants and reroot or are they difficult like that? I've never grown stapelia
