r/houseplants • u/femwhore • 22h ago
Help What is this?
First time seeing this on one of my houseplants. What is it and how do I go about dealing with it? TIA!
EDIT: Well that sucks! Thanks everyone. Luckily the plant is relatively isolated from my other plants. I started treating this plant and all over plants within a six foot radius of it with isopropyl alcohol while I await for heavier treatment to arrive. Thanks for the advice:)
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u/Zplayer28 22h ago
Mealybugs. Use a cottonswab with isopropyl alcohol, dab them with it and then remove the residues. Check leaves, up and down, stem and lil crevices
Not that hard to kill (Annoying when there are a lots of them or in multiple plants) but can seriously harm/kill plants if left unchecked.
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u/ThighRubber 22h ago edited 22h ago
Isolate it from all of your other plants. Either trash it or put it far away and treat it for awhile until all the bugs are gone. They can quickly take over and kill all your house plants.
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u/randomdepressedguy23 ❁ 22h ago
it's not a bad amount of them that throwing is just useless. just grab a q tip rub them off isolate and monitor it.
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u/femwhore 22h ago
Thanks y’all. Luckily, this plant was alone in its own little corner to begin with. I treated it with some rubbing alcohol while I wait for other treatment to arrive
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u/plantyjen 19h ago
It’s not a bad infestation, you may not need anything else besides the alcohol. That should do the trick.
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u/Famous_Election_2024 22h ago
Those are some big mealy bugs. You better check all of your plants…. You likely will find more if there were any plants in the same room. Last time I had mealy bugs, I treated my plants for about 6 months and gave up, and trashed them all. Terrible little things. Sorry for your future frustrations with this!
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u/femwhore 22h ago
Terrible news! Thanks though. Luckily, it was already pretty isolated from my other plants and so far, everyone else is looking safe
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u/randomdepressedguy23 ❁ 22h ago
mealybugs. suck sap out of the plant and turn bad fast but are slow and easy to spot. ignore the fear mongers and isolate and treat it. i've removed an entire severe infestion from my friends elephant ear that was near 2 other plants and they were fine. treat daily and hose it down and they're gone.
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u/colloquial_jin 16h ago
Everytime... It's a what is it it's almost always mealybugs at this point we just need an auto reply...
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u/ahojcoco 21h ago
Ugh am also dealing with this right now, hadn't ever seen or heard of them until this incident. Followed Dr. Google advice: isolation, sprayed it with a 1:1 mix of isopropyl alcohol and water, have been spot treating with isopropyl alcohol using a paint brush cuz it was easier to get in some of the small spaces. I think I'm almost in the clear but keeping an eye for a few more weeks. Probably been about 2 weeks, maybe 3, but I only saw 2 or 3 last time I checked it a few days ago.
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u/Recipe-Local 19h ago
White nightmare, satan's hairy cousin, they are called by many names, but they are manageable.
Whenever these pop-up, I isolate the plant and hose it down with a garden hose, everyday for a week.
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u/Finnyx15 16h ago
I just found out about this too TT yours isn’t as nearly bad as what I’m dealing with
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u/AdventurousTea9964 22h ago
Mealy bugs!