Mealybugs are a nuisance, especially on indoor plants such as orchids and cacti. Find out how best to combat mealybugs here.
Nobody is really happy to find the little animals on their beloved plants. Below we have summarized the easiest way to identify mealybugs (Pseudococccidae), how to prevent them and which remedies help to combat them.
Mealybugs are typical indoor pests on indoor plants. They are also known as "greenhouse lice" because they can multiply easily and cause great damage in a conducive climate in the living room, conservatory and greenhouse. It's no wonder that hobby gardeners rightly sound the alarm when they discover these little white creatures. But don't worry, with our tips and tricks you will quickly get the plague under control and your plants can survive future mealybug attacks unscathed. By the way: mealybugs also occur outdoors, for example on beech, apple and maple trees - but with much less potential for damage.
Mealybugs: Wanted Poster
The Pseudococciae family includes about 1000 different species. The members of these families are called mealybugs or mealybugs. In Germany, only 65 of these are considered relevant plant pests. A frequently occurring representative - especially in ornamental plants in the house - is the citrus mealybug (Planococcus citri). The female lice can reach impressive sizes of half a centimeter, while the males are significantly smaller. What is special about this species is that they sometimes also live in the root area of plants. There, an infestation is often discovered much later and combating it is then difficult. In addition, the citrus mealybug has a significant reproductive potential. Adult females lay hundreds of eggs, which are protected by a layer of wax. After just two days, but often later, the first small and mobile mealybugs can hatch.
Detecting mealybugs: tracking down the pests on orchids & Co.
Mealybug is a member of the plant lice (Sternorrhyncha), the wholehas special visual characteristics. In addition to the white wax layer, many genera and species also have more or less pronounced white threads on the body. If you find a pest on your plants that fits this description, it must almost inevitably be mealybugs. Like other plant lice, they suck the energy-rich plant sap from the phloem of the plant and thereby weaken it. In addition, this family of lice gives off honeydew, on which so-called sooty mold fungi can develop, which then disrupt the photosynthesis of the plant. Mealybugs also leave a white, greasy residue on plants and pots that is really not pretty to look at.
The louse is particularly fond of indoor plants such as succulents, cacti and orchids. But fruit trees such as apple trees or Douglas firs can also be infested with different types of mealybugs outdoors. Identifying the culprit is very easy: the lice, which are covered with a white layer of wax, like to hide under the leaves or in the axils of the leaves. Mealybugs can occasionally also be found on the root neck, this is especially the case with cacti. But flowering garden dwellers are not spared by mealybugs either. You can find more information on controlling mealybugs on hydrangeas here.
Prevent mealybugs in the house and garden
Indoors, the mealybug is often introduced via infested indoor plants. For this reason, you should always take a close look at the plant when buying plants. If individual plants in the stock are affected, you should also keep your hands off the other plants. After all, these could already contain eggs that cannot always be easily identified with the naked eye. By doing this, you can greatly reduce the likelihood of a mealybug infestation.
Mealybugs, on the other hand, can spread almost unhindered outdoors, leaving you with only the natural enemies of mealybugs to fight against. This includes, for example, the larvae of lacewings, which have absolutely no problem with the white waxy layer of mealybugs. For this reason, we generally recommend cultivating the house garden in a manner that is gentle on the beneficial organism.Tip: Adult lacewings feed primarily on pollen, nectar and honeydew. They and their larvae, known as "aphid lions", are mainly found where there are many flowers and also some aphidsare found. Creating a flower meadow as a habitat for lice and above all lacewings protects your entire home garden, because in this way hungry lacewing larvae are always present when mealybugs want to attack your ornamental plants or fruit trees.
Fight Meal Lice
Mealybugs should definitely be fought indoors, as they not only severely weaken the plant, but can also transmit fungal diseases and plant viruses to the plant. If one of your houseplants is infested with mealybugs, you should definitely “quarantine” them and separate them from your other houseplants. There you can then treat the plants freely without the other plants being affected as well. In the field, control is very often not necessary if existing beneficial insects regulate the infestation.
Biological control of mealybugs
Neem preparations: The mealybug has a huge advantage over other types of lice due to its waxy layer. Many biological agents such as neem and preparations with the natural active ingredient pyrethrum cannot penetrate the wax layer. However, the active ingredient azadirachtin, which is contained in neem products such as Plantura organic pest-free neem, does not even have to penetrate through the white shell. It is absorbed through the leaves and distributed systemically throughout the plant. The mealybugs then absorb the deadly active substance when they suck the plant sap. The Plantura organic pest-free neem is not only easy to use, but also works against numerous other pests in addition to mealybugs. In addition, the preparation is not dangerous to bees and can therefore be used in bee-friendly gardens without hesitation.
Paraffin oil: Mealybugs can also be effectively combated with biological agents based on paraffin oil. The paraffin oil encloses the mealybugs in a thin film of oil, which suffocates the pests. Even if the remedy is very effective, it has one major disadvantage: some plants do not tolerate the treatment. For this reason, you should always try the treatment on one part of the plant first. In any case, the agent must not be used in direct sunlight, otherwise burns will quickly occur.
Beneficial: However, the mealybug also has natural opponents, for example the Australian ladybird (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri). These black-reddish-brown beneficial insects and their white larvae consume large quantities of mealybugs. onCompanies specializing in biological crop protection offer these special ladybirds as adults or larvae for application to infested plants.
Tip: Do not use sprays or skin products at the same time as beneficial insects. Because they could also harm the beneficial and its effect would then be gone.
Fighting mealybugs with home remedies
Collection: The easiest and often quickest way to combat mealybugs is to collect them. This method is very effective for small indoor plants and especially for orchids. If the leaf axils are difficult to reach, a cotton swab can help to catch hidden mealybugs. This procedure usually has to be repeated until all the young mealybugs have hatched from their eggs.
Alcohol: A home remedy for combating mealybugs is denatured alcohol, from which a one percent solution (10 ml of alcohol in one liter of water) is made. You spray the mealybugs with this mixture and the spirit unfolds its effect. This has the ability to loosen the wax layer that surrounds and protects the lice, making the pests vulnerable. Denatured alcohol also penetrates the body of mealybugs and damages them enough to kill them.
Soft soap: Another method that also attacks the waxy coating of mealybugs is to spray the lice with a mixture of water and soft soap. Many of us use soft soap for cleaning - but it can also be effective against mealybugs in your garden.
Manure and teas: You can also produce extracts and teas that fight mealybugs and also strengthen your plants. You can use the following extracts and teas against mealybugs:
- Oregano Tea: Brew 100g of fresh oregano (Origanum vulgare) or 10g of dried oregano in a liter of boiling water. Let this oregano tea steep for at least 15 minutes before straining. Mix the tea with cold water at a ratio of 3:1 before using, then spray the mixture on the lice.
- Garlic broth: Chop 50g of fresh garlic (Allium sativum) and then pour 1.5 liter of boiling over itWater. This mixture has to stand for about half an hour and is then strained. First spray the plants with the cooled garlic broth to control mealybugs.
- Nettle extract: Take 200 g of fresh nettle leaves (Urtica) or 20 g of dried nettle leaves and crush them. Pour the leaves with a liter of water and let the mixture steep for about eight hours. This mixture should not ferment if you want to use it to fight mealybugs. If it starts to ferment, you can still use this mixture as a fertilizer and to strengthen the plants. After the soaking time, remove the parts of the plant and spray the plants with the aphids with the undiluted extract.
You can treat your infested plants several times to get rid of mealybugs with these homemade broths, teas and extracts. In this article you will also find our best home remedies for controlling pests in the garden. With a larger focus of infestation, however, this control method is far too complex and therefore you will probably not be able to avoid a plant protection measure in this case.
Fighting mealybugs conventionally
Mealybugs can of course also be combated chemically. However, the use of chemicals is not desirable, especially in the house and kitchen garden, and there is almost always another way out. Even if the mealybugs are after the roots, not only the quick poison stick helps, but also repotting and biological agents such as our systemic Plantura organic pest-free neem.
Tip: Plant protection sticks only work on plants that absorb a relatively large amount of water. Since cacti and other succulents generally absorb little water, plant protection sticks work poorly here. Mealybugs are then usually only combated unsatisfactorily or not at all.
The most effective agents are so-called fully systemic insecticides. With these crop protection products, the active ingredient is absorbed by the plant via the leaves, distributed throughout the plant and also in new leaves, and released to the mealybugs. Mealybugs can be effectively combated with these agents, but other insects can also be damaged - and it is also not without danger for you as the user. It is therefore particularly important to use protective equipment and yourselfstrictly to the specifications of the manufacturer.
To combat mealybugs summary:
- The easiest and quickest method of combating is to collect the mealybugs, if necessary with cotton swabs
- Suitable home remedies for combating this are solutions made from denatured alcohol, soft soap and plant manure or extracts
- Neem preparations such as Plantura organic pest-free neem are very effective, systemic and also biological remedies against mealybugs
- Australian ladybugs can be used as beneficial insects, but not in combination with home remedies or other pesticides
- In an emergency, mealybugs can also be combated chemically, but the application is also harmful to other insects and possibly even to the user
Are mealybugs dangerous to humans?
Mealybugs can get to our houseplants and get stuck, but we don't have to worry about our he alth. Mealybugs are only dangerous for our plants, but not for us. So you can treat the plants without hesitation and keep them in your living space. The plant viruses that can be transmitted by mealybugs cannot be transmitted to us humans either, since plant cells and animal cells are very different.
Have your houseplants just survived an infestation of mealybugs and need to be nurtured back to their former glory? In this article, we will show you how to optimally fertilize your houseplants to help them stay he althy and vital and to prevent new pest infestations.