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What are Mealybugs?

Mealybugs are small pinkish-white bugs with little tails and a feathery appearance. At first, you might not even notice them. But once they have decided to form a colony on your succulent, you'll notice what looks like small bunches of cotton. They like to hide in the corners and crevices of your beautiful plant, and they'll feed off the sweet nectar of the new growth. If not stopped early, they will spread from one succulent to the next.

Mealybugs can be devastating to your succulents, but with immediate and proper care, you can treat your beloved succulents and keep them free from these invasive critters.

Mealybugs are the most common pest that you can experience with succulents. You can recover, and you can prevent them from invading other succulents.

Why Did My Succulents Attract the Mealybugs?

Overwatering or over over-fertilizing your succulents are common culprits.

What Can I Do to Get Rid of the Mealybugs?

Common household products can be used to vanquish these pests. For small areas, soak a cotton swab in 70% Rubbing Alcohol and swab the mealybug infestation. The alcohol will kill the mealybugs and is safe for the plant. If you have a larger plant, use a spray bottle and spray the succulent with the alcohol, focusing on where the mealybugs are residing. If you have a larger infestation, you can try drenching the plant with alcohol. Don't forget to saturate the soil with the alcohol just in case they have burrowed into the soil.

If you don't have Rubbing Alcohol, you can try submerging the plant in water for an hour to flush them out.

If the mealybugs have infested the soil, it's essential that you discard the infested soil and replace it with fresh soil. Take your clippings from the succulent and prepare them to be replanted.

We also recommend our Pharm Solutions by Indoor Pharm to help prevent the growth of mealybugs and other pests!