How to get rid of mealybugs

The second clue is a sticky film on the leaves underneath and on the furniture below. When you find that, look closely at the leaf joints above the sticky patch.

Move the plant away from the others first. Young mealybugs walk across touching leaves to the next plant and are small enough that you will not see them go.

Then dab every visible pad with a cotton swab. A little rubbing alcohol on the swab dissolves the wax coat and the insect comes away with it. Use a fresh swab for each round.

Sensitive leaves can mark where alcohol touches them. Test on a single leaf and look again two days later before you treat the whole plant that way.

Rinse the plant afterward with lukewarm water, aimed into the leaf joints and at the undersides. That takes off the ones you missed and the sticky film with them.

Cut out growing tips that are covered in pads. That removes more insects in one go than any follow-up treatment.

A related kind lives on the roots. If a plant is struggling and barely growing while you find nothing on the leaves, take it out of the pot and look at the root ball.

White cottony deposits on the roots and on the inside wall of the pot are the sign. They look like mold but sit on the root network itself.

In that case, wash the mix off the roots completely and set the plant into fresh substrate in a cleaned or new pot. The old mix goes in the trash rather than back into another pot.

Check that plant’s root ball again over the next months while you water. A remnant left in the mix rebuilds the population slowly.

Insecticidal soap solutions work on contact and have to reach the insect under its wax. Spray slowly and directly into the joints rather than misting the foliage as a whole.

Dish soap is not a substitute, because its additives can burn sensitive leaves. Never treat in full sun or with a bone-dry root ball. Water first and spray in the evening.

Products based on rapeseed oil or neem oil smother the insects under a film. They need the same complete coverage and can mark hairy leaves and leaves with a waxy bloom.

Predatory ladybirds and parasitic wasps can be ordered for indoor use. They need several weeks and a plant that is not sprayed during that time, and they work more reliably in a densely planted conservatory than on a single pot.

Mealybugs lay their eggs in a wax nest that survives any single treatment. That is why very small insects turn up again a few days later.

Look at the same places every three or four days: leaf joints, leaf stalks, growing tips, leaf undersides, and the area under the pot rim. Whenever you find pads, dab them off straight away.

Only after two checks with nothing found does the plant go back with the others. Keep watching its neighbors for weeks, because a second pot is often quietly infested.

Wipe the spot it stood in. Mealybugs survive in the crevices of a windowsill, an outer pot, and a saucer, and they come back from there.

The most common route in is a newly bought plant. Keep every new arrival on its own for two or three weeks and go through the leaf joints during that time.

Warm, still room air and pots standing close together help them spread. A little space between plants makes checking easier and slows the crossing.

Leaves that were deformed or turned yellow by feeding do not recover. The new growth is what tells you the plant is through it.

Whether a plant is a risk to pets or children is answered on that plant’s own care guide. If you suspect a poisoning, a vet or a doctor is the right call.