At this time of year many of us are bringing houseplants indoors from their ‘vacation’ time on porches and the great outdoors. Unfortunately, when we do so, we often bring in a few hitchhikers in the form of mealy-bugs. Here’s a timely repost of a few tricks to control houseplant pests organically.
While watering my succulents I noticed the dreaded white fluff of a Mealy Bug. Oh no. I have had experience with these pests in the past and know they can become a full-blown infestation. I wasted no time in treating the infested plant.
I like to use organic products and things I already have around the house. For Organic Mealy Bug Treatment Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol is a good choice. Using a Q-tip I touched the saturated tip to the back of the mealy bug. As I checked the plant I saw a few more of his family residing along the stems and treated them too. Further down there were more, oh no, it was beginning to look like an infestation, time for more drastic measures. I filled an atomizer with some of the alcohol and sprayed the entire plant. I left it on for a few moments and then washed all the foliage in tepid water. Most organic pest control sites recommend watering the alcohol down first, but for a hardy succulent, straight out the bottle did no harm. If I was treating one of my african violets I would definitely water the solution down before using.
I knew I had to check all the plants that were in the same room with the infested succulent, and sure enough, on one coleus I found the beginnings of more mealy bugs. Hopefully the intervention with rubbing alcohol has eradicated the problem.
MINDING MY P'S WITH Q 
Oh I loved this tip of using this product.. I so dislike using any sort of chemicals on plants and try to garden as organic as possible.. Hope this has cured your infestation.. xx
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Thanks Sue, this definitely works…especially if I remember to check back a few times.
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I will remember this remedy so thank YOU.
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You are welcome…tomorrow I have a spider mite tip scheduled.
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I will have to catch up on that my friend.. As I travel away tomorrow for my Autumn holiday .. Scotland is calling me back.. 🙂 But I will be catching up again for sure when I return.. Love to you and spider mites can be a problem so will welcome your tips xxx
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Have a lovely time…never been to Europe…when we vacation we tend to go to the Caribbean and warm water.
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Well I recommend England 🙂 so Scotland is only a days travel from where I live.. xxx Thank you xxx
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I would love to visit England and Scotland…ancestry of mine predominantly Welsh, British…with some German thrown in for good measure.
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And a touch of Irish too!
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