You may have seen in your garden some small whitish insects covered with a waxy or cotton-like coating. It is the so-called cottony mealybug, a very common pest that can cause damage to all types of gardens and plantations.
If you want to know how to eliminate cottony mealybug and prevent it in your plants, keep reading us in this article from EcologíaVerde, which we have prepared as a practical guide to combat this pest.
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What is cottony mealybug?
Scientifically named Planococcus citri, the so-called cottony cochineal or cotonet is an insect that can be found in a large number of plant species, especially citrus fruit trees and ornamental plants such as oleanders, geraniums or ficus, among many others. If you have citrus fruits, it is very likely that you will see this pest at some point, apart from many others, and therefore you may be interested in knowing the Citrus pests and diseases and their control.
This insect should not be confused with the ribbed mealybug, which also frequents citrus fruits and is native to Australia, although it is currently widespread in many areas. The main difference between the two species is that the adults of the ribbed mealybug are almost always hermaphrodites and, therefore, can self-fertilize, propagate more easily and, therefore, be more difficult to eliminate.
Female cottony mealybugs are oval-shaped and coated with a kind of white or yellowish wax that they secrete themselves. They stick their beak into the plants to feed on the sap by sucking it and eliminate excess sugar in the form of these excretions, which sometimes make the black fungus appear and attract ants. Males, on the other hand, are much smaller and live very shortly, because after fertilizing the female they die. They are flying, but they only move by air first thing in the morning.
Detecting mealybug can be a bit tricky in the earliest stages of infestation, as it tends to settle in the less visible areas of the plants it attacks.
It is a pest that can cause great economic damage to plantations, since its secretions greatly devalue the affected fruits or plants. In addition, in the long term it can cause the death of the plant due to the weakening caused by the depredation of its sap.
How to Get Rid of Mealybug
If your plants show yellowing leaves or falling fruits and flowers, they may be affected by mealybug. Look on the backs of the leaves, i.e. below them, and in the most hidden areas of the plant, and if the pest is still present in small numbers, you can treat it manually with a little cotton ball or a swab soaked in methyl alcohol, also called rubbing alcohol or wood alcohol.
If the pest is more advanced, it will be necessary to resort to specific insecticide from a specialized trade, or to manufacture your own natural insecticide against the cottony mealybug.
Home Remedies to Get Rid of Mealybug
There are several mixtures and products that can be used to treat this pest, here we are going to list the most common:
- Liquid soap and rubbing alcohol: you can prepare a mixture of liquid soap diluted in water and rubbing alcohol, in equal parts, to sprinkle the affected areas of our plants more comfortably.
- Alcohol in watering: You can also mix alcohol with the irrigation water of your plants, but you must be very careful when doing so, as it can damage some plants. If in doubt, apply this remedy only to affected succulent plants.
- Neem or Neem oil: add half a tablespoon of this essential oil to a bottle of water, along with a few drops of soap to wash dishes. You can spray it directly with a spray bottle on your diseased plants suffering from this pest.
With any of these solutions, it is recommended to apply it weekly or every fortnight, until the pest has completely disappeared.
As a last detail, the cottony mealybug has a very easy to get natural predator that can help you eliminate them without a single chemical: ladybugs. You can buy these beautiful insects in a specialized store, and introduce them in your garden. You will see that in a relatively short time you will have managed to combat the pest in an ecological way. Here you can learn more about organic farming: what it is, advantages, examples of techniques and how to combat pests.
How to prevent mealybug in plants
Aside from introducing some of the predatory species of the cottony mealybug, there’s not much you can do to prevent the pest from growing in your garden. However, it is a species of insect that requires high levels of dryness and temperature, so regularly moistening the plant and the substrate (especially in pots and indoor plants) will help to make its appearance less likely.
If you want to read similar articles to Eliminate cottony mealybug: treatment and home remedies, we recommend that you visit our Garden Care category.
