The other day while watering my indoor plants I observed cottony spots on few leaves and stem on my Jasmine plant and Curry leaf plant. Upon close observation I saw these tiny white bugs – I saw much more hiding underneath the leaves. Hmmm…where did these come from?
I started googling for these bugs. So where do I start?
I started searching for “indoor plants” + mites and Google brought back quite a lot on the search results page and quickly switched to Image search on Google and found the exact bug I had searched for – Mealybugs.
Here is what I found about mealybugs
They are small insects (1 to 4 millimeters long) and the body is usually covered with a white cottony or mealy wax secretion.
Mealybugs are prevalent pests in greenhouses and interior plantscapes such as shopping malls, conservatories, hotels, and office buildings. Damage is caused by mealybugs feeding on host tissues and injecting toxins or plant pathogens into host plants. In addition, mealybugs secrete a waste product, honeydew, which is a syrupy, sugary liquid that falls on the leaves, coating them with a shiny, sticky film. Honeydew serves as a medium for the growth of sooty mold fungus that reduces the plant’s photosynthetic abilities and ruins the plant’s appearance. Feeding by mealybugs can cause premature leaf drop, die back, and may even kill plants if left unchecked.
It started making sense when I looked at the Jasmine leaves. What it appeared to be a water drops on leaves were sticky honeydew stuff..
Infested jasmine leaf
Infested curry leaf
Cure:
So what’s the fix. How to get rid of these mealybugs. Upon searching, I found that I could use chemicals or organic control. I tend to shy away from chemicals and found that I could use rubbing alcohol and/or give the plants a blast of water. Too bad its winter and I can’t take my plants outside for a water blast. I found that the best way for my indoor plants is to dab the bugs with pure rubbing alcohol.
So I removed most of the infested leaves and used a Qtip to dab the bugs directly (those on the stem and to get rid of the cottony stuff) – I guess one more use for a Qtip 
Luckily I didn’t find many (yet) and Qtip/rubbing-alcohol approach worked very well.
I wonder how others control mealybugs. I would love to hear – please post your comments to this blog post.
Sasi,
Can we expect a mealybug soup in your next blog?Maybe you can use wine and presto,you have a ready meal!!!!
Nice job!
Syed
Very funny..HaHaHa
I have experienced problems with these critters when we lived in St. Louis. We used an insecticidal soap. Cannot recall how well it worked. But since all the plants ended up dying at some point you can come to your own conclusion.
Hi,
I got this tip from our office secretary and though simple, it seems to work. I spray the plants with saline water and leave them overnight prior to bringing them indoors (of course before the dawn of winter). Better luck next time!
–I wonder how others control mealybugs. I would love to hear – please post your comments to this blog post.–
I used “Don’t Bug Me” from Foxfarm company, which contains pyrethrum (derivative of chrysanthemum flowers). It killed them almost instantly, and only needed one application. Just be careful with it. Can be used on edible plants. Go to: foxfarmfertilizer.com
Good luck!
Deb, Thanks for your suggestion on “Don’t Bug Me”. I will keep that in mind. One thing I did early spring this year was to take my plant out and gave it good wash with a mixture water and rubbing alcohol. That took care of the mealy bugs.
I have 100% isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol in a spray bottle, I spray the entire plant with it, then a spray it off with water. Seems to do the trick for me. Yet, I am baffled as to the bug’s origin.