mealybugs on Aglaonema
Quick answer
If your Aglaonema has mealybugs, the most likely cause is: Pleasant's troubleshooting entry for Aglaonema commutatum names mealybugs as an established pest, with white cottony insect colonies forming on stems and leaf undersides of the Chinese evergreen. These soft-bodied sap-sucking insects colonize leaf axils and shaded tissue, draining plant fluids and excreting sticky honeydew that invites secondary sooty mold on the surrounding glossy foliage.
Start here:
- 1. Isolate the infested Chinese evergreen immediately from other houseplants to prevent crawlers from migrating onto neighboring specimens.
- 2. Remove visible mealybugs with cotton swabs dipped in 70 percent isopropyl alcohol, repeating every 3 days until the white cottony masses stop reappearing.
Why Aglaonema gets mealybugs
Aglaonema
Pleasant's troubleshooting entry for Aglaonema commutatum names mealybugs as an established pest, with white cottony insect colonies forming on stems and leaf undersides of the Chinese evergreen. These soft-bodied sap-sucking insects colonize leaf axils and shaded tissue, draining plant fluids and excreting sticky honeydew that invites secondary sooty mold on the surrounding glossy foliage.
How to reverse mealybugs on Aglaonema
- 1
Isolate the infested Chinese evergreen immediately from other houseplants to prevent crawlers from migrating onto neighboring specimens.
- 2
Remove visible mealybugs with cotton swabs dipped in 70 percent isopropyl alcohol, repeating every 3 days until the white cottony masses stop reappearing.
- 3
After testing a single leaf for tolerance, spray the entire plant including stem crotches and leaf undersides with insecticidal soap; reapply weekly for at least 3 weeks to catch newly hatched nymphs.
Keep mealybugs off this Aglaonema
Quarantine new acquisitions for 14 days before integrating them into the collection, and inspect leaf undersides and stem joints weekly with a magnifier. Avoid dry, stagnant indoor air during winter heating by maintaining 40-60 percent humidity, since mealybug populations flare when Chinese evergreens are water-stressed.