mealybugs on Codiaeum Variegatum
Quick answer
If your Codiaeum Variegatum has mealybugs, the most likely cause is: Mealy bugs look like tufts of cotton and feed on the sap of Codiaeum variegatum (garden croton), stunting its growth; they favour the warm, humid, draught-free conditions that crotons need for acclimatisation, allowing the pest to settle undetected on the foliage.
Start here:
- 1. Swab the mealybug colonies on the croton stems and leaf undersides with cotton wool soaked in methylated spirits, the same alcohol treatment used for scale insects, which penetrates the waxy cottony coating and kills the insect beneath.
- 2. Inspect the plant regularly and pick the tufted mealybugs off by hand before they get a chance to multiply, repeating the methylated spirits swabbing often until successive generations of the sap-sucking pest are fully cleared from the croton.
Why Codiaeum Variegatum gets mealybugs
codiaeum variegatum
Mealy bugs look like tufts of cotton and feed on the sap of Codiaeum variegatum (garden croton), stunting its growth; they favour the warm, humid, draught-free conditions that crotons need for acclimatisation, allowing the pest to settle undetected on the foliage.
How to reverse mealybugs on Codiaeum Variegatum
- 1
Swab the mealybug colonies on the croton stems and leaf undersides with cotton wool soaked in methylated spirits, the same alcohol treatment used for scale insects, which penetrates the waxy cottony coating and kills the insect beneath.
- 2
Inspect the plant regularly and pick the tufted mealybugs off by hand before they get a chance to multiply, repeating the methylated spirits swabbing often until successive generations of the sap-sucking pest are fully cleared from the croton.
Keep mealybugs off this Codiaeum Variegatum
Inspect new plants regularly for early signs of habitation, including leaf joints and stems where mealybugs first establish; quarantine any infested plants and treat them with cotton wool swabs before introducing them to the rest of the house plant collection, while keeping crotons in a continuously warm, humid, draught-free room to limit stress.