mealybugs on Mammillaria
Quick answer
If your Mammillaria has mealybugs, the most likely cause is: Small, elliptical, generally white insects with a waxy (mealy) coating, the most common pest in cacti and succulents, with at least half-a-dozen different species that can make their homes on the roots, stems, leaves, and tender tips of the plants. Their waxy waste material makes them difficult to penetrate with ordinary insecticides, and on Mammillaria they tuck themselves between the dense tubercles and spine clusters where they are easily overlooked until populations explode.
Start here:
- 1. Bare the roots of the plant, remove any visible sign of infestation by hand, and then dip the entire Mammillaria in the dilute pesticide so the waxy coating is reached from every angle.
- 2. For spine mealies, dislodge them from new growth with a stiff spray of water first, then treat the whole plant with an appropriate insecticide and repeat applications as eggs and crawlers hatch.
Why Mammillaria gets mealybugs
Mammillaria
Small, elliptical, generally white insects with a waxy (mealy) coating, the most common pest in cacti and succulents, with at least half-a-dozen different species that can make their homes on the roots, stems, leaves, and tender tips of the plants. Their waxy waste material makes them difficult to penetrate with ordinary insecticides, and on Mammillaria they tuck themselves between the dense tubercles and spine clusters where they are easily overlooked until populations explode.
How to reverse mealybugs on Mammillaria
- 1
Bare the roots of the plant, remove any visible sign of infestation by hand, and then dip the entire Mammillaria in the dilute pesticide so the waxy coating is reached from every angle.
- 2
For spine mealies, dislodge them from new growth with a stiff spray of water first, then treat the whole plant with an appropriate insecticide and repeat applications as eggs and crawlers hatch.
- 3
Add a surfactant or wetting agent to the pesticide so the waxy waste material is more easily penetrated, and rotate chemistries since no single class of contact insecticide alone is 100 per cent effective.
Keep mealybugs off this Mammillaria
Quarantine new plants for several weeks and inspect them thoroughly along with their roots before adding them to a Mammillaria collection, and sterilize the area when an infestation is located to prevent further spread to nearby tubercled cacti.