mealybugs on String Of Bananas
Quick answer
If your String Of Bananas has mealybugs, the most likely cause is: Mealybugs appear as mealy or cottony masses on the growing tips, buds, and stems of trailing houseplants like Curio radicans, where they feed on the succulent foliage and excrete sticky honeydew that invites black mold; the source lists them as one of the most common and destructive insects for many houseplants and warns that they are very persistent and require constant vigilance to eliminate.
Start here:
- 1. Physically remove as many of the cottony masses as possible with a soft toothbrush, then swab any remaining insects with a cotton swab drenched in isopropyl alcohol, which kills them by dehydrating them on contact, repeating the application until none reappear.
- 2. Follow up with insecticidal soap, neem, or All Seasons Horticultural Oil sprayed on both sides of the leaves and into the leaf axils where mealybugs hide, taking care to coat the entire trailing vine.
Why String Of Bananas gets mealybugs
Curio radicans
Mealybugs appear as mealy or cottony masses on the growing tips, buds, and stems of trailing houseplants like Curio radicans, where they feed on the succulent foliage and excrete sticky honeydew that invites black mold; the source lists them as one of the most common and destructive insects for many houseplants and warns that they are very persistent and require constant vigilance to eliminate.
How to reverse mealybugs on String Of Bananas
- 1
Physically remove as many of the cottony masses as possible with a soft toothbrush, then swab any remaining insects with a cotton swab drenched in isopropyl alcohol, which kills them by dehydrating them on contact, repeating the application until none reappear.
- 2
Follow up with insecticidal soap, neem, or All Seasons Horticultural Oil sprayed on both sides of the leaves and into the leaf axils where mealybugs hide, taking care to coat the entire trailing vine.
Keep mealybugs off this String Of Bananas
Inspect new plants and existing Curio vines regularly for white cottony masses on the growing tips, isolate any infested plant so the persistent bugs cannot spread to healthy houseplants, and keep the succulent in bright indirect light with good air circulation.