mealybugs on String Of Hearts
Quick answer
If your String Of Hearts has mealybugs, the most likely cause is: The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Cacti and Succulents lists Mealybug as the named pest for Ceropegia woodii and warns that mealybugs often hide underneath the tubers of this trailing leaf succulent and eventually cause root loss and rot problems. As sap-sucking insects with a cotton-like coating, they pierce the stems to take plant sap and multiply quickly, so even a small cluster on the slender vines can turn into a damaging infestation that leaves the heart-shaped leaves yellow, wilted, and prone to falling.
Start here:
- 1. Remove the mealybugs by dabbing them with a small paintbrush dipped in isopropyl or methylated spirits, as the Kew Gardener's Guide recommends for any succulent mealybug colony.
- 2. Isolate the infected Ceropegia woodii from other plants and inspect the vines and the undersides of the small tubers at the leaf nodes regularly, repeating the treatment as new insects appear during the growing season.
Why String Of Hearts gets mealybugs
Ceropegia woodii / Ceropegia linearis subsp. woodii
The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Cacti and Succulents lists Mealybug as the named pest for Ceropegia woodii and warns that mealybugs often hide underneath the tubers of this trailing leaf succulent and eventually cause root loss and rot problems. As sap-sucking insects with a cotton-like coating, they pierce the stems to take plant sap and multiply quickly, so even a small cluster on the slender vines can turn into a damaging infestation that leaves the heart-shaped leaves yellow, wilted, and prone to falling.
How to reverse mealybugs on String Of Hearts
- 1
Remove the mealybugs by dabbing them with a small paintbrush dipped in isopropyl or methylated spirits, as the Kew Gardener's Guide recommends for any succulent mealybug colony.
- 2
Isolate the infected Ceropegia woodii from other plants and inspect the vines and the undersides of the small tubers at the leaf nodes regularly, repeating the treatment as new insects appear during the growing season.
- 3
If the population is larger, spray the trailing stems thoroughly with horticultural soap or horticultural oil, escalating to a more hazardous insecticide only as a last resort and only after the gentler options fail to bring the mealybugs under control.
Keep mealybugs off this String Of Hearts
Keep a watchful eye on the plant at every watering, lifting the small grey-green tubers along the stems to check the sheltered undersides where mealybugs first colonise, and quarantine new houseplants before they share space with the Ceropegia woodii vines.