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I have a mature potted Pachypodium brevicaule (caudiciform succulent) houseplant showing signs of some sort of disease/pest clumped around the base of leaves/buds. I've owned the plant for probably 20 years and it's never ailed a thing in that time. Whatever it is obviously spreading. No idea where to start but I've moved it away from other plants. It is under fluorescent lighting.
Maybe someone could take a look at my less-than-great photos and give me a hint about treatment. There's only one small pet/nursery supply in town that might have any treatment chemicals on hand.
Thanks very much for your advice!
Last edited by Parnassia; 04-07-2023 at 01:49 PM..
Mealy bugs perhaps? When I got them on a mock orange shrub - in the shade so damp which mealy bugs love - I thought it was just fuzzy flaky stuff too. Turned out it was the actual bugs. Indoor plants get them too.
Spraying them with a mix of Dawn and water worked. I also blasted them with the hose, probably not something you'd be doing indoors, and that helped too.
That's all I've got . . . maybe someone will have a definitive diagnosis.
Mealy bugs perhaps? When I got them on a mock orange shrub - in the shade so damp which mealy bugs love - I thought it was just fuzzy flaky stuff too. Turned out it was the actual bugs. Indoor plants get them too.
Spraying them with a mix of Dawn and water worked. I also blasted them with the hose, probably not something you'd be doing indoors, and that helped too.
That's all I've got . . . maybe someone will have a definitive diagnosis.
Thanks! Sort of the direction I was heading. Some sort of soapy solution that has insecticidal properties...neem?
I haven't added any plants to my house for years and nothing's been exposed to the outdoors either. Our winter temps drop below zero. It hasn't gotten warmer than 40 F for months. A mystery where they would have invaded from.
Parnassia, I magnified both of your pictures. It looks like you have a serious infestation of wooly aphids (Eriosomatinae) and they're on everything in the containers, not only on the plants. There are several types of wooly aphid and I can't tell for sure which type(s) you have, but I can see they are also on the rims and outsides of the containers that your plants are in as well.
At the very least I'd suggest you need to IMMEDIATELY spray everything with a soapy solution and then get those shown containers and plants out of your house immediately. Wooly aphids are very small, the females have nearly invisible wings and they get around easily. So in the event you have other houseplants besides those ones you need to check ALL of your other houseplants and containers with a magnifying glass and spray them with the soapy solution too.
Do you still have any pet animals in the house, like reptiles or snakes in glass cages, tarantulas, or that kind of thing? Any terrariums? If you do you should inspect their enclosures and contents as well.
Thanks! Sort of the direction I was heading. Some sort of soapy solution that has insecticidal properties...neem?
I haven't added any plants to my house for years and nothing's been exposed to the outdoors either. Our winter temps drop below zero. It hasn't gotten warmer than 40 F for months. A mystery where they would have invaded from.
Yes, neem if you have it.
They came from outside, from under bark and in crevices in the bark and between coniferous needles and cones and wood piles and under roof tile and what have you. It's the warmth of your own home that has attracted them to find their way indoors to escape the winter cold.
Parnassia, I magnified both of your pictures. It looks like you have a serious infestation of wooly aphids (Eriosomatinae) and they're on everything in the containers, not only on the plants. There are several types of wooly aphid and I can't tell for sure which type(s) you have, but I can see they are also on the rims and outsides of the containers that your plants are in as well.
At the very least I'd suggest you need to IMMEDIATELY spray everything with a soapy solution and then get those shown containers and plants out of your house immediately. Wooly aphids are very small, the females have nearly invisible wings and they get around easily. So in the event you have other houseplants besides those ones you need to check ALL of your other houseplants and containers with a magnifying glass and spray them with the soapy solution too.
Do you still have any pet animals in the house, like reptiles or snakes in glass cages, tarantulas, or that kind of thing? Any terrariums? If you do you should inspect their enclosures and contents as well.
Otherwise, go online and so some further researches about the types of wooly aphids and controls.
Good luck.
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Thanks so much for the help! At this time of year all my plants are clustered under a grow light. None of the other pots or plants show anything so hopefully caught this early. I can easily treat them just in case. I have no where outside the main house to put the plants. The cold will kill them.
I do have aviary birds and a snake. They aren't housed near the plants.
Thanks so much for the help! At this time of year all my plants are clustered under a grow light. None of the other pots or plants show anything so hopefully caught this early. I can easily treat them just in case. I have no where outside the main house to put the plants. The cold will kill them.
I do have aviary birds and a snake. They aren't housed near the plants.
I understand you don't want to leave the plants outside. But as an emergency measure if you feel inclined you can still give the infected containers of succulents a temporary cold shock treatment without causing harm to your plants while helping to kill the aphids.
Do it by spraying everything very liberally (even under leaves and on soil) with the soapy water so the aphids become drenched and immobilized in the solution then immediately put the containers directly outside in the freezing cold for half an hour to an hour at most. The coating of soapy water, even if it frosts up (or not), will help act as an insulator for the plants at the same time as making the immobilized aphids more susceptible to freezing and dying faster than they would if they remained indoors after being sprayed.
Most succulents can survive temperatures well below 32 degrees F to 0 degrees F for several hours so half an hour to an hour isn't likely to harm the plants but it will definitely shock and harm aphids that are wet. Then bring the containers back indoors and put them in whatever dark cool place you have in the house for the night. A bathtub or shower stall will do. The plants will be okay and it's only for a temporary period of time.
As an aside from the topic but about the insulation principle - I will use sprayed on water to insulate outdoor plants' leaves/flowers/fruit and their roots as an emergency measure when I'm expecting a very sudden deep cold snap. Orchardists, vinyard keepers and growers of other crops will do the same thing if they can and while water or frost helps insulate the plants and keep them from harm for a temporary period of time it can wreak havoc on any insects on them.
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