How to treat succulents for mealybugs and scale without using isopropyl alcohol

I don't know about you, but I've found it difficult to find isopropyl alcohol lately. This can spell disaster if you're dealing with mealybugs or other bugs on your succulents! Luckily, there are other tools and products that can help eliminate pests on your succulents.
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[@Orsucci82]

I manage the succulent department in a garden center. With an infestation this bad, the first thing you want to do is pull out all those dead leaves. Also, mealybugs can live in the soil, under the stones and on the container. We find for infestations like you have, we transplant the succulents into a new container with fresh soil. It will make a huge difference. Just spraying them with the neem oil really won't cure the problem unless you get them into fresh soil and a fresh pot.

[@janetac1738]

Maybe you can help me. I am not new to succulents, but I don't know everything either. I had a fred Ives that I did a head chop back in October and it was very well established it had set itself up really nice and was very healthy. It showed no signs of bugs, root rot, illness disease nothing it looked 110% healthy. I only watered it once and The Roots were well established when I did. I noticed last night it was leaning so I moved a little bit of dirt and half the stem was collapsed rotted. I cut the rotted part off and dissected the rotted part and saw a lot of teeny teeny teeny tiny little bugs running around really fast. I mean when I tell you rotted, it was like you know when you see rotted wood it's almost dust, that's how rotted this was in such a short period of time. The bugs were white but they were not mealy bugs. And they were so small you could barely see them. Would you have any idea what these were?

[@Orsucci82]

@@janetac1738Sorry to hear about that. I have never seen or heard of this issue. We have had rot but never with tiny bugs eating the stem. It is possible that you had a rot issue which attracted the bugs. Otherwise you could look into thrips, which are very tiny black bugs that do run around when disturbed. You will need to cut out the bad area and let the end of the cutting dry out and plant it in a new pot with fresh soil. Also, keep it isolated for a couple of weeks. Be sure to closely check your other succulents. If I notice an issue with my succulents, I will water with a systemic pesticide which will help with most, if not all bugs you might get. I use a Bonide product but there are others out there. By the way, dispose of the original plant, pot and soil.

[@janetac1738]

@@Orsucci82 thank you so much for responding. Yeah I've been looking into systemics and I'm so glad you mentioned what you use because I was so confused. And I threw everything out. I'm definitely going to keep my eye on my other plants! Thank you so much

[@Orsucci82]

@@janetac1738 Your welcome!

[@littlebeebs1]

@@janetac1738 , They’re soil mites . They eat rotten plant matter . They’re not a pest . You’ll only see them if you’ve got a rotten plant or rotted something in the soil . I had them on a Fred Ives I chopped too . My situation was identical to yours actually. Hope your Fred Ives is doing well 😊 . Mine with the rot eventually died . But not cuz of the mites . It was just too far gone . 😊

[@beepbeep5181]

I just bought a succulent and it came with these guys on it, I had no clue they existed

[@Nhoj31neirbo47]

Good time to address alcohol alternatives, as alcohol is in short supply currently due to Covid-19.

[@StaceyHerewegrowagain]

Wow, those little buggers can be so destructive🙄 This is such an important subject to cover and I really appreciate all the information you share. I've used many different methods so it's nice to see what works for others with these mealybugs. It's not something I get often but when I do I just rub them off with 50% alcohol and a little dish soap and water. It usually needs a few treatments and you have to watch your plants closely, but it's pretty effective. Thanks for sharing a great video as always!

[@kellyfung1547]

Hello Stacey, thanks for the info. Just want to find the number of times for treatment in order to get rid of mealy bugs in a plant. Also should it be treated once a week, shorter or longer timeframe ?

[@ramaahbk6596]

Oh this video comes exactly on time. I started growing succulents just recently and was afraid of using any treatl on them if they get infected. I saw couple of mealybugs on some of them. I scared but I had to do something before they increase in number. I sprayed and whipped them with alcohol. After watching your video I feel relaxed that there will be an effective treat if I have more of these mealy dumps 😡

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

Glad it was helpful! Best of luck🙂

[@tiffanyspins9250]

Thank you for making this video! It's so informative and, honestly, it makes me feel better about the occasional mealybug infestations I have on my succulents. I wish more people talked about mealybugs. I'd love to hear any recommendations you have on dealing with root mealybugs. Again, thank you!!

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

You are very welcome! We recommend pouring alcohol or safer soap over the soil. You could also use verrrrrry diluted neem oil or Fertilome. www.amazon.com/shop/succulentsandsunshine?listId=23I0479U2Y5VN

[@dyrcosis]

Scale has been the bane of my existence and even with neem oil it often takes several weeks to get rid of them. I can't tell you the number of plants I've lost to them over the years. Good luck with eradicating your infestation!

[@solarwinds-]

very sorry for your loss. that is so sad. :(

[@jodyann77]

I'm in shock that you just uploaded this a day ago lol! This is exactly what happened to me today 🤨😬😳 I was thinking I know Cassidy has a couple videos with treating just 1 succulent having these little sticky Bi#ches 😂 but not a bunch of succulents at a time! Talk about perfect timing, but I'm really sorry😕 this happened to you! That's not a fun thing to come home to! But anyways Thank You soooo much Cassidy for making this video for us, you literally just saved me & my gorgeous succulents 🌸 🌵! God bless and please stay safe💕❤️

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

So glad it came at the right time to help :)

[@nerdyluma]

Can you do a video on how to treat the soil if they’ve gotten in the soil?

[@mariankay6482]

They are in her growing medium. You can't have an infestation like this and not have eggs and nymphs in the soil as well as on the plant. If I had a mess like hers, and I've had less and done this... I take the plant and take at least 1 to 2 inches of the medium out or even all of it. (You can microwave the medium or put it in the oven and kill anything that is still alive and then you can reuse the soil or plant medium.) That's the soil part... There's 2 theories on the plants... Spray the plants with a pretty hard stream of water or run a high rate of water over them in the sink or bathtub and then spray with bug killer of your choice. Neem is great. (It does not have to be fertilome brand) or... Spray with the bug killer first and then wash off with water after about an hour. I would spray the plant and leave whatever you use on it for about an hour. After that wash the been off, as much as possible. It is an oil so some will stick to it. Ashley's plants are wayyy to dry and she might have a problem if she doused them with water, but I don't think it would kill them to have the roots and plants hit with some water and then be allowed do dry and then reply if soil. You can, if it's really bad treat your new soil with the neem. Just put it in a bowl and spray it with the neem, mix it up and spray a bit more and mix that in. You don't want to soak the soil, just dampen it a bit... It is likely that, if Ashley doesn't treat her plant medium, she will continue having infestations as many of her plants stay stressed from being too dry and the heat they have out there in Phoenix. I'm no plant expert but I have had and successfully treated a smaller infestation than this. Oh, you can re-treat the plants in a week, if you see anymore bugs. Scale is especially hard to get rid of because they have that "hard shell" over them. Best wishes to Ashley and you, too! Happy bug free growing! 🙂❤💪

[@anitamachlin9200]

Good idea. Seems like it would be best to repot.

[@Orsucci82]

I manage the succulent department in a garden center. With an infestation this bad, the first thing you want to do is pull out all those dead leaves. Also, mealybugs can live in the soil, under the stones and on the container. We find for infestations like you have, we transplant the succulents into a new container with fresh soil. It will make a huge difference. Just spraying them with the neem oil really won't cure the problem unless you get them into fresh soil and a fresh pot.

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

Yes, treating the soil as mentioned in the comment above is perfect. I did also treat the soil by pouring a diluted solution of the fertilizer over it when I watered.

[@susanlisson7066]

I used Neem oil with mine in March 2020 and I didn’t even need to respray a week later. I used the larger pump sprayer, did all my succulents including the non infested ones, half were in full sun. I’m in Perth Western Australia & our sun here is strong but the only damage was the scars on the leaves that the mealybugs left. No marks from the Neem oil but the Neem oil I used was a 100% pure brand mixed with some dish soap. My Red Pagodas were the culprits for the spread ... I didn’t even see those little white fluffballs until it was badly infested. I love crassulas but so do the mealybugs. 🤦🏽‍♀️

[@Freyjinn]

awesome to know! I've had to deal with mealybugs twice on my tiger jaws and i wasnt sure how to do, ive put a bit of diluted alcohol on a q-tip and cleaned everywhere, seemed to work (never saw those again). But it lost 2 chunky leaves twice in a couple of months, i guess its health is not very good? The leaves seem perfectly healthy, but they squish and rip at the base. Do you know what could cause that? Maybe it didnt get enough water? It bloomed for the first time 3 weeks ago, seemed doing good

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

What you're describing sounds like a watering issue. Take a look at this post for suggestions on how to help your succulent: succulentsandsunshine.com/yt-dying

[@Freyjinn]

@@Succulentsandsunshine thank you! i water all my succulents around the same time every 14 days, but maybe that one needs less water. Imma keep an eye open on her :P

[@HGranfield1]

I have found Sevin to work well and very quickly. Does anyone else have experience with it. I spray it on the plants that definitely have the bugs and often spray it lightly over all of my plants and it catches many bugs I didn’t see. What look like little brown pebbles appear and they seem to be the dried up and dead bugs. The plants don’t seem to be hurt by it.

[@panicmosem5969]

If you want to get rid of pests for good, use SAFARI (a systemic pesticide, which is absorbed through the root). It is expensive but it works wonders! I haven't seen bugs, aphids, or scale on my succs in years!! It also doesn't harm leaves because it should be applied to the soil. OR you could use a diluted mixture of original Listerine mouth wash (nasty brownish color)! It has enough alcohol to kill the bugs plus it's relatively cheap!! 😁😁

[@stephanieadams4388]

Learn from my mistakes.. I live where we have low temps in fall and snow in winter. The weather really wasn't dropping too low. I treated a few of my plants on my porch. Left them isolated outside and then boom. Temps dropped. I also just got sick and for only 1 day didnt go out and look at my plants. Everything that I sprayed and treated SO SAD! Im guessing the leaves were drenched, then they froze, then they thawed. Im hoping theres some life leftnin the stem and roots but when I say its a sad mess thats an understatement. I lost alot. Take your plants in and treat them. Somewhere you know that no natural elements can damage them. They are so sensitive when your using any insecticide.

[@jodyann77]

I almost did the same thing Steph! I live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and the temp has been fluctuating like crazy! And one night it dropped to 20° and I forgot to bring over 30 of them in! I'm thinking they must've had angels😇👼 watching over them because nothing happened to any of them😃 Good luck hun I hope they come back for you! 💖 Keep us posted please!

[@stephanieadams4388]

@@jodyann77 you did have angels. They say alot are surprisingly frost hardy but Ive invested too much money to see. I lost alot of my houseplants that were on the front porch with my herbs also gone. I think the succies would had been ok had I not just drenched them with neem oil mixture. Ive pulled off so many water logged leafs. I literally had a bowl full. So now I have a nursery section in my house and an ICU. My family thinks I'm crazy but I seriously cried. I will keep you posted. Glad yours were safe and hopefully inside nowadays. It only gets colder from here. Although I'm in Ky and it will freeze one day and today its in the 80s.

[@jodyann77]

@@stephanieadams4388 honey I was crying right along with you when I was reading that first message you posted 😢 I cry all the time and talk to my succulents all the time also if you're not doing well. And you are so lucky having 80 weather again! We're in the high 30s today with snow but then it's back into the 50s again this week! That's a very big deal for us wisconsinites to see 50s in November!😂 Anyways thanks for getting back to me I hope you and your succulents are good & staying safe!

[@jodyann77]

@@stephanieadams4388 you totally cracked me up when you said in the ICU I love it love it love it! I do and say they exact samething! 😂

[@traciebobo2648]

Thank you for this video as I’m a new succulent owner. I have an off-topic question for you though, So please forgive me and indulgent question. I noticed that several of your pots are the adorable animal ones that I see everywhere now. Do they have drainage holes? Most of the ones I see do not, and I’m a bit fearful of drilling a hole in the ceramic pots. I do great with drilling in terra-cotta, but worry about the ceramics. Thank you so much I truly appreciate it!

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

You can definitely drill drainage holes! You'll need to use a diamond drill bit and go slow, but you can do it! If you're afraid, you can take a look at this post for watering succulents in non-draining containers: succulentsandsunshine.com/yt-nondraining

[@alexgilliland8523]

Is there a way to disinfect the soil?

[@lilyt5855]

Dang, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with some very sad succulents! It makes me feel better, ha ha.

[@moniquehorton1111]

Would unpotting them and spraying them upside down help? Would be more work but maybe worth it?

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

We have found spraying the soil and succulent itself to work best. Unpotting can put too much stress on the succulent as it's still developing.

[@user-sx4jb6xu9t]

Alcohol isn't in short supply in Wisconsin. We don't hoarde so I have no issue with using alcohol. Just a spray bottle? Do you dilute. What's the opinion

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

We recommend using 70% isopropyl alcohol 🙂

[@conniebeal6000]

Hello, when I see my plant with excess damage done from a mealy bug I normally chop the top off and remove the dirt. I am not experienced enough to know if mealy bugs are also on the roots.

[@panicmosem5969]

Look into SAFARI, a systemic(root absorbed) pesticide. I love it! It is expensive, but if you have a friend or neighbor who shares our gardening interests, maybe share a container! It also only needs a tiny bit per water so it lasts a long time!

[@solarwinds-]

I finally had to use systemic insecticide granuals on my cactus. Dabbing them with alcohol just wasn't working. I was spending alll my time just doing that and not enjoying them. The mealies are gone.

[@janetac1738]

You should also mention that you should not keep whatever leftover solution you have mixed up. Every time I read about treating succulents with neem oil they do stress to throw away the leftover mixed up neem oil solution or you can just throw it into the pot as a systemic soil treater. What about grow lights? I have T8 LED tube grow lights, how long should I wait to put them back under the grow lights?

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

It's best to wait at least a week after spraying, if there's neem oil in your spray.

[@katiewilliams9273]

I never knew you had to throw it away after you use it, I have reused mine several times. I make a spray bottle of it and when I get a new plant or just as a preventative on older plants . Seems to still work just fine

[@janetac1738]

@@katiewilliams9273 That’s awesome. I mean if it works for you I wouldn’t waste it I actually used to hate throwing it away but the few times that I did save it I ended up with chemical burns. But I also bought beauty supply name oil not in already mixed one that you would buy in the garden center so I don’t know if that made a difference it’s still a virgin pressed Nimoy oil. I don’t know since I started with Succulent I have found a lot of other solutions that work better for me And where I live and how I grow my succulents.

[@janetac1738]

@@katiewilliams9273 haha I just read my comment and noticed all the grammatical errors! I swear my talk to text doesn’t understand a word I say😂😂😂

[@xw591]

Thank you for not having a happy garden so that I can make my plant happy!

[@PlantDad215]

putting alcohol in the soil sounds like it would be unhelpful for the natural bacteria in the soil. I just dab the alchohol q-tip on the mealies.

[@cuteminx121]

Hi great video but what is the uk equivalent? I think you can buy neem oil neat on its own but in a spray for Succulents I’m not familiar with is this product available on Amazon? I’ve recently treated my succulent with alcohol as apparently fruit flies like the damp soil too in addition to other pests to keep them away I sprayed a bit as a precautionary measure and as you’ve mentioned my succulent now has damage to the white powder ? Is there anything I can do ? Thanks!

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

Neem can be very harsh on succulents, so if you're able to purchase isopropyl alcohol, that would be best. Once the white powder, or farina, has been rubbed off of your succulent leaves, it won't grow back. Any new growth will have the farina, though.

[@dawnheard1263]

How do you feel about systemic? Powdered permethrin? Just would think this would be more effective and not ruin the Farina.

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

We haven't tried it personally, however we've read it is really good against pests and doesn't tend to harm plants. Let us know how it works for you!

[@dianneunterbrink3744]

If I use isopropyl alcohol, can I put that into a spray bottle as well? I have some mealy bugs in the spaces between leaves, and on the bottoms too. Using a q-tip takes forever to hit each tiny spot. Will it need to be diluted like the neem? Thanks for any help you can suggest. I don't want my babies to die from these horrid critters.

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

Yes you can definitely put it in a spray bottle, we suggest using 70% isopropyl alcohol.

[@ChessieChess]

Yes, but it doesn’t work. I’ve used straight 70% and did not rinse off more times than I can count. Have not tried 91%

[@user-sx4jb6xu9t]

How do you use alcohol? Do you use a spray bottle? Is there a preventative measure for scale or mealy bugs

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

Yes we recommend using a spray bottle and getting right down in between the leaves. The best way we know to prevent is from not overwatering as the moisture tends to attract the mealy bugs.

[@daliciamatos8114]

What are the Grey flea looking bugs that keep going to my succulents? They're very quick also.

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

Could they be gnats? I'm not sure without seeing them. Gnats and mealy bugs are the two most common pests around succulents.

[@AnimalsGirlful]

so isopropyl alcohol doesn't remove the white coating on the succulent?

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

It will remove the farina on a succulent.

[@AnimalsGirlful]

@@Succulentsandsunshine i have since learned lol rip but it had to be done

[@lucia86ization]

Do you also have to remove the damage made by the bugs? I.e. the misshapen new leaves in the middle of an echeveria rosette. Or will it continue growing well once they are eradicated? I have one that was treated a long time ago an even though I see no sign of new bugs, the new growth keeps being misshapen and small. TIA.

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

New growth will be normal, but any leaves that have been damaged won't return to normal. If you're still seeing damage or problems with new leaves, It might be best to treat it again, or change the soil, just to be sure there's not still a bug problem.

[@solarwinds-]

@@Succulentsandsunshine Hi Cassidy, If i repotted my cactus every time they got mealy bugs, I would be spending a fortune on medium. I just use systemic pesticide. I'm done with changing the medium every time those nasty fuzzies attack.

[@chocolate-ou4kq]

Great tips. Is there anything that's more natural to treat mealybugs?

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

yes you can also use 70% isopropyl alcohol. You can read about how to use it here: www.succulentsandsunshine.com/yt-mealys

[@ChessieChess]

Alcohol doesn’t work for me. They just keep coming back

[@outsidetheboxeducatorworks5702]

How do you feel about diatomaceous earth to stop mealies?

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

We don't have any firsthand experience using it but have heard it can be effective in eliminating mealy bugs in the soil. However it can't kill those already on the plants so they would need to be treated with a spray. 🙂

[@NC-wl1xm]

I have had no problem finding alcohol at Walmart on line. So do you recommend using alcohol first if available?

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

Yes when its not a major widespread infestation like this, alcohol is better for the succulent.

[@panicmosem5969]

Listerine--original works

[@janetac1738]

how are they now?

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

Most have survived pretty well! A few were too under watered and didn't make it. But most are back to normal!

[@catherinemurry1508]

Do u have to repot your succulents after treating them from pest?

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

Generally that is best practice and to isolate those succulents from your other succulents. If you are sure the pest is gone after treatment you may be okay to not repot.

[@nothanks5394]

male mealy bigs start out like flys and can fly to your plants

[@ceekaylongbeach]

Do these bugs tend to come this time of year or anytime? Thanks!

[@Succulentsandsunshine]

They can come at anytime unfortunately

[@yomama8873]

🤩🤩💜