I found root mealybugs on my hoyas

Today I'll be going through how I treat for root mealies on my plants - ew.
I'm a plant hobbyist passionate about plant care, cats and ice cream. I plan to post weekly throughout the year, subscribe to see more of my collection and watch my plant-y growth!
Oh! And I'm also on Instagram: / smallcityplants

[@margaretcalifano1617]

I’m worried that that floating mealies in the water/hydrogen peroxide mix don’t look dead, since they’re hydrophobic from their waxy coating. Foliar mealies turn orange when you hit them with alcohol, and I’m sure that kills them. BTW, I rooted Hoya cuttings directly in pon, keeping the water level high until they rooted. It gave a very full pot of hoya. I found that method on the Hakunalaplanta KZbin videos. Thanks for showing the attack of the root mealies!

[@smallcityplants]

You're right! Many were still alive at this point - it doesn't immediately destroy them like alcohol. But, it makes them release their grip on the roots and damages them. Combined with a good rinse off, I've gotten rid of root mealies entirely before using this method. Thanks for watching :)

[@mwoods4608]

but you didn't get rid of them entirely before since you still had them

[@CosmiqueRays]

How fast do they move? I saw something crawling outside the pot in one that was in quarantine for mealys. but it was very fast.. round and white.

[@ahahajulia]

I am also wondering ! Not sure if they are soil mite or root mealy. Can you let us know how to identify them ?

[@smallcityplants]

Absolutely! They move rather slowly (in my opinion, but I'm used to fast-moving beneficial mites), but the the easiest way to identify them is their size - they are much much bigger than soil mites. I often mistake them at first for tiny pieces of perlite but they'll curl up or move when you poke them. They also tend to cluster together on parts of roots - almost like one section of the root has mold until you look closer. For what it's worth, since this video no more root mealies (I hope I didn't just jinx it...)

[@j.c7941]

Hi 💫 Oh my goodness I am way dumber than I thought, as I did not know root mealies could live in Pon. Now I’m super freaked out. I only have about 15(ish) plants and so far I’ve been lucky in the pest area. My mom’s whole collection currently has mealy bugs, spider mites and thrips. All of hers are outdoors so that explains it a little better, but she too is having a time. We have neem oiled, soaked roots, repotted and she’s doing the water alcohol spray. It’s very time consuming. I hope all your cuttings come back healthy and stronger than before. Thank you for this informative video. 🙏🏻💫

[@smallcityplants]

No need to stress! At least with Pon, I find that root mealies are easier to see and remove, so that's something Good luck in your pest battle 🫡

[@mwoods4608]

isolate the infested plants! toss the substrate definitely not worth trying to save it.

[@CosmiqueRays]

Pots as well I promise 😢