Skip to main content
Home

Service menu

  • Search
  • Where to buy
  • Contact
  • Sustainability
Home lovethegarden

Main navigation

  • Products
    Lawn Care
    Plant Food
    Soil, Compost & Bark
    Plant Control & Protection
    Weed Control
    Home Pest Protection
    Hard Surface Control & Protection
  • Brands
    Miracle-Gro®
    Levington®
    Roundup®
    Weedol®
    Clear™
    Patio Magic!®
    Home Defence®
  • Tools
    Your monthly planting guide
    Find hands-on guidance for what to plant and when.
    Learn more
    All growing guides
    Discover how to grow any plant.
    Learn more
    Pest, disease & weed identifier
    Find out what's wrong with a sick plant.
    Learn more
    Compost calculator
    Calculate how much compost your garden needs.
    Calculate now
    Mulch calculator
    Calculate how much mulch your garden needs.
    Calculate now
    Videos
    Discover all of our helpful video content.
    Watch now
  • Advice & Inspiration
    Lawn care
    Plants, trees & shrubs
    Weeds, pests & diseases
    Grow your own
    Garden care
    Garden design
    Birds & wildlife
    David Domoney
    Sustainability
  • Search
  • Where to buy
  • Contact
  • Sustainability
  1. Home
  2. Tools
  3. Pest, Disease & Weed identifier
  4. Select your plant
  5. Identify the problem
  6. Mealybugs
Not what you're looking for? Go back to the wizard

Mealybugs

Mealybugs can be a serious pest problem for house plants or of plants growing in a conservatory or greenhouse, particularly cacti and succulent plants. A few mealybug species can affect plants grown outdoors including ceanothus, laburnum, New Zealand flax (Phormium) and redcurrant.

Description

Mealybug pests are flat, oval insects about 4mm long, with soft, greyish-white or pink bodies. They secrete a fluffy white, waxy substance that protects their bodies and hides their eggs. A smaller species, the root mealybug, feeds on some pot plant roots and is about 2mm long.

Mealybugs are commonly found on cacti, succulents and orchids (especially moth orchids (Phalaenopsis)). Here is a list of more indoor grown plants which are particularly prone to mealybug infestations:

  • African violets
  • Bougainvillea
  • Fuchsia
  • Hoya
  • Passionflower
  • Oleander
  • Citrus
  • Grape vines
  • Peach
  • Tomato

Symptoms

Look for colonies in the inaccessible parts of the plant, for example underneath leaves and on plant stems, particularly the point where the leaf is attached to the stem. 

Often the first sign of mealybugs on plants is the honeydew excreted by the insect, which makes the surface of leaves on to which it drops very sticky. A black sooty mould can grow on this sticky substance which is unsightly. This will gradually deprive the leaf of light and might eventually kill the plant.

Large mealybug infestations can weaken plants, limit growth and cause premature  leaf fall.

Treatment and control

How can you get rid of mealybugs? There are many methods of mealybug control. Here we’ve listed a few different controls, ranging from cultural and biological to chemical:

  1. Wipe off small mealybug populations using a damp sponge or kitchen towel and check regularly for re-infestations.
  2. Introduce a ladybird (Cryptolaemus montrouzieri) into the greenhouse for a form of biological mealybug control. Both the adult ladybird and its larvae feed on mealybugs. You can order these online from several biological control suppliers. Because the ladybirds need relatively high temperatures to survive, use this mealybug infestation treatment from May to September.
  3. Because of their waxy coating, mealybugs are difficult to eradicate using insecticides. They need to be sprayed thoroughly with a systemic insecticide. Where the potting compost in containers is infested with root mealybugs, you can try drenching the compost with a systemic insecticide. But because the pest is so hard to eradicate, sometimes it is better to discard the infested plant and start again.

Before you treat mealybugs on fruit and vegetables, always check that the insecticide is approved for use on edible crops. To protect bees and pollinating insects do not apply to plants when in flower. Do not use where bees are actively foraging. Do not apply when flowering weeds are present.

Prevention

Check susceptible plants frequently so you can act before a mealybug infestation takes hold. Most plants will put up with small populations of mealybug, but these can grow quickly if you do not take some action to control them.

When you buy a new plant for your home or the greenhouse, inspect it carefully before putting it in place, because mealybugs often come from infested plants brought in from elsewhere. If possible, keep the plant isolated from your other plants for at least a month.

Keep the greenhouse or conservatory or the area around your house plants clear of dead leaves or other plant debris, in case these are harbouring mealybugs or mealybug eggs.

The best products to help with your problem
UK_121138_MG_PS.png

Miracle-Gro® Peat Free Plant & Grow

New
UK_119979_MG_PS.png

Miracle-Gro® Organic Pump & Feed All Purpose

UK_121008_CLE_PS.png

BugClear™ Fruit & Veg

Find your local store and start growing your garden.

Looking for specialised gardening advice? Or just hunting for a specific product? Visit your local store and get help from dedicated staff.
Find a store near you

Find your local store and start growing your garden.

Looking for specialised gardening advice? Or just hunting for a specific product? Visit your local store and get help from dedicated staff.

Use my current location

Common plant diseases

What are Crane Flies?

Crane Flies

Read more
Dandelion control

Dandelion

Read more
Plantain control

Plantain

Read more
couch grass

Couch grass

Read more
Groundsel

Groundsel

Read more
chickweed

Chickweed

Read more
Annual Meadow Grass

Annual meadow grass

Read more
dock leaf

Dock

Read more

Pagination

  • First disabled
  • Previous disabled
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Next ›
  • Last »
See all diseases

Unable to find a solution?

Please contact our online helpdesk to get in touch with our experts.
Contact us now
Our Newsletter

Sign up to our newsletter and get expert gardening tips, advice, and inspiration. Start creating your own green oasis today.

Sign Up Now

Footer

  • Our purpose
  • Contact
  • Brands
  • Modern Slavery Act
  • Terms of use
  • Product Ingredients
  • Sustainability
  • Evergreen Research Station
  • Garden Chemical Disposal
  • Privacy and cookies
  • Update cookie preferences
  • David Domoney
  • Trade enquiries
  • Work for us

© 2023 Evergreen Garden Care (UK) Ltd. Registration no: 10735156

Evergreen Garden Care (UK) Ltd, 
1 Archipelago, Lyon Way, 
Frimley, Surrey GU16 7ER, 
United Kingdom

Miracle-Gro® and Scotts® are trademarks of OMS Investments, Inc.
and are used under licence from OMS Investments, Inc.

Roundup® is a registered trademark and used under licence.

Change country
A local version of The Love The Garden website exists

Switch over if you want to find gardening products and brands available in your country.

ajax_loaderGroup 72 Atoms/Icons/cross1 Fundaments/Icons/FitlerCombined ShapeCombined Shapeicon--plusicon-reseticon-sorticon-staricon-starGroupicon-checkGroup 2