This pest is kind of beautiful but also terrible. What is it? Any tips for how to get rid of it, besides cleaning all the leaves?
this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2025
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They look like a sort of mealy bug to me. Spray isopropyl alcohol on them and if they turn red then definitely mealy bugs.
Get a cotton swab, spray it all down with alcohol and wipe them away and that should clear them up! Luckily they are pretty large and easy to see (at least more than other pests).
Ok, will try that. Thanks!
Be careful with alcohol. It can damage the plant tissue quite a lot.
Better use organic pesticides.
To be fair, alcohol is organic. There's carbon in it (meeting most scientific uses of "organic"), and its production doesn't have to include nasty pesticides (meeting most legal uses of "organic"). As things that kill bugs go, it's marvellously safe to use.
I don't want to discuss about definitions, but there's a big difference: alcohol kills everything, that's how it works. It dehydrates and bursts cell walls. No matter if plant, fungi or animal.
Insecticides on the other hand are highly deadly against the pests, but usually harmless, or at least not super toxic, to humans and plants.
Just look at neem oil for example. Would you consider it harmful for anyone? It's even harmless for bees and pets.
I for example also like pyrethrum, which actively kills insects, but is extracted from plants and is considered 100% safe for human consumption, as long as the fruits you eat haven't been sprayed for 3 days.
Yup, but humans don't need to wear safety equipment while using, and it's easy enough to dose enough to kill the target and possibly avoid killing unintended targets. I'm not saying there aren't better things to use, but it's a safe enough place to start.