Mealy Bugs
Here we are going to talk a little about the mealy bug, which is a pest that is found in homes, gardens and in hobby greenhouses. How can you tell when you have this little pest? How does the mealy bug infest? Learn more about how to get rid of the mealy bug in your garden

Posted Tuesday, April 11, 2006

If you find that you are having problems with this little pest, don’t despair! You can save your plant, and enjoy your garden area again without having to everything out.

You can tell your plants are getting infested with mealy bugs when you notice that they are looking a little limp with white fuzzy areas underneath the leaves. The little white fuzzy things are the problem, actually. You may even notice that your plant is becoming a little sticky in places. While mealy bugs invade your indoor and greenhouse plants, when you live in a warmer climate you will notice a higher occurrence of mealy bugs outdoors as well. These little creatures come for juices from your plants and will spell out certain death if you don’t handle them immediately.

If you are inspecting your plants to find out what is wrong with them you may not even notice the little creatures at first. The mealy bug is only about one sixteenth of an inch long. These bugs like a warmer climate. The little white fuzzy areas are where your plant is being made host to hundreds of eggs and where the mealy bug is sucking your plant dry. It doesn’t take long for these bugs to kill a fragile plant so you need to be on the lookout to notice something is wrong.

Some of the types of plants that mealy bugs will infest include begonias, camellias, and orchids, but they are also found on non flowering plants as well. Use insect repellent soaps and other pest destroyer detergents to clean off the infected areas, and be sure to get rid of all rags and towels that you are cleaning with in case one of these pests is still alive and stuck to a towel after cleaning.