Mealybugs
Slow, soft scale insects that look like little blobs of white cotton wool tucked into leaf joints.
🔍 How to spot it
Look for small, fuzzy white specks that resemble cotton wool or flour, clustered in leaf axils, along stems and where leaves meet the pot. Up close they are soft, oval and slightly waxy. A sticky, shiny film (honeydew) on leaves or the surface below, sometimes with black sooty mould, is another giveaway.
💥 The damage it does
Mealybugs suck sap and weaken the plant, causing yellowing, stunted new growth and leaf drop. Their honeydew fuels sooty mould and attracts ants. Left alone they multiply steadily and hide in the crown, roots and other tight spots.
🧴 How to treat it
Dab each bug with a cotton bud dipped in rubbing alcohol, which dissolves their waxy coat on contact. For larger infestations, follow up with insecticidal soap or a neem-oil spray every five to seven days, checking hidden spots each time. Bad cases may mean cutting away heavily infested growth, and repotting into fresh soil if they have reached the roots.
🛡️ How to prevent it
Inspect new plants closely, especially leaf joints, and quarantine them. Wipe leaves during watering so you spot early arrivals, and avoid over-feeding, since soft, lush growth is exactly what they love.
🌿 Plants that get mealybugs
Common on succulents, cacti and soft-stemmed tropicals. These 107 profiled plants name them in their own troubleshooting notes:
Houseplants 105
Struggling to save a plant? The plant rescue guides walk through recovery step by step, and the problem solver works backwards from a symptom. This is general growing advice, not a diagnosis for a specific plant.