Oh no! Please tell me these are not new bugs!! (SOLUTION ...
I just found what appear to be dew droplets on my #BrazilianPricklypear . They feel like tiny salt crystals, and if them opened and was sticky.
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I did the best I could with photos. Please tell me this is normal and not another pest!!!! Def does not look the same as my recently discovered Scale bugs. #gregteam
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I did the best I could with photos. Please tell me this is normal and not another pest!!!! Def does not look the same as my recently discovered Scale bugs. #gregteam
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Best Answer
@HyggeVibes so, Iโve been looking online and it seems like it could be that it was โinjuredโ and is leaking sap, which then crystallizes once excreted from the plant. It seems as though they can excrete a milky-colored sap if they are injured (whether it may be a fungal infection, physical injury, too much sun, etc.)
Has anything happened to it lately?
Has anything happened to it lately?
@HyggeVibes it looks like scale or mealy bugs to me.
Here is how to treat it. Scale, if treating small infestations, responds well to pruning and rubbing alcohol. For larger infestations, youโll likely need to discard your plant.
Mealybugs can be treated by pruning, and dabbing a rubbing alcohol soaked cotton swab on the infested areas.
They look so similar, either way rubbing alcohol will take care of it.
Here is how to treat it. Scale, if treating small infestations, responds well to pruning and rubbing alcohol. For larger infestations, youโll likely need to discard your plant.
Mealybugs can be treated by pruning, and dabbing a rubbing alcohol soaked cotton swab on the infested areas.
They look so similar, either way rubbing alcohol will take care of it.
@KikisOasis & @MeganO , ladies , thank you.
Iโve gone through massive Mealy Bug infestations at all of their life stages. Def not mealy bugs.
As for Scale, I just went through this earlier this week. @Kiersten helped me identify.
I know the pics are terrible, it this looks completely different.
Itโs tiny clear bead like droplets. Hard, like a sea salt crystal. Some were in clusters. Some just a single droplet.
Almost like a little bead of a hot glue gun droplet.
They popped right off in my fingers. One of themโฆ. Just one, opened and was sticky. All the rest were hard and could not be crumbled.
Like crystals were forming in the plant.
Zero resemblance to the Scale that I just removed from my large cacti,
Iโve tried Googling it, but I keep getting mealy bugs. Itโs def not mealy bugs. Itโs not cottony. Itโs not the adult gross big (of which I squished hundreds) and not the tiny white flies.
The Scales looked like little fossilized crustaceans.
Itโs neither.
Any other thoughts???? ๐ฅฐ
Iโve gone through massive Mealy Bug infestations at all of their life stages. Def not mealy bugs.
As for Scale, I just went through this earlier this week. @Kiersten helped me identify.
I know the pics are terrible, it this looks completely different.
Itโs tiny clear bead like droplets. Hard, like a sea salt crystal. Some were in clusters. Some just a single droplet.
Almost like a little bead of a hot glue gun droplet.
They popped right off in my fingers. One of themโฆ. Just one, opened and was sticky. All the rest were hard and could not be crumbled.
Like crystals were forming in the plant.
Zero resemblance to the Scale that I just removed from my large cacti,
Iโve tried Googling it, but I keep getting mealy bugs. Itโs def not mealy bugs. Itโs not cottony. Itโs not the adult gross big (of which I squished hundreds) and not the tiny white flies.
The Scales looked like little fossilized crustaceans.
Itโs neither.
Any other thoughts???? ๐ฅฐ
My first thought was honeydew. Honeydew is a sticky substance that secreted by pests. But when you said it was crystallized, it threw me for a loop.
I know spider mites, scale, mealy bugs, whiteflies,and aphids can leave behind honeydew... so maybe it's leftovers from your previous pest experience.๏ฟผ ๐คทโโ๏ธ
I know spider mites, scale, mealy bugs, whiteflies,and aphids can leave behind honeydew... so maybe it's leftovers from your previous pest experience.๏ฟผ ๐คทโโ๏ธ
@sarahsalith , so this link seemed somewhat helpful; https://www.newprocontainers.com/blog/4-bizarre-plant-symptoms-stump-interiorscapers/
But I still donโt have a conclusive answer.
But I still donโt have a conclusive answer.
@KikisOasis @MeganO @sarahsalith , ladiesโฆ. This might be the answer:
https://www.lovelyhouseplants.com/white-crystals-on-plant-leaves/
And from what I can tell, itโs natural and harmless.
THOUGHTS??
https://www.lovelyhouseplants.com/white-crystals-on-plant-leaves/
And from what I can tell, itโs natural and harmless.
THOUGHTS??
@HyggeVibes I wonder if the color is also darker/more milky because itโs a cactus which has a white sap naturally. ๐ I love problem solving stuff like this lol
@sarahsalith YES!!!! It was such fun figuring it out~ and that it wasnโt a bug!!!!
Making the switch to filtered water for all my cacti.
Making the switch to filtered water for all my cacti.
