Common Pests

Common pests are Mealy Bugs, Red Spider Mites, Aphids, Scale, Rot and Fungus

Treatment of Mealy Bugs
Mealybugs are the tiny fuzzy white substances you see crawling on the stems of your plant.

If left ignored, the mealybugs can spread and affect many different parts of the plant, causing it to slowly wither and eventually die.

Mealybugs are one of the most common pest problems for succulents and a stubborn one that requires a long and thorough fight to get rid of them.

You should get alert when ants start crowding your plant area as ants like the sweet water discharged by mealybugs.

Another sign of your plants being infected is when they start looking unhealthy for no obvious reason (with adequate light and water).

To avoid this mealybugs issue, keep your plant area dry, clean, and free of rotting leaves or flowers.

Quarantine the infected plants by moving them away from other plants. Inspect the healthy plants to see if they have any signs of mealybugs.

Prepare to clean your infected plants by taking the plant out of the pot and rinsing them under a strong stream of water.

Clean the pot in hot soapy water.

Letting the plant and pot dry then replant with new soil.

Throw away the old soil because there might still be mealybug eggs left in there.

Use either rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) or neem oil and dish soap mixture to spray the whole infected plant.

Or you could use a Q-tip to paint-brush any spot with mealybugs.

If you use rubbing alcohol, make sure you don't put the plant out in full sun for a few hours since it may get burnt.

Check your plant and repeat the steps for a few days to see if there are any mealybugs left.

Then spray again once a week for preventive measure.

If you don't see mealy bugs reappearing after a few weeks of spraying, put the plant back to its original spot, and keep checking every 3 weeks.

Treatment of Red Spider Mites
Red spider mites are tiny red mites that leave a silky web that looks like a spider web on the plants.

The spider mites are extremely tiny and you might even need a magnifying glass to be able to see them.

You need to verify whether the web you see on your plants belongs to a real spider or red spider mites.

If it is from spider mites, you will notice the appearance of brown spots on the plants and the new growth also turning brown.

If left ignored, red spider mites will continue to eat the entire outer layer of your succulents, after this point it might be hard for the plants to survive.

Quarantine the infected plants immediately by moving them away from other plants. Inspect other healthy plants with a magnifying glass to see if they have any signs of red spider mites.

Red spider mites thrive in hot dry conditions and do not enjoy humid environments, so watering and spraying your succulents can be effective in deterring mite attacks.

Purchase some miticide, which is a chemical pesticide that specifically targets plant mites, to spray on your succulents for a few days.

Check to see if there are any red mites left then spray again once a week for preventive measure.

If you don't see red mites reappearing after a few weeks of spraying, put the plant back to its original spot, and keep checking every 3 weeks.

If you live in areas with hot weather, the high temperature will cause the mites to reproduce more rapidly.

Therefore your plants will need more frequent treatment with the miticide.

Make sure you don't put the plants out in direct full sun for a few weeks after treatment.

Treatment of Scale
Scales refer to species of insects that look like flat or slightly mounded waxy, brown scales on the leaves and stems of the plant.

The insects hide under the protective scale feeds on the plant sap and can transmit virus diseases to other plants.

The protective covering strongly attaches to the plant tissue so it can leave a scar behind when you remove a scale insect from the plant.

Scale insects reproduce rapidly and can cover the entire surface of a succulent in a couple of days, especially on the new growth parts of the plant.

Use your fingers, a small tongs, tweezers, or a water hose to remove the scales from the plant as soon as you see it.

Be careful not to damage your plant while you do it.

Treatment of Aphids
Aphids are those species of greenfly and blackfly that can reproduce very quickly and commonly seen on garden plants.

They feed on the plant sap and produce sweet honeydew which might encourage black mould.

Aphids are often found on the flowers, flower buds, and tender new growth of succulents and cacti.

You should worry about aphids affecting your succulents when ants start crowding your plant area.

You can easily get rid of aphids by using a high-pressure garden hose a couple times.

Be careful not to damage your plants while you do it.

If the aphid problem continues, try spraying the plants with soapy water or a systemic insecticide.

Repeated treatments may be necessary for several days to eliminate any survivors.

Treatment of Rot
For succulents and cacti, cold or damp conditions caused by a fungal attack or overwatering may cause rotting of roots and stems.

When there is a high level of moisture in the growing environment of the plants, rot is likely to occur because bacteria and fungi develop vigorously in this type of condition.

The rotten tissues tend to turn red, brown, or black.

The parts that have gone rotten are usually soggy, slimy, and emit a bad odor.

Rot usually starts from the root up, thus when you notice any obvious changes on the plant, there is probably no way to save it.

Cut off all the rotten parts if the plant has just started to rot in a small specific region.

Then let the uninfected part of the plant continue to grow.

If possible, cut the stem well above the rotten part and propagate it.

Sometimes it might be possible to re-root and grow into a new healthy plant.

Avoid planting the body of your succulents so close to the soil to prevent the leaves from picking up some moisture from the soil, leading to rotting leaves.

Improve ventilation, do not over water and avoid leaving your succulents in a cold damp condition.

Make sure your soil is porous, well drained and doesn't hold water for an extended amount of time.

Fungus
Fungal attacks are typified by a rust-colored or black spot surrounded by dried brown sections on the stem of a cactus.

Fungal attacks seem most common in epiphytic cacti and do not occur very often on other cacti.

Rot is sometimes a fungus "eating up" the dead plant tissue, but in that case something else triggered the start of tissue death.

In a true fungal attack, there is a fungus growing inside the plant tissue that kills it as it goes.

This is what makes it turn brown and dry. Treatment of Fungus Fungal attacks are extremely difficult to stop.

The best option is to find any uninfected stems and re-start a new plant from them and throw the rest of the plant away.

Fungicides are available that could slow down the fungus attack, but the fungus rarely is eliminated in this way.