Get rid of mealybugs and mealybugs - the best home remedies

• Characteristics
• Harming
• The best home remedies
  • 1) high percentage alcohol
  • 2) Water shower
  • 3) paraffin oil solution
• Natural opponents
  • 1) Lacewing larvae
  • 2) Australian ladybug
  • 3) parasitic wasps
• Preventive measures

Hardly any plant is safe from infestation by mealybugs. If small cotton balls appear out of nowhere, there is an urgent need for action, because the pests suck all the juices out of the plants. To get rid of lice quickly, the handle to the chemical club is superfluous. Explore the best home remedies for an effective, as well as environmentally friendly fight.

Get rid of mealybugs and mealybugs - the best home remedies

Mealybugs protect themselves with a wooly hair growth made of wax and have herbaceous ornamental and useful plants in sight. They act both stationary and mobile, frolicking on flowers and leaves or wreaking havoc on the roots. In winter, in particular, mealybugs pose a pervasive threat to plants. How good that handling chemicals is not required to get rid of mealybugs and mealybugs. A whole range of environmentally friendly and health-friendly control methods are available. Get to know the best home remedies here.

Characteristics

• Insect family: Lubricants (Pseudococcidae)
• Number of known species: more than 1, 000
• Body length: 1 mm to 12 mm
• Waxy hair in varying degrees
• Body color: white, pink or light brown
• Damage to herbaceous plants by sucking activity
• Release of poison and excretion of honeydew
• Activities: mobile and stationary
• Designation: Meat lice, root lice, mealybugs

The virulent threat posed by lice is compounded by their ability to produce moth. This trait implies that males are not obligatory for reproduction. Therefore, an infestation is usually accompanied by an explosive increase, since it is mostly female specimens in lice. So in a season easily up to 8 generations come about, which make up about your plants.

Harming

The infestation by mealybugs is to be diagnosed on the basis of the following symptoms:

• On the leaves, flowers and in the leaf axils appear cottony bushes and whitish webs
• At the root collar and directly at the root ball sticky, brown spots occur which remind of resin drops
• In addition, the foliage is covered with sticky honeydew, which turns black-brown in the further course
• As a result of the sucking action, the leaves and shoots deform to subsequently assume a yellow color

If the infected plant is in the open air, an infestation by mealybugs goes hand in hand with ants. These insects are keen on the sweet honeydew, because it serves them and the ant brood as a complementary food. An ant caravan with a focus on a particular plant can thus be considered as further evidence of the presence of mealybugs.

The best home remedies

If a lice infestation is detected, the infected plant comes immediately into quarantine. Ideally, it is a light-flooded and as cool as possible room. This will ensure that the plague can not spread to other plants. In isolation, the following home remedies are used, which have proven themselves alone or in combination to quickly get rid of mealybugs.

1) high percentage alcohol

In order to penetrate the shields made of wax on lice, it requires a stronger agent, as the classic core soap solution against aphids. Only high-percentage alcohol can achieve an effect against the pests. These approaches are useful if you want to get rid of lice:

• Soak a soft cloth with spirit to wipe the lice
• In early infestation dip the cotton buds in alcohol and dab the pests
• Add lemon balm to an empty perfume bottle and spray onto the plant

Before this alcoholic home remedy is used, a test run in a hidden location is advisable. Reported hobby gardeners who are in trouble with woolly lice on cactuses report very good results. Thanks to its sturdy epidermis, a cactus is resistant enough to handle alcohol or melissa. This is especially true during the dormancy.

2) Water shower

If the affected plant proves to be too sensitive to be treated with alcohol, you do not have to throw the shotgun straight away. As long as the infestation pressure does not overreach, this alternative offers itself:

• Cut off all parts of the plant occupied by mealybugs and dispose of them as household waste
• Hold the plant at an angle over a washbasin and rinse off the lice
• Repeat this fight consistently every day until the pests have disappeared

A plastic bag closed at the root neck prevents the root ball from being drowned during this procedure.

Tip: If water is one of the ingredients of a home remedy for mealybugs, it should be decalcified beforehand, so that no limescale on the foliage. Simply fill a watering can with tap water to put in a cotton bag containing 1 liter of peat for 2-3 days.

3) paraffin oil solution

The golden mean between alcohol and warm water has proven to be a mixture with the main constituent paraffin. The non-toxic, waxy, odorless and tasteless substance is found in many areas of daily life again. Paraffin, for example, is used as an additive in cosmetics, as a fuel in candles or as food protection. As a home remedy for mealybugs, paraffin oil meets the expectations, as it covers the pests with a film, so the air stays away. This recipe is certified as having good effectiveness:

• In 1 liter of water, add 15 grams of paraffin oil and mix well
• Sprinkle the plant, which has been attacked by lice, 2-3 days apart
• The addition of 15 milliliters of spirit intensifies the effect of the mixture

So that the effect of this home remedy does not go into the void, both the undersides and the tops of the leaves are to be treated. Do not leave a spot untreated, as mealybugs are masters at hiding in hidden leaf axils and other niche areas.

Tip: Noble orchids should not come into contact with preparations containing oil as the pores of the leaves may stick together. To liberate the sensitive beauties of the lice, they are packed in a tightly closed plastic bag for a few days. If the pests go out of oxygen, the plague is history.

Eliminate lice from root ball

Extremely treacherous proves to be an infestation with mealybugs in the root ball of potted plants. While the woolly pests on aboveground parts of plants fall quickly in the eye, their presence in the root area is discovered only late. In order to stop the lice now, the following strategy is considered:

• Immediately pest the plant and clean it from the substrate
• Spray the root ball with a sharp jet of water
• Thoroughly disinfect the pot with alcohol
• Replace any existing drainage material completely
• Put the plant in fresh substrate

To make sure that there are no larvae, germs, viruses or spores in the new substrate, it is disinfected in the kitchen. For this purpose, you operate the oven in a device for sterilization. The potting soil is placed in a refractory shell for 20 minutes at 180 to 200 degrees top and bottom heat on the middle rail. Even faster in the microwave is within 5 minutes at 800 watts.

Natural opponents

The best home remedies can not guarantee that all the killers will actually be destroyed. As long as a single specimen of these pests survives, it will multiply thanks to its capacity for virgin production. To get rid of lice on a permanent basis, experienced hobby gardeners are therefore using some natural antagonists of these pests. The following beneficial insects go hunting until they are completely free of all the scumbags, and then to migrate.

1) Lacewing larvae

The filigree webbirds produce brownish larvae, which kill a large amount of wool lice during their two to three-week development stage to the doll. From the biological pest control, they are therefore indispensable. Grown in specialty farms, lacewing larvae of the first stage of development are delivered to your home in an adequate honeycomb housing. How to use the beneficials correctly:

• Ideally in the run-up to combat the lice with home remedies
• The supplied larvae exactly according to instructions on the infected plants
• Overpopulation with lacewing larvae causes cannibalism in favor of mealybugs
• Place the affected plants in such a way that they touch each other
• In the course of 14 days, the beneficial organisms migrate from plant to plant and eliminate the mealybugs

Once the beneficial insects have reached the fourth larval stage, they pupate and migrate out of the apartment, conservatory or greenhouse. Depending on the infestation pressure, repeated use is recommended.

2) Australian ladybug

Compared to the delicate lacewings Australian ladybirds like biological warfare machines against mealybugs. Already 25 ladybirds are able to completely clean an area of ​​more than 12 square meters of lice. Since the parameters for their use are set narrow, the use of home remedies as a preparatory measure is again recommended. This is how the Australian ladybirds get started:

• From a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius, the predatory insect is ready for use
• All windows and doors remain closed for the next few hours
• Apply the beetles delivered by a breeding farm in the twilight according to instructions

It is important to note that the busy ladybugs need drinking water. Therefore, the plants are repeatedly sprayed. Once all the mealybugs have been eaten, the beneficials migrate to search for new food. Therefore, the windows and doors should be reopened in time, so that your winged helpers do not starve.

3) parasitic wasps

In association with the Australian ladybug, the parasitic wasp species Leptomastix dactylopii forms a powerful combat squadron against mealybugs. Both insects are effective at warm temperatures against the persistent pests. In a cooler environment, on the other hand, the lacewing larvae manage the problem.

Tip: In potted plants in hothouses or conservatories, a parallel fight against lice and ants is of fundamental importance when beneficial organisms are used. Otherwise, the ants will fight the expelled predators of lice to defend their honeydew suppliers.

Preventive measures

There are a number of effective precautions to choose from, so you do not have to bother with wool lice. The highest premise is a species-appropriate cultivation of your plants. According to site, water and nutrient budget requirements, a natural resistance to diseases and pests develops. Therefore, assign your plants a light-flooded location. A nitrogen-stressed fertilizer usually causes a mastiges growth, which lures wool lice. Preferably, the pests beat during the winter time, because they find here in the too warm winter quarters the ideal victims. In addition, you prevent an infestation like this:

• When purchasing, carefully inspect each plant
• Also, examine neighboring plants on the shelves
• Sterilize each substrate in the oven before use
• Take a close look at the root ball every time you repot it

Wherever possible, an underplant of nasturtium serves as a natural defense against lice. The Austriebsspritzung with the presented here paraffin oil solution is also a prophylaxis. In this context, soybean oil proves to be particularly valuable due to the lecithin , since this substance also acts as an emulsifier. If the plant does not tolerate treatment with oil-containing agents, horsetail tea serves as a sensible substitute. Regularly applied, you naturally strengthen the resistance of your plants against mealybugs.

Tip: Liquid agents on herbaceous plants should never be sprayed in direct sunlight to prevent burns.

If the first symptoms of pest infestation by mealybugs and mealybugs are revealed, immediate control measures are of central importance. They will only release the pests once the infected plants are quarantined. On the isolation then the home remedies presented here are used to save the cherished plants in an environmentally friendly and healthy way. In closed rooms, such as the living room, the winter garden or greenhouse, beneficial organisms then set out in search of the remaining specimens. Lacewing larvae, Australian ladybirds or parasitic wasps have proven to be an excellent complement to the best home remedies. The success formula against mealybugs thus consists of three factors: early action, the best home remedies and beneficials.

Tips for quick readers

• Small cotton balls and white webs indicate an infestation
• deformed foliage, crippled shoots, rolled-up, yellowed leaves
• Wipe leaves with high-proof alcohol
• Robust plants spray with melissa spirit
• Scattered mealybugs dab with alcohol
• Delicate sensitive plants upside down
• Spray with a mix of paraffin oil and water
• Recover infected root ball in sterilized
• Disinfect planter and replace drainage
• Subsequent application of beneficial organisms intensifies center of the house
• Suitable beneficial insects: Lacewing larvae, Australian ladybirds, parasitic wasps
• Examine plants before buying
• Avoid nitrogen-concentrated fertilization
• If possible cool hibernation
• Choose a light location