Urgh, I hate plant pests, really is one of the worst things about this hobby. A lot of these pests just seem to appear out of nowhere as well, especially mealybugs. Well done for catching those beasties early Ana, hopefully the treatment will do the trick. Thank you for sharing with us as always, from Edith & myself, have a wonderful day and new week 😊🌵☀️🌼🌺🏜☕️
Usually I just skip the intros when I watch youtube videos, but I always watch yours! I love the music and the scenery. It always puts me in a good mood.
Yeah that’s my favorite part is the intro song also. Really good intro music. Reminds me of when shows used to have good intro music. Brings up good memories anytime I hear certain songs from old shows. This intro song is the same way.
An informative video. I use the squeeze test to also see if mealy bugs are dead or alive. If I’ve treated an infested plant and latter am checking for a possible ongoing infestation, I may find bugs still on the plant. I try to pick them off and then squeeze them. If almost no liquid comes out then I know that bug was most likely dead , having been killed during treatment. ~ It’s possible that the bugs on your rebutia were on the unseen back side because that side is less exposed to light (?) and they know that’s a safer location to live. In my experience mealy bugs can recur on an infested plant weeks, sometimes months after one thinks that they have eliminated them. One or two survive the initial course of treatment by being located deep in a crevice of plant tissue, or in the soil. There they remain barely reproducing until conditions improve and then at that time the population increases to the point where they again become noticeable on the plant. This phenomenon is why I continue to treat an infested plant once a week for a few weeks after the initial treatments to insure success. I also put a toothpick in the plant to remind me to inspect it closely over the following months.
FANTASTIC video Ana :-D Mealybugs are such a horrid pest and I am always battling these little horrors, and the squash test works so well especially as perlite can look so similar, and its so satisfying to squish the little terrors LOL! I notice that some of the mealies I find can be green juiced and brown and red too, they are horrid LOL! but thank goodness the alcohol and Neem oil works so well for treating these pests, thanks so much for sharing this very informative video Ana, and and I LOVE your cactus mug haha :-D Hans and I are sending you lots of love and happiness and CAFFEINE and PLANT POWER to Las Vegas for a terrific Tuesday today XXXX
Thank you Lyn. Yes, we are all seem to be getting bugs lately but we will succeed! 💪🏻 Hahaha. My mug was a present from my brother. I like it very much. Happy Holidays from Las Vegas to Ireland!
Mealies, cactus & citrus scale are always a problem in my greenhouse!! Mostly because of little ants that move them about and farm them in all the plants in the greenhouse!! And these ants live in and under everything! Even finding their way into pots & orchid bark inside the house!!! I've had to shake the bark off a few orchids into a plastic bag to be thrown into the wood stove! The ants will place these pests on the plants and live in the pot below! Neem oil and alcohol do make life easier with these pests. I use it also! I use this for spidermites too. Like my Euphorbia lactea crest. Great video Ana!! Very informative spot on info!!! Thanks for sharing with us all!!! From Morris park in the Ozarks, out to Las Vegas, good luck with those little beasties!!! Have a great week ahead!! Peace,Love,Plants!!!✌💖🌵🌷🌴🌺🌲🌻🌸
Thank you for this comment Clyde! I also have the citrus scales at my lemon tree for a few years and never got rid of them, I didn't know why. Now I realize that THE BARK mulching under the tree could be a reason 😬☺️👌I will try to take it out and treat it again👍😘💕🌵☮️🌺.
@@morrisparkintheozarks6831Sure, I will! I´m always fighting versus ants, hehehe! I have an great population almost all the year... Luckily I put some traps that stopped them for a while. Let´s see what happens next spring...
This is a great video on getting rid of mealy bugs and scale. I’m always leery of spraying straight alcohol on succulents. I’m glad that you are too and mix the alcohol with water.
Some succulents are tough and can take pure alcohol, but some are not. So I try to be on the safe side and dilute it with water. It also depends how concentrated the alcohol is. 🙂
I wonder, if I can’t get this time of alcohol, can I just get from grocery store normal strong drinking one ( vodka for example) and use it undiluted ? Thank you xxx
The one thing that I have found that (gradually) eradicates mealybugs is Bonide's Systemic Granulars Insect Control. I sprinkle some evenly over the top of the soil/dressing which allows a little bit of it to be dissolved and absorbed into the plant each watering cycle. I originally started with only the plants that had visible mealybugs but eventually just added it to all the succulents and cacti to ensure the mealybugs couldn't just migrate from plant to plant. I haven't had any mealybugs for a couple of years now and continue to use the product to maintain that clean state.
😬😱 Those are fluffy bugs and not nice with a definite red gooey colour and I've not encountered those yet 😆 Mealy Bugs are very green when they are squashed 🤮 ☺️ Great video Ana, and good luck with your cactus and have a great day too 🌵😊⛄🌵
Hi Ana, Love your cactus cup, so cute. There are many types of these type of pest. Over here we call all kinds "cochonilha" which pronounciation is very similar to the English word cochineal. When sequished they all show this red dye. They are largely produced in some countries of South America mostly in Peru. They are grown in large plantations of Opuntia, then collected, sequished and turned into a powder which is the red dye used in icecreams, yoghurts, donuts etc. It is also used in cosmetic industries, namely they give the red tinge to lipsticks 😂
Ugh! 🤢 I can’t imagine having that bug goo on my lips! 💄 But you are definitely correct, Fernanda. This is a big industry in South America. At least this type of bug serves a purpose to humans. 😉 Thank you for all the information, Fernanda!
I always enjoy seeing your videos, Anna! It's usually me, singing your cute intro music, every now and then, it makes me happy 🥰! That cochineal is so smart that it's killing all the wild Opuntia 😬 here in Valencia, Spain, and nobody is stopping them because it's an 'invasive' species here... Incredible! That Opuntia feeds a lot of animals! So sorry for the poor little one...🥺. I'm having problems for my first time with mealybugs because this year climate is too good for them. But I have the most of them torturing my lemon tree😅 and a few reached my crassulaceae. I pray that they don't discover my cacti 🙏(I have them separately) Thank you for sharing your techniques. 💕☮️🌵🌺🎄Merry Christmas to you and your beloved ones🎄
Blasted mealies! And those Cochineals 🤬... I learned on a trip to Oaxaca, MX a couple of years ago that Starbucks used cochineal extract in their beverages and food. I believe they stopped a couple of years ago though. Great video! I use alcohol and neem in my battles against pest too!
Mealybugs will be the death of me! When I bring my plants in during the fall I try to get ahead of them, it stresses me out! One of my shrimp plants was decimated faster then any plant I've ever had! I treat mine through the soil now, has been the best for me personally after I clean the plant.
You and me both. I too have found treating by soil to be most effective. (If by soil treatment you mean a systemic?) I have also been having terrible trouble with root maggots! Not fungus gnats. These actual maggots that eat up roots and tunnels up into your plant. I had a cactus that I thought was doing great as it looked perfectly healthy. That is until it was accidentally knocked down and when I picked it up, it was absolutely hollow and foul smelling with some goopy rot along the sides. And in that goop was those maggots and some fungus gnat larvae. It was so crazy and drove me mad. I try every solution under the sun to no avail. But treating with systemic, along with changing infested soil definitely makes a difference.
@@cattfishing Oh waw, I have maggot phobia, they are the most disgusting existing creatures on earth. If I ever see them on a plant, i am tossing that plant
@@CactusCaffeine yes, I first noticed them on my paddle cactus when we lived in Yucca Valley, I sent pictures to a University in Arizona (I believe), and they emailed me back and said that it was a type of bug that the Indians used for ink. After we moved to 29 Palms in 2008, and my Rosemary bushes matured, I find the little white puffs on them occasionally.
If there are not too many, you can just treat the top of the cactus without getting the roots wet. But if you have an infestation, treating the roots is your best option to save your plant. If you do wet the soil, make sure you keep it in a warm place so the soil and the roots dry up fast. Good luck!
Hi! Just saw this video. I use the neem oil method on my trees for bagworms. One method I have been trying over winter in my cactus is food grade diatomaceous earth. I have been asking around and no one ever has an answer to that question. I read that it helps to absorb moisture and will kill a vast array of insects. Do you have any experience with this? Thanks!
I have not personally tried diatomaceous earth but I’ve heard it works good. The only downside is it is a little messy as it is in powder form. Also, you have to keep it from being washed off or blown off by the wind until pests are under control. You may refer to a video done by Desert Plants of Avalon. Lyn uses d.e. on some of her cactus. 🙂
Urgh, I hate plant pests, really is one of the worst things about this hobby. A lot of these pests just seem to appear out of nowhere as well, especially mealybugs. Well done for catching those beasties early Ana, hopefully the treatment will do the trick. Thank you for sharing with us as always, from Edith & myself, have a wonderful day and new week 😊🌵☀️🌼🌺🏜☕️
Kadiri talaga yan mga pests na yan! Eeeeew! especially when you squished them and that red liquid oozed out! 😫
Usually I just skip the intros when I watch youtube videos, but I always watch yours! I love the music and the scenery. It always puts me in a good mood.
Aww, thank you Anfaney! That scenery was shot from a slow moving train. My wish is to have a drone fly over the desert and that can be my new intro. 😉
My music is special to me, too. My visually impaired nephew plays the flute.
@@CactusCaffeine That is so sweet. I love it!
@@CactusCaffeine A drone over the desert would be so awesome! 🏜️
Yeah that’s my favorite part is the intro song also. Really good intro music. Reminds me of when shows used to have good intro music. Brings up good memories anytime I hear certain songs from old shows. This intro song is the same way.
An informative video. I use the squeeze test to also see if mealy bugs are dead or alive. If I’ve treated an infested plant and latter am checking for a possible ongoing infestation, I may find bugs still on the plant. I try to pick them off and then squeeze them. If almost no liquid comes out then I know that bug was most likely dead , having been killed during treatment. ~ It’s possible that the bugs on your rebutia were on the unseen back side because that side is less exposed to light (?) and they know that’s a safer location to live. In my experience mealy bugs can recur on an infested plant weeks, sometimes months after one thinks that they have eliminated them. One or two survive the initial course of treatment by being located deep in a crevice of plant tissue, or in the soil. There they remain barely reproducing until conditions improve and then at that time the population increases to the point where they again become noticeable on the plant. This phenomenon is why I continue to treat an infested plant once a week for a few weeks after the initial treatments to insure success. I also put a toothpick in the plant to remind me to inspect it closely over the following months.
FANTASTIC video Ana :-D Mealybugs are such a horrid pest and I am always battling these little horrors, and the squash test works so well especially as perlite can look so similar, and its so satisfying to squish the little terrors LOL! I notice that some of the mealies I find can be green juiced and brown and red too, they are horrid LOL! but thank goodness the alcohol and Neem oil works so well for treating these pests, thanks so much for sharing this very informative video Ana, and and I LOVE your cactus mug haha :-D Hans and I are sending you lots of love and happiness and CAFFEINE and PLANT POWER to Las Vegas for a terrific Tuesday today XXXX
Thank you Lyn. Yes, we are all seem to be getting bugs lately but we will succeed! 💪🏻 Hahaha. My mug was a present from my brother. I like it very much. Happy Holidays from Las Vegas to Ireland!
I clicked the like button when the bug was first squish. So Satisfying
😊 👍🏼
Thank you for this information. 🤠 Your videos are wonderful.
Glad you like them!
Mealies, cactus & citrus scale are always a problem in my greenhouse!! Mostly because of little ants that move them about and farm them in all the plants in the greenhouse!! And these ants live in and under everything! Even finding their way into pots & orchid bark inside the house!!! I've had to shake the bark off a few orchids into a plastic bag to be thrown into the wood stove! The ants will place these pests on the plants and live in the pot below! Neem oil and alcohol do make life easier with these pests. I use it also! I use this for spidermites too. Like my Euphorbia lactea crest. Great video Ana!! Very informative spot on info!!! Thanks for sharing with us all!!! From Morris park in the Ozarks, out to Las Vegas, good luck with those little beasties!!! Have a great week ahead!! Peace,Love,Plants!!!✌💖🌵🌷🌴🌺🌲🌻🌸
Thank you for this comment Clyde! I also have the citrus scales at my lemon tree for a few years and never got rid of them, I didn't know why. Now I realize that THE BARK mulching under the tree could be a reason 😬☺️👌I will try to take it out and treat it again👍😘💕🌵☮️🌺.
@@cactusandfriends_by_vane look for ants!!!
@@morrisparkintheozarks6831Sure, I will! I´m always fighting versus ants, hehehe! I have an great population almost all the year... Luckily I put some traps that stopped them for a while. Let´s see what happens next spring...
Your coffee mug is so cute. 😍
Thank you. An early Christmas present from my brother. 🙂
Good job! I had no idea what was growing on my purple sky flower. Now I know how to treat it.
Well mealybugs is everywhere in my garden this fall its one of my daily routine hunting them 😂🤣😂 . Cheers Ana
This is a great video on getting rid of mealy bugs and scale. I’m always leery of spraying straight alcohol on succulents. I’m glad that you are too and mix the alcohol with water.
Some succulents are tough and can take pure alcohol, but some are not. So I try to be on the safe side and dilute it with water. It also depends how concentrated the alcohol is. 🙂
I wonder, if I can’t get this time of alcohol, can I just get from grocery store normal strong drinking one ( vodka for example) and use it undiluted ? Thank you xxx
The one thing that I have found that (gradually) eradicates mealybugs is Bonide's Systemic Granulars Insect Control. I sprinkle some evenly over the top of the soil/dressing which allows a little bit of it to be dissolved and absorbed into the plant each watering cycle. I originally started with only the plants that had visible mealybugs but eventually just added it to all the succulents and cacti to ensure the mealybugs couldn't just migrate from plant to plant. I haven't had any mealybugs for a couple of years now and continue to use the product to maintain that clean state.
Thank you for sharing your experience
Thanks C.C.!
👏👏👏🧁🐧
Great info Ana! I didn’t realize scale and mealy bugs look so similar yet definitely different. 🌵💕 glad you found those pests and took care of them
I hate mealy bugs. Thanks for the tips on how to avoid them 😊
Hate is a bad word but I HATE them too! 😠😄
@@CactusCaffeine 😂😂😂
😬😱 Those are fluffy bugs and not nice with a definite red gooey colour and I've not encountered those yet 😆 Mealy Bugs are very green when they are squashed 🤮 ☺️
Great video Ana, and good luck with your cactus and have a great day too 🌵😊⛄🌵
Everybody seems to be getting bugs this season. You, Lyn, Clyde, me...good luck to us. 😉
@@CactusCaffeine 😆🌵
Hi Ana, Love your cactus cup, so cute.
There are many types of these type of pest. Over here we call all kinds "cochonilha" which pronounciation is very similar to the English word cochineal. When sequished they all show this red dye. They are largely produced in some countries of South America mostly in Peru. They are grown in large plantations of Opuntia, then collected, sequished and turned into a powder which is the red dye used in icecreams, yoghurts, donuts etc. It is also used in cosmetic industries, namely they give the red tinge to lipsticks 😂
Ugh! 🤢 I can’t imagine having that bug goo on my lips! 💄 But you are definitely correct, Fernanda. This is a big industry in South America. At least this type of bug serves a purpose to humans. 😉 Thank you for all the information, Fernanda!
I always enjoy seeing your videos, Anna! It's usually me, singing your cute intro music, every now and then, it makes me happy 🥰! That cochineal is so smart that it's killing all the wild Opuntia 😬 here in Valencia, Spain, and nobody is stopping them because it's an 'invasive' species here... Incredible! That Opuntia feeds a lot of animals! So sorry for the poor little one...🥺. I'm having problems for my first time with mealybugs because this year climate is too good for them. But I have the most of them torturing my lemon tree😅 and a few reached my crassulaceae. I pray that they don't discover my cacti 🙏(I have them separately) Thank you for sharing your techniques. 💕☮️🌵🌺🎄Merry Christmas to you and your beloved ones🎄
this has been so useful thank you so much :)
Very informative , thank you Ana🥰
I've only seen your vlog today. I saw your mug how cute & I like it😂😉
Hi Ana. Beautiful your mug
Thank you. It was an early Christmas present from my brother. 🙂
Blasted mealies! And those Cochineals 🤬... I learned on a trip to Oaxaca, MX a couple of years ago that Starbucks used cochineal extract in their beverages and food. I believe they stopped a couple of years ago though. Great video! I use alcohol and neem in my battles against pest too!
First I learned that there could be cochineal on my lipstick... and now in my coffee, too?!! 😱 Ugh! Lol! Thanks for that additional info. 😃👍🏼
Mealybugs will be the death of me! When I bring my plants in during the fall I try to get ahead of them, it stresses me out! One of my shrimp plants was decimated faster then any plant I've ever had! I treat mine through the soil now, has been the best for me personally after I clean the plant.
You and me both. I too have found treating by soil to be most effective. (If by soil treatment you mean a systemic?) I have also been having terrible trouble with root maggots! Not fungus gnats. These actual maggots that eat up roots and tunnels up into your plant. I had a cactus that I thought was doing great as it looked perfectly healthy. That is until it was accidentally knocked down and when I picked it up, it was absolutely hollow and foul smelling with some goopy rot along the sides. And in that goop was those maggots and some fungus gnat larvae. It was so crazy and drove me mad. I try every solution under the sun to no avail. But treating with systemic, along with changing infested soil definitely makes a difference.
@@cattfishing Oh waw, I have maggot phobia, they are the most disgusting existing creatures on earth. If I ever see them on a plant, i am tossing that plant
Happy Mealybug Hunting ! I need to do the same . Cheers
Oh, I forgot to remark that that cactus mug is the perfect mug!🤩👌💕
Thank you. It was a gift to me.
I get Cochineal every year on my Rosemary bushes outside. I’ll have to check my succulents and cacti.
On Rosemary?! Oh my, I have a Rosemary bush that I just neglect. I should start watching it then. 🙂 Thank you!
@@CactusCaffeine yes, I first noticed them on my paddle cactus when we lived in Yucca Valley, I sent pictures to a University in Arizona (I believe), and they emailed me back and said that it was a type of bug that the Indians used for ink. After we moved to 29 Palms in 2008, and my Rosemary bushes matured, I find the little white puffs on them occasionally.
Thank you for that information🙏
Your welcome! I hope it helps☺️
I spray mine with malithon like for spider mites on vegetables.
I was considering watering with some insecticidal soap every time I water like some people do for preventative measures.
Thank you so much. I’m a newbie succulent mom and keep getting plagued by those nasty little devils. This video was very helpful! 👍
🌻🐞🌵
Good luck! 🙂
Love the intro flute song music ! Can you please let me know what it is?
Tama tama po yan yung problem ko sa plants and cactus ko😊salamat
Good luck with them! 🙂
Beutiful cactus, what genes is it?
Rebutia, I believe.
I’m having this problem but my plants are dormant for their winter rest. Should I still soak them with this solution? I’m scared of causing rot?
If there are not too many, you can just treat the top of the cactus without getting the roots wet. But if you have an infestation, treating the roots is your best option to save your plant. If you do wet the soil, make sure you keep it in a warm place so the soil and the roots dry up fast. Good luck!
How to differentiate between Parodia and echinopsis rose quartz(peanut cactus)??
I have mealybugs scale and spider mites rn and I am hating life lol.
I have bought exactly same variety of cactus but is grafted and exactly the same size. When will it bloom??
I have not seen this one bloom as it is new. But yours being grafted will grow faster and also bloom sooner than one that is planted in soil. 😃
Hi! Just saw this video. I use the neem oil method on my trees for bagworms. One method I have been trying over winter in my cactus is food grade diatomaceous earth. I have been asking around and no one ever has an answer to that question. I read that it helps to absorb moisture and will kill a vast array of insects. Do you have any experience with this? Thanks!
I have not personally tried diatomaceous earth but I’ve heard it works good. The only downside is it is a little messy as it is in powder form. Also, you have to keep it from being washed off or blown off by the wind until pests are under control. You may refer to a video done by Desert Plants of Avalon. Lyn uses d.e. on some of her cactus. 🙂
When you spray it with the alcohol solution isn't it harmfull for the roots?
As long as you dilute the alcohol with water, it should not harm the roots. And don’t let the roots stand in alcohol for a long time. 🙂
Mealy bugs? How to treat them? Very badly! 😂
😜
Be careful! Don't spray your coffee. That was so close!
Oops! 😄
Terima Kasih Banyak
First🌵
Yes, you are! 😉 You got the “Early bird Award”. 😁
I hate mealybugs they killed lots of plants 😡😊🌵🌸🌼🙏
I love your videos but that intro music is quite annoying. 😒
GROSS! BARF! YUCK!
🤢😁
coffee looks a little...umm...not good,you may need a top up 😃
Hahaha. Sometimes, I get bad coffee from the grocery when I try something new.