And here's a somewhat blurry photo of the whole plant...

looks like the mealy bugs I just dealt with. personally I decided to err on the side of trashing some plants. But I also treated the rest with water/alcohol/little dish soap mix and systemic granules. isolate the plant and check everything else closely as well.

Philo, I expanded the photo, but still can't get a clear pic.

Are the white objects nearest the stem and leaf? I see white, but don't know if it's the light, camera or insects.

If pests, mealy resemble cotton. Mites are harder to spot, but leave fine webs as evidence. Toni

Thanks for the responses...I'm thinking mealy bugs?

Should I toss the plant or treat it? If I do treat it, I just watered it today, can I still water with systemic granules dissolved in water tomorrow? Or should I use the soap/alcohol/water mix?

Just how contagious is this pest? I don't want to lose more plants. Does quarantine mean isolating the plant in its own room or keeping it a few feet from other plants?

Hopefully the attached picture is a little clearer. Thanks for the advice.

Phil

the systemic is actually more of a preventative measure, so the place to start is with spraying or some people go through with a q tip and alcohol and swab each individual bug. I found they melted away with the pressure from the spray bottle but its still pretty tedious for this size of plant. from what I read they are pretty difficult to get rid of and I am inexperienced, which is why I took drastic measures. I didn't have to throw anything nearly this big away! I would put it as far away from the others as possible and get to spraying. it will take some persistence.

ok thanks again for the help. i'm going to mix up some spray and treat the plant topically and maybe start with the granules to maybe prevent future problems.

Philo, yes, isolate your palm.

You asked how contagious mealy is..VERY contagious.
Actually, most insects attack other plants, but in my experience, mealybug is the worse.

Sorry, don't mean to sound like the voice of doom, but I've lost many, many plants because of mealy. I've tossed a great number.

If you have a spare room, yes, isolate from your other greens.

I hope the spray works..be sure to spray all parts of your palm..under, atop, stems, trunk...

If possible, hose foliage first..then spray. Good luck, Toni

Toni thanks for the follow up. I brought the palm into the tub and liberally sprayed it with a mix of 1 part palmolive dish soap, 1 part water and 1 tbsp of cooking oil; I then let it sit overnight. In the morning I sprayed it with the shower and after it dried off I couldn't find any bugs. I then used Bonide granules in the soil.

The palm is as isolated as it's gonna get so hopefully I caught this soon enough. Thanks again.

Phil

Good grief!!!! Do you know that the usual home made concoction calls for teaspoons of detergent per gallon of water? Dish detergent can damage or kill a plant at FAR weaker solutions than 50:50.

Hi Rhizo..how are you?

Rhizo, normally I'd agree, but when it comes to mealybug, I'd add a full bottle of dish soap to water as a last resort. :)

Over the last 3-4 years, I've discarded approximately 100 plants because of mealy..

Rhizo, one member who uses/d Bayer vowed the systemic killed all insects..Later, he admitted mealy and mites covered several plants in his collection.
He used other poisons, but mealy are indestructible. He too ended up tossing a good number. Think you know who I'm referring to???

In Phil's case, half-and-half won't matter. Mealy is more likely to kill a plant than soap.

To be honest, I've poured dish soap on leaves, w/o measuring without problems..

Anyway, I hope you're well..