Uuugh!!! creeps!

I couldn't find anything on other plants, phew!

Should I change their soil, by the way? They're still in what they came in since I haven't repotted them yet. I mean, of course I should but should I in case mealybugs found their way into it?

I don't know. I'll leave advice to more seasoned growers.

I've only had them a couple times. First time I ignorantly doused the rosette with safers soap, then fully rinsed a day later... and subsequently lost my beautiful Echeveria black prince to rot :(

Second time I picked the two little creeps off, swabbed locally with alcohol, and after quarantining the plant I watched it anxiously for signs of more mealies. Nothing, we were in the clear. What was weird is that it was a jade cutting I got in a trade and I'd had it for months at that point and had just repotted it - I have no idea where the mealies even came from, because I am positive it wasn't from the trade plants.

I don't have patience for individual removal so the one time I had this, I just loaded a sprayer with alcohol and water and drowned the little buggers. Assume they have eggs and spray again after a few days even if you don't see anything. Then keep repeating until you stop feeling paranoid. Just keep it out of the sun while wet with spray.

Here's the extra step for long-term maintenance----look up what mealybugs like. I can't remember if they're the ones that like to be wet and humid. But whatever it is, just, you know, don't give it to them.

I think getting rid of the original substrate it came in with is always the first thing to do when you get a new plant.

They like bright and warm climates.. But that's what succulents need.

Anyways, I have just quarantined them after using a q tip and rubbing alcohol on all of the ones I could find. I have three sections on my grow light and I had succulents on all of them. But now I had to quarantine the two infected succulents so I had to move the succulents on the top shelf to the middle and bottom shelf just for the two mealy-infected ones.

I will quarantine them until no more signs of mealy bugs-and even after I dont see signs they will be quarantined for a day or two just to be sure.

I would spray whole plant thoroughly just as Pagan suggested. There could be bugs hiding between the leaves. And keep plant out of sunlight while wet from spraying. Adult female will die after laying plenty of eggs; and the eggs hatch within 1-3 weeks after laying. So spraying should be repeated after 7-14 days to get the nymphs.

IIRC, eggs are in cottony mas and not in soil - but I agree with Pagan on changing original soil too - usually, it isn't best for the plants anyway:)

I believe overfertilizing will also encourage them, as plant is forced to grow fast, with lots of soft, new growth and usually high nitrogen levels...

You got em:(. You were just inquiring about them the other day. It was eventually bound to happen. You get enough succulents and do it long enough. Your doing all the right stuff. Good advice was given. Ugh I just hate the looks of them. I do love dousing them with rubbing alcohol, and seeing them turn orange. I even cuss at them while I'm doing it. They are small, but destructible. If not paying attention they could wipe out a whole collection.

Knock on wood. I've never had to deal with scale, but once. I bought a new plant. Found them on the new plant. Threw it away. Didn't even want to chance it. I think scale would be harder to get rid of. Just because as adults they're armored. Goodluck:).

Kara - if I 'had' to choose between two, I rather have scale than mealy. Scale seems to be easier to get rid of, and also faster to notice IMO. It also takes longer to spread comparing to mealy. Maybe scale you get is worse...(so many different ones out there!). I use undiluted rubbing alcohol on scale too, and it seems to work well. Luckily, do not get it much. But I did have a Ficus that was covered in scale, years ago. What was really ugly, was a huge magnolia tree in friends backyard - so covered in scale, they had it treated 3x....it helped (but was costly!)

Thank goodness never had to deal with them. I just thought they would be harder to get rid of because of the armor. If you say no then I guess they aren't harder to get rid. Luckily I've had zero experience with them, but just that one time, and I just threw away the plant:).

If the mealies won't go away after a week I will try spraying them-but one of the infected succulents has the protective powder... But that one doesn't have mealies as bad as the other. So hopefully I won't have to spray them.

Scale looks terrible, i would hate to get that!

I've also never tried quarantining new succulents for a few days. I've heard of people doing that. Would it help decreasing the chance of bugs next time?:)

That will definitely help keep them at bay. It will stop them from going to other plants. So you can just focus getting rid of them on the one plant instead of 5 plants.

I just went to go check on them. The one with less mealies is showing no signs of them, as for the other, I found about four more..

Once you think you've got rid of them it would be a good idea to give new mix, and clean the pots they were in:).

Check out this comment that explained what to do with mealies http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4648716/worth-saving?n=36

They go in depth on the procedure and which one is safe

succulents

Unfortunately, they will not ..."go away after a week"...With bugs like mealies, you need to act since they spread quite fast. Pls. spray to kill adult females, and follow up to get rid of nymphs...otherwise, they will spread onto other plants too.

@rina Thank you! I have lots of questions though..

So would just rubbing alcohol work? Its all I have. Should I take them out of light afterwards? If so, for how long? Will mealybugs from the two plants fly around the room to go to succulents that are in other areas, so should I take them to a different room?

Yes, pls. quarantine your infected plants to a different room, mealies can spread fast!

It's recommended to do this w/ all new plants on arrival, say for a week or 2.

I also collect Hoyas, a whole collection of which can be wiped out quickly by mealies.

Aren't you one of the folks collecting oodles of leaves from the floor to prop? If so, it's another reason to perhaps be more conservative in that. Are you checking the leaves closely for bugs when you bring them home?

sorry, very late reply.

I take each leaf one by one to place them, I look at them quickly before putting them on soil since I sometimes have a friend come with me to help pick them up. I have my propagating leaves in a different room though:)

I also just started spraying... Oops. I'm really bad about procrastinating I suppose.

Lots of things have been going on this summer and I've been stressed and a little sad so I have been busy as well downright unproductive on a few days. I do think I have been slacking when it comes to my plants lately.

On the bright side, I haven't seen any mealies in a few days. I will continue spraying the water/rubbing alcohol solution on the two plants until I finally think they're gone, then I will repot them and inspect them one last time before I bring them back to my grow light.

Hoorah! I'm pretty sure they're gone. I haven't seen any since I've started spraying. I'll spray until I can get them repotted and then finally do a last check. I'm so glad these things are (probably) gone. My two plants are doing good, just a little wrinkled and stuff since that's what mealies do to them.

You got some pretty good advice from everyone. I hate mealys so much! Depending on how many I see I either drench with spray or use a qtip. More than two mealys the plant gets a drench with rubbing alcohol.

im always really careful when I go to a nursery to buy succulents and you should do the same at grocery stores. I always pop the plant out of the container and examine the roots. I've never had anyone say anything to me for doing this. If I'm going to purchase the plant I have every right to examine the roots. You would be surprised how many times I've popped containers off to examine roots and have found mealy infestations, slugs and snails. After I examine the roots, if they don't have a visible infestation, I always take the plant home and put it aside until I can get to potting it. Once I start the potting process I usually wash the media the plant came with off the roots. Most the time they are potted with peat, and I water pretty heavy, so I like to make sure it is in a media I know is clean, and fast draining. It may seem a little overboard but I have a lot of money in my collection and the times I haven't been cautious I've regretted it.

Ryan, I think I should really start doing that. It can't hurt to be cautious when it comes to succulents!

I'll bump this up. Finally got mealies on Fred Ives. I spray every morning, but the next morning they are back, mostly in the center where growth is tender. There is a sedum adolphi in there too, but it is only slightly affected. It's been 4-5 days now since I discovered them. I wonder if I should dump the soil.

My neighbor has them on the succulents in the front garden. Busy family with babies, no time to even think about mealies. I wonder if they will go away on their own.

Unfortunately they won't go away on their own when there is plenty to eat and they would continue to multiply as long the conditions stay the same.

When I see mealy bugs i just poke them when I can and spray the plant with one of those sprays you buy from the plant nursery and it will last for a few weeks. They will come back though after some time and I have to spray them once again.

I don't actually see the "bugs," I just see the white fluff on my potted plant.

That is where the eggs are, 100-200 or more of them. And there are several generations/year. Repeating the treatment is most often necessary.

I've heard talk here of soil mealies. Is that where the egg layers are? Should I toss the mix and repot? Thanks, Rina.