If you don't prevent pests in spring, pest control in summer becomes twice as hard

This saying comes up often. In the season when all things revive, you'll see flowers and plants sending out new shoots one after another. It's also a great time for succulents to grow.

But

people also overlook one problem:the pests and diseases that harm succulentshave also begun their year of activity.

The most common one on succulents is called the mealybug. Veteran growers with experience in succulents have all learned how formidable scale insects can be.

You might be thinking, mine are growing just fine, so how could bugs show up? In fact, scale insects are already far too common, and everyone who grows succulents will encounter them. You can't see the eggs with the naked eye. Maybe right now they're in the soil of your flowerpot or on the roots of your plants, it's just that you can't see them.

If you don't pay attention to pest prevention now, then when scale insects break out in summer, I believe many beginners will be at a loss.

The three most common bugs when growing succulents

Scale insects

Aphids

Root mealybugs

1

Scale insects

are the greatest natural enemy of succulents. The reason scale insects are hard to eradicate is that they reproduce quickly, and their body surface secretes wax and they carry a shield with them (the scale). Medicines specifically effective against scale insects are often of the emulsifiable concentrate type; while penetrating the wax of the scale insects, they also corrode the leaf surface of succulents, causing phytotoxicity, so... apart from killing the bugs instantly, the slime they leave behind is also very deadly and easily causes diseases such as "sooty mold." So you must wash with clean water. At this point, don't worry about whether the farina rubs off or not - staying alive matters most.

Common methods:Use Huhuashen insecticide, and by the way use a spray bottle to wash away the dirty stains.

2

Aphids

The most disgusting thing about this bug is that the adults can fly! They can actually fly! Generally they won't actively choose succulents to feed on, but aphids are often found on the flower stalks of succulents. I guess it's because they're attracted by the nectar. When gnawing on succulents they also scatter some liquid resembling oil stains, extremely sticky to the touch, and it sticks to the leaves along with all kinds of grime, not easy to clean off.

They're quite easy to spot. Just pay more attention to the flower stalks. Those big patches of black or green are generally aphids.

Common method: Just cut off the flower stalk and throw it away, then use a cotton swab dipped in water to clean the leaves thoroughly.

3

Root mealybugs

are very hard to remove. The most troublesome thing is that they keep hiding in the soil, extremely hard to spot. Only when the bugs have already multiplied out of control will they crawl out or flow out from the drainage hole of the flowerpot. Although very small, they will also slowly crawl into other flowerpots.

This kind of bug is relatively hard to spot, but you can pay more attention to the ground. If you find small white dots on the ground, then be on guard. Maybe by then every flowerpot in your home is infested with root mealybugs.

Treatment methods: Since these things are really too small and always appear in groups, you either use poison or completely change the soil and wash the plants.

Pest preventionthe ratio of Huhuashen can be slightly lighter,Pest killingthe ratio of Huhuashen can be slightly heavier.

After succulents are sprayed with medicine, do not expose them to strong sun; place them ina semi-shaded spot, and wait until the next day to return to normal care.

Actually this is already the least troublesome method. There are also others who use alcohol, abamectin, and so on depending on the situation. But basically I just use Huhuashen for pest prevention and feel the effect is already very good.

If you find bugs, you can mix Huhuashen with 1000 ml of water, exactly 2 times a 500 ml cola bottle. The diluted Huhuashen can be sprayed directly on succulents. The bugs it can kill include: scale insects, fungus gnats, aphids, red spider mites, and larvae of the common hedge blue butterfly (the smaller ones, just hatched). One more thing to note,please wear rubber gloves - after all, it's also a pesticide - and keep it away from children and pregnant women!

Toward any kind of bug, everyone should treat them correctly, and there's no need to be overly nervous or afraid, because bugs and flowers live together in symbiosis after all.