Prevent pests in spring early, so you'll have fewer pest problems in summer

This saying comes up often: when everything revives, you'll see flowers and plants sending up new shoots one after another. It's also a good season for succulents to grow.

But

people also overlook one problem:

the pests and diseases that harm succulents

have also begun their year's activity.

The most common one on succulents is called the mealybug pest; experienced succulent growers have all experienced how tough scale insects can be.

You might be thinking, mine are growing just fine, so how could bugs show up? In fact, scale insects are 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 plant's roots, 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 pests when growing succulents

▼

Scale insects

Aphids

Root mealybugs

1

Scale insects

are the greatest natural enemy of succulents. The reason scale insects are so hard to eradicate is that they reproduce quickly, secrete wax on their body surface, and carry a shield with them (their scale). The pesticides specifically effective against scale insects are often emulsifiable concentrate types; while penetrating the wax of the scale insects, they also corrode the leaf surface of succulents, causing pesticide damage. So... besides killing the bugs instantly, the sticky secretion 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 is what matters.

Common method:

Use Huahushen to kill the insects, and by the way use a spray bottle to wash away the dirty stains.

2

Aphids

The most disgusting thing about this pest is that the adults can fly! They can actually fly! Generally, though, they won't actively choose succulents to feed on, but aphids are often found on succulent flower stalks; it's guessed that they're attracted by the nectar. When gnawing on succulents, they also leave behind some oil-stain-like liquid that is especially sticky, sticking to the leaves along with all kinds of stains, and it's not easy to clean off.

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

Common method

: simply cut off the flower stalks and throw them away, then use a cotton swab dipped in water to clean the leaves.

3

Root mealybugs

are very hard to remove. The most troublesome thing is that they always hide in the soil and are extremely hard to spot; only when the pests have already multiplied out of control will they crawl out or flow out from the drainage hole of the flowerpot. Although they're very small, they will also slowly crawl into other flowerpots.

This pest is relatively hard to find, but you can pay more attention to the ground. If you find small white dots on the ground, then you should be on guard; perhaps by then every flowerpot in your home has been infested with root mealybugs.

Treatment method

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

For pest prevention

the Huahushen ratio can be slightly lighter,

for pest killing

the Huahushen ratio can be slightly heavier.

After spraying succulents with pesticide, do not expose them to strong sun; place them in

partial shade

, and wait until the next day to resume normal care.

Actually, this is already the least troublesome method; there are also others depending on the situation, such as using alcohol, using abamectin, and so on. But basically I just use Huahushen for pest prevention, and I think the effect is already very good.

If you find pests, you can dilute Huahushen in 1000 ml of water, which is exactly 2 times a 500 ml cola bottle. The diluted Huahushen can then be sprayed directly on the succulents. The pests it can kill include: scale insects, fungus gnats, aphids, red spider mites, and larvae of the Ahlbergia frivaldszkyi (the smaller ones, just hatched not long ago). One more thing to note:

please wear rubber gloves ~ after all, it's also a pesticide ~ keep it away from children and pregnant women!

For any kind of pest, everyone should treat it correctly, and there's no need to be overly nervous or afraid, because pests and plants live together ~

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