mealy bugs

[merlinluver]

A Jade plant in my house had root mealy bugs, I am a slight novice at pests, so I hadnt recognized the signs. I got rid of the tree,(the poor thing had only one small root), and now I am wondering if my Ficus could have been infected as well.

The Jade Plant was in the same room as the Ficus, actually with in three feet of the ficus. When I researched about Mealy bugs one source said that the larva could crawl to another plant.

I see no cotton webs, or bugs on the leaves, but one source said that an early sign was slower growth of leaves and shoots. The problem... I don't know the average growth of ficus. So I need help to know if I do have another plant infested with mealy bugs.

[drzaiusx11]

I've never had a mealy bug problem, but in my research of tree pests I've read that rubbing alcohol kills them (alcohol acts to suffocate them)... but I'm not sure that works for mealy bugs on the roots. I can guess that alcohol would be very bad for a plant to absorb through its roots

PS. jade plants are pretty hardy from my experience, next time it might be worth cutting the tree above the infected root system and replanting in clean "soil". I recently took some singular leaves from a jade and planted them and now they're several inches tall, so they apparently re-root very easily

[Gnome]

merlinluver,

A Jade plant in my house had root mealy bugs,..I see no cotton webs, or bugs on the leaves,

Nearly all of my trees that are outside have Mealy bugs under the pots and they don't seem to cause much trouble. Are you sure that they are causing a problem for you? Have you tried to simply remove them by hand?

Norm

[merlinluver]

Yea, I tried to get rid of them by hand, but unfortunetly they would quickly disapear in further into the Jade tree. And when I tried to "chase" after them it revieled that the entier rootsystem had pritty much been destroyed, just one small main root, with most of it destroyed, remaind. How ever, I am worried that the mealy bugs might have gone over to my ficus. They were rather close to each other. I haven't seen signs of mealy bugs, but then i don't know much about them and I am worried that I might be missing something to catch them early on.

Oh, and while I am writing, would you know if it is natural for a Ficus to have it's leaves grow upward instead of outward?

[Gnome]

merlinluver,

I'm afraid that I owe you an apology. In my previous response I was thinking of 'pill bugs' an entirely different pest.

I have found that my Jades usually have a surprisingly small root system compared to the size of the plant. Does the Jade look healthy otherwise? Keep a close eye on the Ficus for signs of the pests.

My Ficus, F benjamina Minie Lucie do have a rather upright habit.

Norm