Help! Unidentified critters on my Pothos

[mj ellerby]

Can anyone identify the little pest that seems to be on a majority of the Pothos leaves in my Chams enclosure? The plants look really nice and healthy, but Gus grabbed onto a leaf today and it flipped over and I saw this.

If you know what it is, do you know why it's there, and is it potentially harmful to my Cham?

Thanks!

 

[Nursemaia]

mealybug

 

[mj ellerby]

mealybug

Will it kill my pothos? will it harm my cham? I appreciate any information you have especially in regard to my cham.

 

[absolutbill]

They will spread like wildfire if you don't stop them. Remove the plant from your cham's cage. Take a q-tip and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Dip the q-tip in and then rub it on the mealy bugs. You'll have to repeat this process every few days. Also, look at the other plants you have in there, because they may have already spread. It won't immediately kill your pothos, but getting ahead of this is better than not. I don't think it will hurt your cham either, but you don't want to leave the plant in your cham's cage while you are treating it.

 

[Nibbz]

@Sloppysponge

 

[mj ellerby]

They will spread like wildfire if you don't stop them. Remove the plant from your cham's cage. Take a q-tip and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Dip the q-tip in and then rub it on the mealy bugs. You'll have to repeat this process every few days. Also, look at the other plants you have in there, because they may have already spread. It won't immediately kill your pothos, but getting ahead of this is better than not. I don't think it will hurt your cham either, but you don't want to leave the plant in your cham's cage while you are treating it.

Hey thanks for your input. Just got done completely cleaning out cham cage and pulling out all plants and spraying down with Bio-Neem. Put Gus back in with a couple plants I had in the house, but not nearly the coverage he's used to so he's not a super happy camper right now. I'm thinking in a couple days, I'll wipe down the leaves like you suggested then may even repot before putting back in the enclosure. I'm hoping I caught this early on.

 

[nightanole]

I thought the appropriate response to mealy was burn the plant. People recover from theses things? Its a potho, throw it out and get another one from a get well soon basket, thats where i score all mine at. If you think a section is mealy free, use the cuttings to make another potho.

 

[mj ellerby]

I thought the appropriate response to mealy was burn the plant. People recover from theses things? Its a potho, throw it out and get another one from a get well soon basket, thats where i score all mine at. If you think a section is mealy free, use the cuttings to make another potho.

That will be my next move, if I can't get rid of 'em. The pothos had gotten pretty big, so I wanted to see if I could save them. Any ideas as to why I got them in the first place? It's going to be hard to avoid if it has something to do with the moisture/humidity in the enclosure, but I'm not sure.

 

[nightanole]

That will be my next move, if I can't get rid of 'em. The pothos had gotten pretty big, so I wanted to see if I could save them. Any ideas as to why I got them in the first place? It's going to be hard to avoid if it has something to do with the moisture/humidity in the enclosure, but I'm not sure.

Mealys normally come from contaminated shipments. AKA they came in on the new plant. I have not heard of house plants catching them without introduction of new feeders/plants.

 

[mj ellerby]

Mealys normally come from contaminated shipments. AKA they came in on the new plant. I have not heard of house plants catching them without introduction of new feeders/plants.

good to know. thanks.