What parasite is this?

[Smirnoff103]

Hello,
We have an Aloe Vera (type Barbadensis Miller) in our living room and there is some strange kind of 'fluffy' cotton candy on the leaves/branches.
I first thought it was normal but friend of mine has also an Aloe Vera (he doesn't know what sort) but he hasn't that cotton candy like thing so I suppose it's a parasite.
Can somebody help me out please.
Thank you,
Regards from Belgium

 

[Chuck]

Hello,
We have an Aloe Vera (type Barbadensis Miller) in our living room and there is some strange kind of 'fluffy' cotton candy on the leaves/branches.
I first thought it was normal but friend of mine has also an Aloe Vera (he doesn't know what sort) but he hasn't that cotton candy like thing so I suppose it's a parasite.
Can somebody help me out please.
Thank you,
Regards from Belgium

You have the beginnings of a mealy bug infestation. They will eventually infest every indoor plant you have. They are a type of soft bodied scale insect. You can easily fix the problem by first just spraying the plants with insecticidal soap or dishsoap which will kill them and then wash the dead bugs away with a moderate flush of water. To keep them away spray with Neem

 

[Smirnoff103]

Hello Chuck,
Thanks for your answer.
What do you mean with "will eventually infest other plants" ? Because I have this problem since more than 6 months I guess
Will the dishsoap not damage the plant itself ?

 

[Chuck]

Hello Chuck,
Thanks for your answer.
What do you mean with "will eventually infest other plants" ? Because I have this problem since more than 6 months I guess
Will the dishsoap not damage the plant itself ?

Mealy bugs are mainly an indoor/greenhouse insect and will move from plant to plant and will eventually spread if not controlled. Dishwashing soap will not hurt your plants if diluted. Mix about 1 teaspoon per pint of water in a hand sprayer

 

[Beth_B]

Welcome and Chuck is right, I've dealt with this before myself. Diluted dish washing soap is commonly used as a gentle insecticide (at least here in the US) and is quite harmless to plants.

 

[Smirnoff103]

Hello,
I know it's been a while, but the parasites are gone. I tried as you said previously with that dish-soap diluted in water but it didn't killed the bacteria, the infection came back (I think I tried this for 2 months every week with the soap).
I asked in a gardening store here and they gave me some sticks from Bayer as fertilizer but also who also works against this kind of parasites and they were immediately gone.
See picture attached, thanks for your help

 

[Smirnoff103]

It were these sticks: