Mealy Bug Attack

[RICHARD77]

My indoor palm has developed these dry things that stick to the leaves and also to the base of the plant.

It has not looked healthy since then.

I showed the photo to someone at the garden centre and they said I think, they were mealy bugs?
They recommended the Baby Bio house plant bug killer, but I have sprayed several times and the bugs are still there.

Can anyone tell me what these bugs are, what they are actually doing to the plant and how I can get rid of them?

Many thanks,

 

[Chuck]

What you have are 2 related insects doing the damage. One is Mealy bugs and the second is Hard Scale insects. Mealy bugs are a type of scale insect. To rid your plant of them use Neem Oil every 5-7 days for 3 weeks so as to disrupt their reproductive cycle. The mealy bugs will disappear but the hard scale will not. The hard scale will be dead but not gone. They are like a barnacle in that they are a hard bodied, immovable insect. As the plant grows they will gradually fall off.

 

[RICHARD77]

What you have are 2 related insects doing the damage. One is Mealy bugs and the second is Hard Scale insects. Mealy bugs are a type of scale insect. To rid your plant of them use Neem Oil every 5-7 days for 3 weeks so as to disrupt their reproductive cycle. The mealy bugs will disappear but the hard scale will not. The hard scale will be dead but not gone. They are like a barnacle in that they are a hard bodied, immovable insect. As the plant grows they will gradually fall off.

Thanks.
It would be great if you know how to apply the oil?

 

[Chuck]

Thanks.
It would be great if you know how to apply the oil?

Just put a teaspoon into a quart spray bottle of water and start spraying

 

[Daren]

If you don't like spraying or don't have one handy you can just uses a cotton wool bud and dip it in the solution before attacking the bugs with the bud. Just a method I have used on cacti and other plants, in my green house sometimes instead of spraying if its just a local infestation