Late this winter, my roommate, the Basil Plant, died of an infestation of Mealybugs. The Basil Plant provided much flavor to many a pasta and red sauce dish. The Basil Plant will be missed.
What was the turn of events surrounding the demise of The Basil Plant? Well, one day I noticed that there seemed to be some sort of white mold growing on The Basil Plant. At first I wasn’t that concerned with it, as The Basil Plant was lucky if I remembered to water it before it’s leaves wilted. But there gradually became more and more of these talcum-powder like spots all over The Basil Plant. I had to look very closely to notice that these spots of “mold” had legs and could move around.
I contacted David Schulz with the Biology Deparment at Brandeis University with the above photo of these questionable creatures, and he identified them as Mealybugs. Here is an excerpt of his reply:
This is a kind of insect called a “scale insect,” named because they secrete a waxy covering (that powdery white stuff) that they then hide under and feed on plants…hence they look like scales on a plant. This kind is also known as a “mealybug.” The scientific name of the family for this particular guy is Pseudococcidae. These are pretty common pests. If you don’t have too large an infestation, you can actually control them mechanically (*squish*). Some people also try dabbing running alcohol on them with a cotton swab or such. They reproduce pretty slowly, so taking them out one-by-one can be effective. For a larger infestation, you may have to ask your garden center what they recommend. Usually you can get away without using chemicals on these guys (you don’t want to be eating pesticides on your basil), something along the lines of an insecticidal soap may work well.
He was right, they were secreting a waxy coating. It was all over The Basil Plant’s leaves and it was getting on the window The Basil Plant sat next to. He was also right that I didn’t want an insecticide on The Basil Plant – because I wanted to eat it. So I tried dabbing the Mealybugs with a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol, and they pretty much melted on contact. But try as I did to kill all of the Mealybugs, they just kept coming back. Eventually, there were really small, white, flies flying around The Basil Plant, too. I think those were Whiteflies.
Eventually The Basil Plant died. Here is a photo of its gruesome body.
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asmosis said,
July 7, 2005 @ 11:26 am
I feel for your loss, because I know the pure pleasure and joy that comes from using fresh basil in the kitchen. The good news is that a new plant will run you less than $5. I’m going to keep an extra-close watch on my basil plant, and the other herbs I’ve got going thanks to you.
kadavy said,
July 7, 2005 @ 11:34 am
I don’t want another basil plant. I want The Basil Plant.
Thank you for your condolences. I do have a new basil plant, but I haven’t yet transported it from it’s plastic container to a more suitable pot. I guess I just have a fear of investing that much effort in a new basil plant after getting burned like that.
meghan said,
July 8, 2005 @ 11:24 am
This story is MUCH grosser than the sinus cleaning story. Did you ever find out WHY the bugs got on your plant?
kadavy said,
July 8, 2005 @ 1:13 pm
I’m surprised you find this grosser than the SinusRinse, Meghan. Apparently these pests are quite common on household plants.
James Brown said,
July 12, 2005 @ 1:39 am
Actually I thought the SinuRinse blog was funny as hell! Nice pic Dave!
Breanna Tindle said,
April 4, 2006 @ 11:53 am
My jasmine plant has these
Gosh.. well.. i used a lighter on them (hehe, fire) they sizzle up nicely… I had created a little cirle of branched in the osil aorund the plant to let ht vines grow up aorund it and they started in thel ittle center of the gathering of branches which i also thought ot be osme sort of mold. but i hope i have them under ocntrol now.
Chris in San Diego said,
May 13, 2006 @ 10:32 am
I just chopped down my basil plant from the same thing. I found your story searching for the reason
of the sappy crud on the leaves. I had grown this plant from seed so I am pretty mad about the whole thing. I noticed they are now moving on to my Thyme and Oregano plants as well. I killed three crawlers as they are called and am trying to save the other plants. I am going to try rubbing them down with an alchohol swab.
Darleen said,
July 18, 2006 @ 8:11 pm
I had white fuzzy bugs in one of my potted plant and had no idea what they were. thanks to you i found out about mealybugs ick!!!!! I just shot them with a can of hairspray. It seemed to work well. thanks
erin said,
September 15, 2006 @ 10:21 am
oh my- we have these ALL OVER our plants in the office! now that i have a happy pot of basil (from seed, currently living at my bf’s house), i am paranoid about accidentally transporting any of these buggers home to Our Basil Family.
my own pot of basil seedlings did not last, however, even though they evaded attack by some dark-mini-flies that killed my cilantro & morning glory. they finally succumbed to a growing population of spider mite-type things.
Fatima said,
January 6, 2007 @ 5:33 am
Mealy bugs are murdering my lavendar and potato plants as we speak. I have My Basil Plant in a pot nearby – what to do?! *panic*
terry said,
April 19, 2008 @ 4:16 pm
I have about 50 basil plants in the garden and they’re all sporting mealybugs. I’m hunting for a solution for this large infestation.
For a single pot: devise a system to keep soil in place–e.g. cut styrofoam plates so they cover the soil; tape in place if not snug. Put on some latex gloves to alleviate the gross-out factor. Run plant under water topside and upside-down and manually rub out the bad guys.
Emore said,
July 2, 2008 @ 7:46 am
I am currently going through with the same problem. The mealy bugs are killing my palm trees in my apartment. I’ve tried the rubbing alcohol solution, and I hope that it works!!!
alison said,
September 20, 2008 @ 7:12 pm
Panic I just looked at my beautiful velvet green Elephant ear plant and the leaves had MOLD….or so I thought I immediately took a paper towel and wiped off the stem of the least infected one and trimmed the other leaves off! I ran to the computer to look up “white insect plants” and here I am. I’ve had this plant for over 8 years and NOW this happens
stupid Mealy bugs
Andrew Irvine said,
November 6, 2008 @ 7:25 am
The white flies were probaby not whitefly, they were probably male mealybugs, that look completely different to the female fluffy things.
Rick said,
April 30, 2009 @ 10:18 am
I believe i am having the same problem, except their on my pepper plants and in the Caribbean we call them blight.
Anyway, those aren’t white flies, their the same bug and they have wings so the fly around especially when it’s windy and land on plants with soft leave plants, usually.
People have told me to spray them with very lightly mixed soap and water while holding the plant at an angle to prevent much soapy water being absorbed by the soil (especially if in pot).
The method i’ve been doing is washing them off with the hose and my fingers and at times a soft small paint brush(haahaa this sounds sooo wacky)
Their are a few pesticides that kill them without harming the plant but i haven’t ventured to the store out of share laziness.
mary sciambra said,
May 1, 2009 @ 9:42 am
Have you ever heard of anybody getting bit by one of them? I felt something bite me down by my ankle and when I killed the bug I could see that it looked just like a mealybug, now that I know what they are called. I had them on my mint plants and I did get rid of them by squishing them one by one. My husband says that they don’t bite people but it did bite me and I still have the raised bump on my ankle and it’s itchy.
Rick said,
May 2, 2009 @ 5:28 am
I’ve never herd of them biting.. But i do know that if they get on you skin they make you itch.. (so they cud be biting)
Cure for itches = rubbing Alcahol or an ointment like Topisolon
Scott said,
July 9, 2009 @ 6:04 pm
I had a HUGE infestation of what I think were mealy bugs on my lilacs, rhododendron and azaleas. They were all planted this spring so I think they were particularly easy targets. I started seeing holes in the plants and several of my rhodies slowly died. Tonight after research I started lifting up the leaves and saw white furry bugs (that jump like fleas) and white fuzzy masses on both the underside of the leaves and stems. As per my favorite plant lady at my local Ace Hardware, I mixed a 50/50 solution of dish soap and water. I sprayed everything with it and now I wait. Immediately though, the jumping white fuzzy bugs were scattered around very unhappy. So, maybe it worked. I will let everyone know!
Tiffiny said,
July 29, 2009 @ 9:32 pm
Hi fellow fighters, my Jasmine, climbing rose vine and many other potted friends were all withering away at an accelerated rate. First every bloom dissappeared and then the leaves started to go and soon I had a nice deck full of brown branching sticks. But a regular spray down of 30% Dish soap and 70% water killed off the aphids (which made the ants dissappear) I have new green growth on everything.
I strongly encourage such an easy,safe,affordable treatment. Only warning I saw was to avoid on plants where the temp reaches 90 degrees. Spray both bottom and top of leaves. I did see one mealy bug today but we had a big storm lastnight so everything blew in and the spray had washed away.
I hope this helps you, good luck!
Rox said,
March 11, 2010 @ 2:02 pm
OMG now these bugs are grossing me out! I was looking for an answer regarding those white-ish bugs because my cilantro has them. I was squishing them this morning when I first saw them because my cilantro potted plant hadn’t been doing too well until I changed it to another location. Then in the last 3-4 days it had started sprouting new stems again and it was growing prettily… until this morning, ugh! The stems look wilted again and I didn’t know what to do. After having read the posts about mixing dish soap with water, I will do that, and hopefully that’ll be the end of it. I’ll keep you guys posted. On the other hand, I have basil, oregano and Italian parsley and those guys are doing so well, it’s only the cilantro that gave me troubles since day 1 (I am new at growing herbs/plants). They all attract gnats though. Is there anyway to get rid of them? I have my plants in the terrace and I hate bugs.