Salvage or toss it

by mari
(Florida)

Hi Jackie. Bought these aeonium canariense from ebay. Was promised a healthy plant but packaging was done poorly, leaves are scarred (they're saying that its normal for clusters) and worst it has mealy bugs.

I have isolated the plant and wrapped plastic around the roots since the bugs can only be found on the roots.

I'm still negotiating on the return but its a no return no exchange transaction so this may take a while. On the other hand the plant needs attention. Is this salvageable or should I toss it and never again purchase from this seller?

Hi Mari, what a pain! I guess you take your chances with some suppliers, and this one is definitely one to avoid.

Good call on isolating it - these bugs are easily transferred to other plants.

Aeonium root quickly from the top rosettes, so I would try that, and discard the roots asap. Put them in the garbage, don't try and compost them unless your compost pile gets really hot.

Just cut the tops off, clean them up and spray well with my favorite Safers insecticidal soap; I mix my own from the concentrate in a spray bottle; half fill a liter/quart spray bottle with lukewarm water, add a capful of the soap concentrate, with the addition of about a half a cup of isoproply alcohol and spray to the point of run off (or you could even soak the pieces of the plant for a while in this)

Once a plant has mealy bug, it's crucial to remain constantly vigilant - they are really hard to get rid of.

Hope that helps,
Jacki

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