Transcript:
Hello, Everyone, This is Sheila. Is your garden an endless battle scene against mealy bugs every single summer? Then this video is for you So. Let’’s jump in Key Point Number 1, the best time to deal with mealy bugs and its cousins is while the days are cooler. Mealy bugs love it dry and warm. That’’s why we want to start working on prevention while we are still in the cooler months and they are not as prolific yet. There is also something about the combination of cooler days and my favorite oil mixture that you need to know and I’’ll discuss that in a bit. But for now, let me give you. Key Point Number 2, which is to groom your succulents and again while the weather is still cool, and we still have rain and the early mornings are quite moist. Since mealy bugs love it dry leaves that are drying at the base of succulents is one of their favorite nesting grounds. Removing dry leaves will deprive them of their favorite. Hang out, I will have a separate video about how to groom your succulents, so make sure to tap that subscribe button and hit the bell icon after to make sure that you won’’t Miss Future videos, okay. Now, why do we need to carry out the preventives on cooler days and how? The answer is in Key Point Number 3, which is while the temperatures are still below the 90’s apply a mixture of mineral oil. My personal favorite is this. All Seasons, Horticultural & Dormant Spray Oil. I love this concentrate. ‘cause it’’s super effective and it helps fight other bugs too. Now here’’s an important piece of information. Don’’t expect to use it in all seasons, even if it says “all Seasons” and “use year round” on the label. This is very important Why. If you would use this on hotter days such as in the middle of summer when it can go up to the 90’s, your succulents could fry and suffer. Leaf drop. Later in this video, too, I will share a regular household solution. That helps a lot if you already have a full blown infestation. And how did I learn all of these tips? I’’ll be showing you old footages of some crazy mealy bug infestations that I had in the past. So I learned all this the hard way. You’’ll be seeing those footages as we go along, but for now. Let me also show you this moving live mealy bug right now! This guy is an early bird. Or should I say an early bug? I found this guy about a week or two ago, which is way ahead of summer. The presence of ants and these white powdery substance are two of the ways to tell if mealy bugs are present. They attract ants too. So why bother with dealing with mealy bugs, aphids and scales in the first place? The biggest reason is that Mealy bugs and aphid can disfigure even the most perfect looking succulents out there. Let me show you this. This is a normal older leaf, and these leaves are newer, deformed ones. In fact, one way to determine whether there are mealy bugs within the tight spaces in those rosettes is when you start noticing that the younger leaves are misshapen and are looking, pulled or twisted out of its proper shape. So if you want your succulents to be perfect, make sure that you know what you are dealing with. As you can see, these mealy bugs are easy to identify. They have this very dry, white cottony, powdery coating that protects them from water and moisture. So if you think that blasting them with water would work. I guarantee you that it won’t. So key Point Number 4, as promised. If you already have a full blown infestation, you can use this regular household solution, which is 70% Isopropyl alcohol to penetrate through those white cottony, powdery coating. So water can’’t get to them, but alcohol can. For preventive and treatment, Though I would still go for this solution. I have a link in the description in case. You want to check it out? Key Point Number 5, live lady bugs that you can. Purchase online is another option. They feed on mealy bugs and aphids or aphids? I also have a link to these guys. In the description below Key Point Number 6, the best preventive measure to fight Mealy bugs is to keep your succulents heathy by making sure that they are properly watered and fed. If you want to learn more about watering and plant food, you can always click the link up here. Just like humans, healthy succulents have a way to ward off infestation. If you would look here, this succulent is the only one that shows infestation while the rest are clear of pests and are healthy. At this point, you may click out of this video or stay to listen to my message for you. Today, which is when we fail, get rejected and deprived of something good, we are being directed to something better. Wayne Dyer said. “if you change the way you look at things. The things you look at Change”. Thank you! This is Sheilah again. Your person on a mission for Succulent Fame, Sending inspirations your way with every succulent. Remember to subscribe and share this video?