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Cacti & Succulents

Possible pest, or paranoid succulent caregiver?

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi all,

we are in the middle of moving and while preparing my adoptees I noticed webbing, then I noticed the little white spots..:( I asked someone with succulent knowledge and she confirmed my thoughts of disaster saying it might be spider mites. So now hoping she was mistaken and seeking a second opinion (ok 3rdish) hoping I'm paranoid and y'all will say its a simple fix?? Seriously I do love my green children too and would like to get a proper diagnosis and options for best treatments(please be gentle if it's bleak, I'm mid moving and generally overly sensitive concerning living creatures) what has worked for you and feel free to step by step as i over think everything and dream of simple instructions, I'm including pics of a few it shows up on best and including one for Rita of the tongue like leafed guy with purple stripes, which I finally identified (: Thanks to all who read all of this, and even more so to those who take the time to share their wisdom with all of us newbies on here!!!

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Comments (3)

Mary
Original Author
8 years ago
Had to add these in comments, it wouldn't let me upload more than 1, also we are located in zone 9b Tampa FL
Crenda 10A SW FL
8 years ago
Hi, Mary! And welcome to the addiction!

Try using a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove the white spots. If they turn a reddish orange, it is mealy bugs. You can remove them all with a q-tip and even spray the entire plants with a 50/50 solution of alcohol and water. This will kill them.

It could be aphids. They can be washed off with a good spray of water.

The webbing looks a little like regular spiders to me. I have them all over my plants at different times of the year. It makes me look for other pests because I think they must have found a good place for catching food!

Also - those white spots look pretty small. Is the plant outside? We are still warm enough. I have palm pollen all over my plants that looks just like this. It threw me into a panic until I figured out what it was.

And one last thought. On some of my jades, you can see deposits of minerals that look like little white spots. Do you think this might be what you have?

Keep us informed and keep asking question!

(My son lives in Temple Terrace!)
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Mary
Original Author
8 years ago
I like you more and more!!! Thank you for not being an alarmist (like myself, haha)! I am going to try first test, although curious will witch hazel work the same? It's kind of hard to tell on my phone, but actually they do look very similar, and they are outside, about to be moved in because the temp here just in the last couple of hours dropped to frigid for actual Floridians, and I got so excited about rain last night I stuck everyone out for a few, so now I'm nervous they'll get to wet cold. We are currently on Lake Thomas and surrounded by cypress, pine, palms, and oaks I never considered pollen, and we do have no exaggeration millions of spiders...I've always loved and appreciated spiders but they are so excessive where I am right now I'm getting a bit phobic. I have noticed a couple on these guys before but not the white stuff, but everything you mention is logical, and intelligently thought out! Temple Terrace is where my cousins use to attend a Christian school, and I tend to like most temple terrace dwellers, and love their humor too! I will let you know what happens with the alcohol test, ASAP. Blessings and Merry Christmas to you and yours, Mary

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