Insects on Succulents and How to Get Rid of Them

I have had all sorts of bugs try to destroy my succulents. Getting rid of them has been a nightmare of trial and error. But currently, as far as I can tell. We are at peace. Insects on succulents are a tedious task to get rid of because they have so many places to hide.

Insects on Succulents-Mealy Bugs

Mealy bugs weren’t actually the first bugs that attacked me, but they are the most common. They are tiny little white creatures that make this cotton-candy like webbing. They feed off of new growth on your succulent. On my propagating succulents, I find these around the roots and throughout the whole little new baby plant. On more mature plants I find them mainly on the top of the rosette. They tend to show up due to lots of watering and moderate temperatures so indoor plants are usually hit by these.  They move from plant to plant fast so in order to get rid of them you have to be diligent.

How to get rid of Mealy Bugs

Once you confirm you have mealy bugs on your succulents, you will need 1.Rubbing Alcohol 2. Spray Bottle and 3. Tweezers. Start by removing as many as you can with the tweezers. If you cut the succulent a little, don’t worry, it will be fine. Try to get as many out of there as you can and squish them between the tweezers to make sure they die. Clear off any webbing you see and check the roots for this as well. After that spray the succulent with rubbing alcohol. I don’t dilute it and my succulents are fine. Rubbing alcohol evaporates fast so it won’t harm the plant because it just leaves the water behind. If you have a lot of them even try pouring some around the base of the plant. It feels like you are watering with alcohol. Isolate your plant to prevent them from spreading to the others. Repeat spraying them every day for about a week. You can tell it is working because any mealy bugs left when you try to pick them up won’t squirm when you touch them and will be little dead insect corpses. Another great option is ladybugs!!! They eat these things like candy!
This is an affiliate link but that’s what keeps this site running! These are the ladybugs I bought and they were awesome!

Insects on Succulents-Aphids

When I lived in Iowa my succulents got aphids which were extremely annoying little creatures. They also feed on your succulents and cause mayhem. I noticed them when I watered more. How to get rid of aphids is a question I was asking a lot. One option that worked about 75% of the time was a spray bottle of water, about a teaspoon of lemon juice and a squirt of dish soap. Shake that up and spray on the succulent. Too much lemon juice will burn your succulent because it is super acidic. The other option that worked wonders was throwing in some ladybugs with my succulents. They were wiped out in a week! (please use the affiliate link above because it is the same price and this site can benefit!)

Insects on Succulents-Slugs

I found a slug chomping away on the stem of one of my favorite succulents. I stripped away leaves because I couldn’t see the base and sure enough, there he was just a feasting away. To get rid of slugs on succulents, start by removing the slugs and any other crawlers you find. Then put cornmeal around the base of your succulent! They hate it and will leave you alone!