Tiny White Bugs - Indoor Ficus

[Zako51]

Good Morning - I went to water my indoor Ficus. It is about 10 years old and I got it in January and it has spent the entire time indoors.

When I was watering, I saw a couple very small white bugs in the soil. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[barrosinc]

got a pic?
I get mealy bugs on ficus sometimes. Maybe that's it?

 

[Zako51]

Thanks for the response - I can take a picture of the tree, but I doubt I could get one of the bugs, please see below.

 

[barrosinc]

do they move?
That seems like salts that are in the water.

 

[Zako51]

They did move, when I was watering, I saw what appeared to be tiny white bugs crawling into the rocks.

 

[lieuz]

Buddy, you got the same problem I am having with my pine. @GrimLore looks like we got another one here, need to bust out the IPA and cheap hookers haha.

 

[lieuz]

I can't exactly tell if you have a huge infestation or not but I do notice you have some here and there. Mealy bugs is what believe you have based off your pictures.

 

[Zako51]

Here is a close up

 

[lieuz]

@Zako51 yeah, this is for sure mealy bugs. I know there are lots of ways to approach pests but I took a chance and tried the isopropyl alcohol method. I put into a spray bottle 50/50 of the rubbing alcohol and water and sprayed every nook and cranny I could find and under a shady area, I let the tree sit. After a few hours I did observe a notable difference where the bugs have shrank in size. I have a ficus that has the issue as well right now and this treatment didn't hurt the tree.

 

[lieuz]

@Zako51 Protip: look at the tree from below because I've noticed a lot of their egg patches are located from underneath the branches and foliage. As @GrimLore has pointed out to me, this is easily treatable and takes a bit of diligence.

 

[Zako51]

So, I see these all over my tree. I will spray the whole tree. Should I also take it out of the pot and spray the entire root ball? Should I remove the soil, spray the roots and re-pot? Also, do you keep your Ficus indoors or can I put this tree outdoors? Thank you for all your help

 

[lieuz]

I keep my tree indoors until the temp outside is a steady 70 degrees F. The tree will then go out for the summer. I don't think you'll have to repot the tree, I am assuming each time you have the bugs come back, just treat it with the spray of 50/50.

 

[Zako51]

Originally, I did see some crawl into the rocks, I am guessing to latch onto the roots. Should I also spray the soil?

 

[sorce]

Sounds like something else in the soil.

Mine go out after 50f.

Yeah Lieuz!

Sorce

 

[AaronThomas]

look like Mealy to me

 

[ysrgrathe]

I don't think mealy bugs live in soil. You might just see some on surface roots. Hit them with the alcohol and it should kill them (but don't drench the soil). Check out the other thread too, you need to do this more than once to kill them all.

 

[f1pt4]

you could just q-tip them off dipped in some straight isopropyl. There's not too many leaves, so just go leaf by leaf, and dont forget the undersides. Might need to do it a few times, but should do the trick.

 

[AaronThomas]

Definitely a mealybug… Citrus mealybug to be exact

 

[AaronThomas]

And here are some mealybugs you can snuggle with.... or for your small dog.

 

[dawoodsnrsy]

These bugs are a pain in the ass to get rid of. Have to stay on top of them with spraying schedules and their reproductive schedule. Every 7-10 days if really bad or every other week re spray. I had them on a clivia plant in the amaryllis family that took me about a two years to really get the handle of how to kill them. Spray spray and spray. Every time you see them wipe doen leaves with damp paper towl and then spray undersides of leaves along with the entire plant. The bugs can live in dead and live plant material. Hope this helps