Mealybugs are also known as mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) because they have white, woolly and greasy hair. They are closely related to scale insects. The harmful insects attack almost all parts of the plant, right down to the roots. This is where they get stuck. The infestation often starts on the underside of the leaf and spreads from there to other areas. These are plant suckers that remove important nutrients from the boxwood by removing the plant sap and can thus cause the plant to die.
Mealybugs can be seen with the naked eye
damage picture
You can recognize an infestation with mealybugs by the cotton-like white webs made of wax, which the pests use to protect themselves from their predators. The oval, up to seven millimeters long animals with the characteristic transverse grooves primarily bite the leaves of the boxwood and suck out the nutrient-rich plant sap there. In addition, like other plant suckers, mealybugs excrete honeydew, which in turn attracts fungi and often leads to the transmission of infections. Affected leaves turn yellow, shoots wither and dry up, and severe infestation can also stun the growth of the entire plant.
Mealybugs multiply rapidly
Mealybugs must be fought quickly and repeatedly, as they multiply rapidly. The animals lay their eggs, which are surrounded by a waxy shell, in the warm season. A female mealybug alone produces up to eight generations each year, each with more than 100 eggs. These are extremely resilient and remain viable even at temperatures down to minus 40 °C.
combat
Regularly checking the boxwood for pest infestation is an important task that should not be neglected for various reasons. You can still collect individual animals by hand or dab them with a cotton swab dipped in neem or rapeseed oil or in high-proof alcohol (e.g. vodka). If the infestation is already more advanced, we recommend the following procedure:
- Hose down the plants completely with a neem oil or canola oil based conditioner.
- The affected boxwood should be soaked that the agent drips from the leaves and shoots.
- Shade the boxwood as treating with oil in a sunny spot can cause burns.
- Cut back heavily infested stocks, otherwise the animals will keep coming back.
- In the case of box trees cultivated in pots, repotting in fresh substrate is also recommended.
tips
If you discover white wool threads on your boxwood, it could also be the boxwood leaf flea. A typical feature is the spoon-like bent leaves.