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Mealy* Bugs on Mitragyna

Hi everyone! I've been quite inactive lately, moving between a few jobs and getting busy with life and holidays. I looked in my tent after ignoring it for weeks and weeks, finally to give it some water for the first time in four or five days, and i noticed something distressing! 





The white splotches and the brown domes/globules shown are actually two different stages of the same type of Pseudococcides, Mealy bug, or possibly Coccides, scale bugs. Apparently they are difficult to identify, difficult to remove, and are often confused for fungal infections. I thought it was fungal at first, but further research reveals they are a common insect pest of Rubiaceae. 


I watered my plants before realizing, but will probably try to apply light neem oil spray soon. Additionally, physically picking and removing bugs, wiping away with qtips and isopropyl, or spraying off with water are also options. I'm mot super fond of neem since it has a propensity to burn stomata when humidity is high or sun is up. I might go purchase some spinosad for this purpose. 


Check your plants! Stems, nodes, under and over leaves. Pests take many shapes and forms, and require different remedies. 


Bonus pic: my LED light heats up and is killing gnats and flying pests like male mealy/scale bugs. Who needs sticky tape and poison when you can harness the burning power of the sun? 😉


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