Two and a half weeks ago I noticed my Hoya DR. IBOK seedlings weren't looking very developed for being sown on 05/09/2022. Luckily, the cell trays I had the seedlings in were clear so I pulled them out of the cache tray and saw white fuzzy root mealybugs all over the root systems of the seedlings. I tossed all the soil and rinsed the roots and leaves really well in hot water. I picked off any remaining pieces of soil particles from the roots before spraying them down with my alcohol spray. Alcohol spray: 1/2 cup isopropyl alcohol 70% 4 cups water Since that initial discovery I have treated with neem oil, more alcohol spray, and systemics. The cell trays I planted them in the second time are not clear so I am unable to check on the roots. However, I have noticed that the seedlings have put on new growth and are definitely back on track. I even added in some Osmocote fertilizer. I will continue to monitor them for root mealybugs as they grow but hopefully, they are taken care of. I was not comfortable chopping the roots since they are seedlings and I didn't know if they could survive that at this point. Thus, the chances of root mealybugs coming back are definitely higher. The life cycle of root mealybugs does slow down as the weather gets colder so hopefully that will be to my benefit with it being August already. beforeAFTERUPDATE 09/22/2022 I have not had to do any additional treatments on these seedlings since the initial infestation. I checked the roots on all of the seedlings and they are looking really good. They have continued to explode in growth. Something important to note is that root mealybugs can easily move from plant to plant through drainage holes so if you get an infestation make sure you aren't sharing the same water between plants and have some sort of tray around it to catch any water if your trays or pots have drainage holes.
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