White coating on the palm leaves - what is it?

White coating on the palm leaves - what is it?

Recognize and fight mealybugs

The animals, also known as mealybugs, reach a length of one to five millimeters. Their bodies are covered by white, woolly hair, which makes the animals look like tiny cotton balls.

also read

  • White coating on the yucca palm: fungus or pest?
  • White toppings on the yucca palm are not just powdery mildew
  • White coating on cacti - what to do?

Symptoms of infestation

  • Initially small, later merging white spots on the fronds.
  • The leaves turn yellow and dry up.
  • The lice secrete honeydew, which can subsequently cause an infestation with sooty fungi (red-brown spots).

Combat

Immediately isolate the palm to prevent the pests from spreading. Use a pesticide containing neem oil, which must act directly on the lice. Furthermore, the insect pests can be controlled very well with plant protection sticks, which are stuck into the ground. The active ingredients get directly into the leaves via the sap flow, the mealybugs ingest them and die. In the winter garden you can contain the lice plague with the larvae of the Australian ladybird.

Cause gall mites

These often settle on the yucca palm, more rarely on real palm trees. At 0.2 millimeters in size, the animals are so small that they can hardly be seen with the naked eye.

Symptoms of infestation

The pests leave a whitish coating on the leaves, which is strongly reminiscent of powdery mildew. The sucking activity creates tiny hairs that give this impression.

Combat

The specialist trade has various sprays available which, if used correctly, can cause the animals to die quickly. In any case, not only spray the upper side of the leaf, but also the underside of the leaf and the leaf axils, as the pests like to hide here.

Tips

Pest infestation can often be prevented with good care. Spray the palm daily with lukewarm, lime-free water. Mix some seaweed juice into the spray water once a week. This strengthens and strengthens the plant.