A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 HELP!!

My golden pothos was growing and filling in so nicely. all of a sudden it is just getting thinner and thinner. When I checked it yesterday there was white fuzz that almost looked like thin pieces of cotton on some of the stems and the dirt. even one leave looked like it had it and it sort of looked like a spider web. What is wrong with it and how can I fix the problem. Thanks for the help.

Sounds to me like you have mealy bug ! It is not uncommon for pothos to get it ..

What I would do , if it is a movable plant , take it to the sink or tub and gently wash all of the mealy off , you can use safer soap , ivory soap , But the important thing is to get all traces of mealy off the plant ..

Keep an eye on it for sometime to be sure you got all of it ..

Also you might want to up end the pot and look at the soil and see if you have it there as well ,,

If you are not sqemish about using pesticides it will help matters more quickly ..

Also for plants of this size meaning they are not tall , I would get some systemic to place in the soil . This will kick in , in about 28 days or so internally and kill any remaining mealy that goes to feed . Read direction very carefully and apply the proper amount .. Keep hands out of soil for at least 28 days . By then the systemic will bind with the soil and be safe ..
Hope this helps

7 Towers of Serendipity,

Welcome to the TGH Forum.

Sounds like you are a Master Gardener or a Certified Nursery Professional or both.

Papito

I would add that getting complete coverage of all leaf and stem surfaces is the key to successful treatment, regardless of what you use. The immature mealybugs are nearly invisible to the naked eye, so you can't rely on treating only what you see.

]

Your not kidding Will , Please read my post on my questions about my Bird of paradise ..

Will I really looked this plant over very well and more than once and didn't catch anything .

But despite my efforts a few caused some probs on my bird ..

What I find very odd is , is that it was growing very well all winter , I got at least 3 new leaves and they grew nice and healthy and strong . It wasn't until early this summer when I was taking it out side that I noticed the newest leaf that was emerging was very distorted and low and behold mister mealy was inside the unrolling leaf. There were not many at all and I wiped the plant down well .. And during the summer it grew very nicely , but yet again bringing it inside another new leaf coming up is having the same issue ..

Uhg , I love this plant so I am determined to win the battle ..

laura

Thanks for the generous compliment but
No , not quite , I just have been working with plants hands on since out of highschool and I also have a great love for them so it is easy for me to learn .. I am very interested , But I must tell you this field is so large I learn something daily ! That is what keeps it interesting as well ..

Like I just learned that my bird of paradise that I thought was clean of mealy because it has been growing very well for 5 months with no sign of mealy has been harboring mealy still !

There is always things to learn and this is what makes it exciting for me ..

Green thumbs are aquired !