Dracaena plants are grown indoors as houseplants and, in warm climates, outdoors too. Most dracaenas have few problems with pests, but mealybugs and scale occasionally attack them.
Indoors is where mealybugs really get going. Plants growing indoors are especially vulnerable, because mild temperatures all year favor mealybugs and indoor plants are usually not exposed to the natural enemies that keep mealybugs in check outdoors.
The good news? A small infestation that you catch early is very manageable. Let’s look at how to spot mealybugs on a dracaena and what actually works to get rid of them.
What Is a Mealybug Infestation?
Mealybugs are small, soft insects covered in white wax. Most adults are wingless females with oval, segmented bodies. Males have wings but are rarely seen. A typical female is 1/16 to 1/8 inch long.
On a dracaena, look in the protected spots first. Infestations usually involve leaves (mostly the undersides), stems, branches and joints, plus the crown of the plant, stems near the soil, and the spot where a leaf touches the stem.
Signs of an infestation include white, cottony egg masses, wax-covered plants, sticky honeydew, black sooty mold growing on top of the honeydew, and ants feeding on the honeydew. For a wider look at control, see our guide on how to kill mealybugs.
Not every white, waxy speck is a mealybug. Mealybugs can be confused with cottony cushion scale, woolly aphids, soft scales and whiteflies, which also produce wax and honeydew, so look closely at the insect under the wax. Whiteflies are tiny winged insects, so if small white insects flutter up when you touch the plant, you are likely dealing with a different pest.
How Mealybugs Spread and Multiply
Newly hatched mealybugs, called crawlers, are mobile and have no wax yet. They soon settle down to feed and start making their waxy covering. Older nymphs and adults have legs but do not move far or fast.
Missouri Botanical Garden says females normally lay about 500 eggs in a cottony mass, and the eggs hatch in 1 to 2 weeks. A UF/IFAS Extension Charlotte County article puts the number at up to 600 eggs. Indoors, all stages may be present throughout the year.
Mealybugs are often brought in on new plants, tools or pots. Adult females cannot fly and mealybugs cannot crawl very fast, so they do not spread quickly on their own. Ants may also carry mealybugs from one plant to another.
What Damage Do Mealybugs Cause?
Mealybugs pierce the plant and suck sap. That weakens plants, and high populations can slow growth and cause leaf drop. Mealybugs also inject chemicals that can cause distortion, stunting and yellowing.
They also excrete sticky honeydew and wax. These reduce plant quality, especially when black sooty mold grows on the honeydew, and ants feed on it. Ants are more than a nuisance here: they protect mealybugs from their natural enemies.
The upside: healthy plants can tolerate low populations without significant damage. Catch them early and you have plenty of options. Curious whether these bugs are a concern for people? See Are Mealybugs Harmful To Humans?
Dracaena is in good company on the mealybug list. These houseplants often have problems with aboveground mealybugs:
- Aglaonema
- Coleus
- Cactus
- Dracaena
- Ferns
- Ficus
- Hoya
- Jade
- Orchids
- Palms
- Philodendron
- Schefflera
- Poinsettia
- Various herbs, including rosemary and sage
Got several of these in the same room? Check them all when you find mealybugs on one.
How To Get Rid of Mealybugs on Dracaena
The University of California Statewide IPM Program is blunt about it: mealybugs are very difficult to manage with insecticides. Their waxy coating repels most contact insecticides, and their habit of hiding in sheltered spots makes them hard to reach. So the best plan combines several steps, starting with the gentlest.
Start With Prevention
Examine, quarantine for 2 or 3 weeks, and treat as needed all new plants before placing them near mealybug-free plants. Inspect new plants thoroughly, and if you cannot remove all the mealybugs, discard the plant or take it back to the source.
Once you have found mealybugs, keep checking plants, pots and stakes on a regular basis, and dispose of infested items.
Go easy on fertilizer too. High rates of nitrogen combined with regular irrigation may stimulate tender new growth as well as mealybug egg production, so avoid unnecessary nitrogen on plants with mealybugs.
Hand Removal and a Water Spray
For a houseplant, the first step is to hand pick the mealybugs or prune them out. On sturdy plants, a forceful spray of water can reduce exposed populations, repeated every few days as needed.
A dracaena’s tight leaf bases and crown give mealybugs plenty of places to hide, so a water spray only reaches the ones out in the open. Manual removal is unlikely to eliminate mealybugs, but it can often keep an infestation within tolerable limits without harming beneficial insects.
Spot Treatment With Rubbing Alcohol
For small infestations on houseplants, a 70% or less solution of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol in water may be dabbed directly on mealybugs with a cotton swab to kill or remove them. Test the solution on a small part of the plant 1 to 2 days beforehand to make sure it does not cause leaf burn. In some cases a much more diluted solution may be advisable. Our step-by-step guide covers how to kill mealybugs using rubbing alcohol.
Where infestations are extensive, a 10-25% solution of isopropyl alcohol can be applied with a spray bottle, repeated every week until the infestation is gone.
Not every extension service is as comfortable with alcohol on leaves. UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions lists vinegar and alcohol as phytotoxic ingredients that cause leaf burn and says they should not be applied to plant tissues. That is one more reason to test a small area first and to stop if you see damage.
Skip the Dish Soap Recipes
You will find plenty of homemade sprays online that mix rubbing alcohol with dish soap. Skip them. Dish “soaps” are really detergents, designed to be powerful cleaners, and even when watered down they can cut through the waxy layer that protects leaves, often leaving damaged, dry, crispy leaves.
Mixing different products in home recipes can be dangerous, too, because common cleaners that are safe on their own can be toxic to people when used together.
Insecticidal Soap, Horticultural Oil and Neem Oil
Insecticidal soaps, oils or neem applied directly to immature mealybugs can reduce their numbers; the waxy adults are harder to reach. Test them on part of the plant first, just as with alcohol.
Treat when crawlers are present, spraying thoroughly because mealybugs hide under leaves and in crotches, and repeat applications as needed according to the label. Spot treat with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil as per label directions, and not in the heat of the day, since it can burn the leaves.
Use a product registered as an insecticidal soap rather than a dish detergent. Properly registered insecticidal soaps are usually only 1-2% soap by volume, and plants under drought stress, in excessive humidity or in heat above 90°F should never be treated with soaps. Mixing rates differ from product to product, so follow the label on the one you buy. For neem oil, our guide to applying neem oil explains why the label rate on your bottle comes first.
You may also see neem used as a soil soak. Our neem oil soil drench guide covers that method.
Natural Enemies: Mostly an Outdoor Option
Outdoors, natural enemies do a lot of the work: parasitic wasps, lady beetles, green and brown lacewings, spiders, minute pirate bugs and predaceous midge larvae. The mealybug destroyer lady beetle, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri, is the most important of these predators in many areas.
For a houseplant, buying predators is less practical. The mealybug destroyer is often released in greenhouses and interiorscapes, but there is little point in releasing it when mealybug numbers are low or not reproducing, because the beetles need mealybug eggs to reproduce.
If your dracaena grows outdoors, protect those natural enemies. Avoid broad-spectrum insecticides and keep ants away from infested plants.
Systemic and Other Insecticides
Plant spikes or granules containing the systemic insecticide imidacloprid may reduce mealybug crawler numbers on houseplants. But these neonicotinoid products are less reliable against mealybugs than against other piercing-sucking insects, and their use should be avoided when possible, especially on flowering plants, because of potential harm to natural enemies and pollinators.
Other insecticides, including pyrethroids, are labeled for some situations, but they may not be much more effective than soaps and oils and can be devastating to natural enemies. Acephate, bifenthrin and pyrethrins are listed as effective against mealybugs.
Whatever you choose, read the label first. Always follow the product’s label and make sure the product is effective against mealybugs. Not following the pesticide label is a violation of federal law.
Know When To Let a Plant Go
None of the available insecticides will likely provide complete control, so plan to monitor and treat again as needed. When infestations become severe, consider discarding houseplants rather than repeatedly treating them with insecticides. That is a tough call with a big, older dracaena, but it beats treating the same plant over and over.
Keep Your Dracaena Healthy
A healthy plant handles a few mealybugs better than a stressed one. Let the top inch of soil dry, then water thoroughly. NC State Extension says it is best to let the top inch of soil dry out between waterings. Water thoroughly, then allow it to dry out before watering again. For the Madagascar dragon tree, let it dry between waterings but not severely, give it bright, indirect light, and keep fertilizer light, since these plants have a low fertilizer requirement.
Brown leaf tips are a separate problem from mealybugs. Most dracaenas are sensitive to fluoride, which discolors the leaves, so distilled or non-fluorinated water is best. Use distilled, rain or filtered water: letting tap water stand removes chlorine, not fluoride. Our guide to brown tips on houseplant leaves covers water quality in more detail.
Thrips also show up alongside mealybugs as pests of the corn plant (Dracaena fragrans), and mites can be a problem on the Madagascar dragon tree. A regular look under the leaves catches all of them early.
Have you battled mealybugs on a dracaena? Tell us what worked for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do mealybugs look like on a dracaena?
Look for white, waxy, cotton-like clusters. Mealybugs are soft, oval, wax-covered insects, and white, cottony egg masses, sticky honeydew and black sooty mold are signs of an infestation. On a dracaena, check the leaf undersides, the stems and the joints, where infestations usually show up.
Does rubbing alcohol kill mealybugs on dracaena?
It can, on small infestations. A solution of 70% or less isopropyl alcohol in water may be dabbed on mealybugs with a cotton swab to kill or remove them. Test it on a small part of the plant 1 to 2 days beforehand, because alcohol is a phytotoxic ingredient that can cause leaf burn.
Can I use dish soap to get rid of mealybugs?
It’s best not to. Dish soaps are really detergents designed to be powerful cleaners, and even watered down they can cut through the waxy layer that protects leaves, often leaving damaged, dry, crispy leaves. Use a product registered as an insecticidal soap instead, and follow its label for the mixing rate.
Do neem oil and insecticidal soap work on mealybugs?
They help, mostly on young mealybugs. Insecticidal soaps, horticultural oil or neem oil insecticides applied directly on mealybugs can provide some suppression, especially against younger nymphs that have less wax. Test the product on part of the plant first, spray thoroughly where mealybugs hide, and repeat as the label directs.
Should I throw out a dracaena with mealybugs?
Usually not, unless the infestation is severe. Healthy plants can tolerate low populations without significant damage, so start with hand removal and spot treatment. When infestations become severe, consider discarding houseplants rather than repeatedly treating them with insecticides; heavily infested plants may need to be disposed of entirely.