Comments on: Mealybugs making a meal of my mint

By: Lila

Lila — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:02:00 +0000

@Todd:
You had a horticulture class in high school? Lucky!

By: Todd

Todd — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:34:42 +0000

Mealybugs are supposed to be considered a “soft-body” inseact, meaning that they absorb quite a bot through their skins. And they don’t like adsorbing toxins.

In a horticulture class I took in high school, we used plain old dish detergent washed onto the leaves of the plants to kill those nasty little things. If you want a greener route, there is an insecticide that is sold that is water+chili peppers. It’s basically capsicum and water. It burns the insects and they don’t usually survive. We used these two in conjunction and never had a problem getting rid of them.

Honestly though, mint is such a hardy plant (i.e. WEED) that you could probably take one healthy plant and re-populate the area after getting rid of the diseased ones fairly quickly.

Good luck!

By: Theresa/GardenFreshLiving

Theresa/GardenFreshLiving — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:20:56 +0000

I have had mealy bugs before and survived!
What you need to do is cut back the mint (throwing away the foliage that contains most of the bugs). Then, you can spray the remaining stubs of mint and the base of the plants with insecticidal soap or neem oil. Both are considered organic. Neem oil works best, but can burn your plants if it is really hot. Spray again in seven days and again in 14 days.

It worked for me! The mint bounced right back. And you are right…any other plant would bite the dust. But mint is tough!
Good luck!

By: Laurel

Laurel — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:58:37 +0000

Oh boy, sorry to hear about the little buggers on your mint! Unfortunately I think that you’re right about getting rid of them.

We had them a few years ago, and they ended up liking all of our tomatoes, but left everything else alone. But they ‘hopped’ to different containers on different parts of the deck.

Here’s to hoping for better luck next year :)

By: Andrea Bellamy

Andrea Bellamy — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:50:14 +0000

Mary Ann – I know! I’ve reached a new low.

Karen – huh. What’s the deal? Papery-looking mint? Who wants to eat that?

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:20:33 +0000

Eh, I never had luck with mint either – even when it spread like a cancer through my herb bed, it was always papery and icky-looking. I keep meaning to put some in a pot but maybe the mealybugs would get it. Ew!
- Karen

By: Mary Ann

Mary Ann — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:18:37 +0000

Wow, I thought mint was truly indestructible! I gave some away to friends and have been pulling compost bins full of out of my backyard, where it has taken over a whole corner. No bugs on it at all. The scent is wonderful though, I must admit. Good luck ridding your mint of these pests.