Around two weeks ago, I published a post that was full of mealybugs. Maybe you remember it, but if not, and you are interested to see it, just one click separates you from it. You could read there my struggle with those nasty bugs. They attacked many of my succulents, especially those with thin stems, like the Lucky Bells or small Shrek ears. Interestingly, the mealybugs skipped the Jade tree and Ruby Blush. Seems that they don't like those plants.
Btw, did you notice the small bee (or whatever insect it is) in the photo above? Aeonium haworthii (now I know the name of it thanks to an angel who identified it) bloomed after I published that post, so the flowers are by now fully open.
Still, there is one bud that is still sleeping. I don't know if from there more flowers will come or just one. I suppose that I have to wait for some days to get the answer.
But why I am writing now this post is not just to show how this plant bloomed, but to update the mealybugs situation. I made that homemade thing, the recipe that I brought in the previous post. Onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, water and dishwasher soap. Everything smelled like onions and garlic haha, the kitchen, the house and later the plants that I treated with this liquid.
I accidentally touched the white curtain of the living room while I was going out to the balcony and guess what. It now has a brown stain, that I guess will never be removed. The cayenne pepper and onion made the liquid brownish. I added those not so nice, coloured details to the curtain because of the mealybugs and my experiment. 😆
Btw, it's not funny. I was not laughing especially when I saw that the mealybugs didn't die the next day after spraying them. Then I grabbed again the cotton swabs and alcohol and removed those few ones I saw. I thought that my experiment didn't work out.
However, now, a week after that I have made that treatment to my succulents I don't see any mealybug. None. Does it mean it was successful in the end? So far, it seems that yes, but my first reaction, seeing the still alive bugs was not so optimistic.
I forgot to put the liquid into the refrigerator, so I don't even want to open that bottle where it is as I am sure it stinks :D Also, no need to spray them once again right now, as I don't see that the mealybugs are around.
So, for those who were interested to know does the recipe works, my answer is that it seems that yes. For now, the mealybugs disappeared.
In the meantime, and not mealybugs related, the jelly plant has grown itself a little sister. I think I have to wait before I separate them, but I am not sure when should I do that. That pot will become small one day for both of them.
The Ruby Blush is so plushy. The leaves are soft and the plants are growing. In this photo, we see a few small buds, that will become flowers one day.
And once again, not related to mealybugs, nor blooming and flowers, I am presenting to you a new type of succulent that is growing at my place.
Echeveria Enigmaticus Variegaticus
I had that succulent already for some years, though it has never bloomed. I don't know if it will ever bring flowers. So the identification of it was tricky, but I hope you like its invented name!
The mother plant and the cuttings and all the babies don't really look the same but believe me, they are all from the same plant. When the branches become too heavy and they break, I just put those branches in another pot and I have a new plant :))
This small was born in the same way. And it will be variegated too, with those white stripes that can be already seen! Welcome to this world, Echeveria Enigmaticus Variegaticus Junior.
