Hey, so I've been having my plants for some time now and every now and then a leaf dies, so i cut it off and a new pops up. They always go the same way - white spots all around and eventually the leaf turns brown and dies. It happens on a few plants around the house so finally I thought let me do something about it.
Here's a sample of what it looks like on two different plants. What is it and what can I do about it to cure my babies?
Looks like mealy bugs. Try neem or insecticidal soap.
The plants in the images appear to be affected by powdery mildew, a common fungal disease. To cure them, isolate affected plants, improve air circulation, prune infected parts, water at the base, increase sunlight exposure, and consider fungicidal treatments if needed. Prevention is crucial.
It is both mealybugs, and a scale insect infestation. It is not a fungus like “mildew”.
Hoyas are famously susceptible to mealybugs.
Sadly neither neem nor soap will result in a cure for mealybugs. In my experience only systemic insecticides work, and it requires diligence. Get an imidacloprid based product in a liquid form and drench the whole pot as soon as the plants are dry - you want the plants dry so they are thirsty and will take up the insecticide. Repeat twice more on 30 day intervals.
