Hey Guys! My name is Maggie and here are some tips on how to determine what the white stuff on your
succulent is. Here is my Crassula Ovata “Gollum.” Aptly named after the conflicted character from
J.R.R Tolkien’s Books. It’s drought tolerant and stays pretty smallish. Look at those
eccentric tubular leaves! People also call this the Ogre Ear succulent. For good reason too. About
6 months ago, I started noticing multiple small white dots on the surface of the Crassula Ovata
Gollum. It was concentrated on a few leaves from only one branch. When I picked at the white spots
with my fingernail, it came right off. There were no signs of distress on the plant at all.
My research offered a few differential diagnoses: The first being that the white spots were a type
of Fungus. Powdery mildew is a type of white mould that thrives in conditions that succulents
thrive in too. When I looked at images of Mould on succulents, they looked like someone with ice-cold
powers touched the leaves, and voila! Cue patchy frosty patterns. The White Spots on my succulent
didn’t look like that. NEXT... The second differential diagnosis being that the white spots
were harmless Salt deposits. Plants have pores, and when there is an excess of salt minerals
in the water it drinks up, it exudes tiny salt crystals from their pores. Apparently a good way
to tell if it’s truly salt, is to just taste it. BUT... I’m never that confident in my own judgment
to commit to putting indistinct things growing on my plant into my mouth though. NOPE. But I
totally accepted this hypothesis and left it for months. Until…I conducted a rescue mission on a
rotting scale-ridden cactus. And became intimately acquainted with the pest. Thus we arrive at the
final diagnosis. The white spots on my succulent were a sign of scale bug infestation. Thankfully
my plant wasn’t too bruised and battered by the pests yet. So I still had time to save it. When I
did my research, I found out that if you crushed up the scale insect called Cochineal you would
get a striking red dye. Which is commonly found in our foods, being an organic food dye. So I got my
pestle and mortar out. I kid you not. I was armed with my soft bristle toothbrush, cardboard paper,
and my usual personal protective equipment. I got to work straight away, harvesting the scale that I
dislodged. The toothbrush proved to be too gentle on the stubborn critters however. So I switched to
using cardboard paper. It worked like a charm, you can see the scale bugs collecting like dandruff.
Here are a couple more close-ups for those who find this stuff satisfying to watch. I had a
great collection going, when suddenly the wind blew, and dispersed a large majority of it onto
the floor. So if you were wanting to find out what colour these pests produced when crushed - this
is not that day. Maybe next time! After removing 90% of the scale off the succulent. I mixed up an
organic concoction from a dash of eucalyptus oil, a pump of liquid hand wash, and 2 cups of water.
Popped it into a spray, and generously dispersed it over the plant for a final treatment with the
toothbrush. There you have it! It’s looking pretty great in my opinion. Although, I’d repeat this
treatment in a few days time again, just to get rid of the remaining stragglers. And there they
are, all over the floor. The white dandruff looking bits. Hope you enjoyed this video,
if you do want to see me use a pestle and mortar on pests one day, don’t forget to hit
like and subscribe or leave a comment on whether you’d be game enough to to do a taste test. Bye!