Hi, wondering if anyone can please help/advise me on two of my cacti, Last month I noticed white fluffy bits appearing on my opuntia microdaysis. Mealy bug infection :( Checked others nearby but they seem ok so just monitoring but the opuntia is the only one I know was infected so far (other than a new senico mont blanc which I think was the culprit that infected it). Been treating with isopropyl alcohol water mix which has killed off most of the bugs on the cactus, mon blanc died as I think was too far gone, it arrived wilty, & in the short time I had it never thrived but shrivelled up & turned brown on the stem with odd black pinprick sized holes all over the stem as well. I also sprayed the cactus with asystemic pesticide yesterday to kill any stragglers and prevent reinfection. It has also been repotted to a bigger pot since it needed repottied anyway as pot was tipping, and roots carefully washed and left to dry before hand, I couldn't see bugs on or anything wrong with roots. I think I've killed most of the mealys but its going slighttly paler green at the bottom now & slightly wrinkly if you look close, although still feels firm all down length & pads https://i.*******.cc/SKWpws0X/cactus1.jpg https://i.*******.cc/sDtqsr45/shrivlr.jpg I will get some plant ties for the microdaysis, the clips are just temporary on the microdaysis cactus until I get them but they are lightweight & don't grip hard so I don't think they'll hurt the cactus, at least not worse than it already is but without some kind of support it tips over in the pot The spiral cactus I haven't found mealys on (yet) but it is going brown at the bottom, not sure if its just corking or something more sinister. https://i.*******.cc/9Qw2YbJY/20210321-204602.jpg https://i.*******.cc/JhwL6XFV/20210321-204745.jpg If nothing else I guess the mealy bug infection will teach me to always isolate new plants in future.Anyway thanks for reading & if anyone has any tips or advice on anything else I can/should do to help the opuntia microdaysis & spiral recover if they're even saveable its much appreciated. Also I don't know what that odd raised scab like bit is on the spiral, but it hasn't moved or spread and has been there I think since I got it.
not sure photos links worked so trying this way, shows in preview but turned to links when posted. Sorry about that.
