A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Bugs need help FAST

I need help fast. I am due to leave in a few days and I have what I believe to be a serious problem with plants that I brought in from outdoors for the winter. On top of the soil looks like "mold" but under a microscope I found it to be tiny white balls of cotton. (eggs) I am not my mother and bless her heart she is long gone. I don't want to lose my plants to a massive infestation while I am gone. I only knew to spray down the soil and plants with alcohol...
please can anyone advise?

remove the tainted soil & add new on the top.

might still be mold. some of it looks like cotton balls. but, if it is buggies, you can use a mild dish soap solution in the plants. won't hurt them.

Thank you both, I will try anything and everything...

mild dish soap works for foliage really well... but i have a similar problem.. i find that it's actually mineral build up due to the water. what i do is just let the water sit out on the counter for about 24hrs ... since i started doing that it has stopped.. and it sounds like the same problem your decribing... however if it is bugs i suggest the above... except i'd completely re-pot with all new soil and throw the old soil out.. depending on the health of the plant...

All this yes, and isolate these plants from any others you may have. That way if anything does crawl out while you're gone, it wont crawl into the others.

Remove the affected soil and replace it. I like to use a botanical pyrethrin spray on my plants (especially my succulents - they seem more prone to bugs).