Remedy for Little White Bugs on Angel Trumpet Plants

Aphid Remedy

• When you think of aphids, you may think of little green bugs, but in some cases they appear as small, white dots on your angel trumpet. Spray your angel trumpet down with neem oil. Spray the tops and the bottoms of the leaves as well as the flowers, as the treatment will not hurt the plant. This treatment should be repeated weekly or bi-weekly for several weeks since neem oil kills only the aphids that are present when the plant is sprayed.

Managing Mealybugs

• Mealybugs are small, white bugs that look like tiny pieces of fluffy cotton. They tend to feed on the underside of angel trumpet leaves, but they may also infect the roots and become visible at the base of the plant. Mealybugs can be washed off of small houseplant-sized angel trumpets with tepid water. Repot the plant in fresh soil to prevent reinfection. If your plant is too big to be rinsed off, wipe affected areas down with rubbing alcohol to kill the bugs. Repeat the process two or three times over the course of a week to kill off all of the bugs. Do not treat parts of the plant that are not infected.

White Fly Remedy

• White flies start out as little white specks (eggs) on the underside of Angel Trumpet leaves. Once they hatch, you will see them crawling around or they may fly out of the leaves when they are disturbed. They can kill a plant quickly, so it is important to act fast. Spray the plant down with a mild soap solution. Dilute the soap in tepid water so that you have 1 tbsp. of liquid soap for 1 cup of water. The soap solution will not kill the plant, but it will kill the white flies. Treat your plant two or three times a week until the flies are gone. White flies can also be killed with rubbing alcohol, but since they may temporarily depart the plant while you are rubbing it down this tends to be less effective than a soap spray.

Safety

• While rubbing alcohol and soaps are not toxic to humans and pets, the angel trumpet plant itself can make children or pets who eat it quite ill. Neem oil is generally considered to be safe and non-toxic, but when ingested in concentrated form it can make children ill. It is also unsafe for consumption by pregnant women. Keep your angel trumpet away from pets and children.