(The first sign of mealybugs on November 14th. The small mealybug pests are bright write, small, and hard to get in focus with my digital camera.)
The China Doll Plant or Radermachia sinica that I had purchased for $1.25 in the middle of September to grow at my office (read about it here as well as in a later post) has unfortunately become the breeding ground for what appears to be mealybugs. This is the first work plant to be killed off by a pest.

I had noticed that the plant had a few mealybugs on it a few weeks ago and decided that the plant was a lost cause so I placed it in a different room to be quarantined so that I could eventually throw it into the trash. However, I got busy with work, then Thanksgiving came along, so yesterday I remembered that I needed to throw the plant away.

(December 5th: The mealybugs are now larger and covered with a hard outer shell. Click on the photo for a larger, more detailed view.)
In the meantime, at our work we have a cleaning lady that comes once a week who also seems to like plants but she does not speak that much English so I cannot really talk about plants with her. Anyway, the other day I noticed her leaving the room where the China Doll plant was left to die, as well another small empty office near that which also has a few of my plants, and what she had an empty bottle in her hand. What could she have been doing with that, I thought to myself. Sure enough, I went and checked on the plants when she left and noticed that she had watered all of them, even though I had just watered most of them the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and then the others on Monday. If I had not noticed that she had watered them again that day, I would have over-watered them since it was not in my normal watering schedule and they were still wet about a quarter-of-an-inch down.

All of my other plants which are not infested with mealybugs or other pests are doing great and do not need to be over-watered. From now on I will try to make sure all of the watering of my plants is done by me!

Regardless, I did not want to take the time to try to nurse the China Doll plant back to full health so it has been discarded. Additionally, the plant which was growing next to it for several weeks, the Chrysalidocarpus lutescens (Areca Palm) was not doing the best either and was thrown away.

(Strelitzia reginae on the left and Monstera deliciosa on the right)
Our Monstera deliciosa and Strelitzia reginae ("Bird of Paradise") that we purchased at a local grocery store, as you may have read about in the post about reaching our milestone of 100 plants, are both recovering from spider mite infestations. I noticed the first sign of spider mites on the Monstera deliciosa one afternoon while I was watering and pruning the plant, and I promptly sprayed the plant with my handy Safer's Insecticidal Soap. I quarantined the plant for several weeks, spraying the plant every 7 to 10 days with a new coating of the insecticidal soap, and the plant currently looks like it is free from spider mites. It is currently at our new house and seems to be growing just fine, but it remains quarantined from the rest of the house plants. The side angle of the Monstera above might not adequately show the true health of the plant since the picture makes it look somewhat flattened out. In reality, when the plant is viewed from the top the leaves and the rest of the plant look relatively healthy. If it does end up dying then I will likely purchase another one.

The Strelitzia reginae or "Bird of Paradise", which had been growing at Annah's apartment was apparently the perfect breeding ground for hundreds of spider mites. Neither of us had really noticed them until I lifted up the plant in preparation for the move. Instead of moving it right away, I once again used my Safer's Insecticidal Soap and quarantined it for a few weeks since we had a month to move everything out of her apartment. The last day of the month finally came in August and it has been at the new house ever since. It appears to be free of the spider mites, but it is still quarantined next to the Monstera deliciosa just as a precaution.

I am guessing that each of these plants were infected with a few spider mites at the time of purchase and then the growing conditions we were providing the plant were perfect for the spider mites to thrive. I had inspected the plant upon purchasing, but apparently I did not inspect it as thoroughly as I had thought. I will have to be more thorough next time so this will not happen again.