What's eating my aeonium haworthii?

Pinwheel Aeonium is grown both indoors and outdoors and faces mealybugs as its most consistent indoor pest. Scale insects attach to the branching stems. Outdoors, aphids cluster in the rosette centre and vine weevil grubs attack roots. The multi-branching habit creates many stem joints where mealybugs easily go unnoticed between checks.

White cottony wax at stem forks and leaf axils; leaves yellow and the plant looks generally weak Treat each colony with isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab; spray diluted neem oil over the whole plant weekly for 3–4 weeks

Hard round bumps cemented to stems and leaf midribs; lower leaves yellow and honeydew coats surfaces below Scrape off manually; treat with horticultural oil or isopropyl alcohol; repeat in 10–14 days

Soft insects clustered in the rosette and on new shoot tips; distorted growth and sooty mold Remove with a water jet; apply insecticidal soap solution once a week; continue for 3 weeks

Root-eating grubs cause sudden wilting and plant collapse, especially in containers Apply parasitic nematodes to moist soil in late summer; check root ball when repotting in spring