When your prickly pear and cholla cactus begin to be covered with white sticky mounds, it means you have a cochineal problem. The white sticky mounds are actually the housing for cochineal bugs. When these first start to appear it is best to spray them off the cactus pads with a power nozzle at the end of your hose. If the infestation begins to get out of control, I suggest treating the areas by scrubbing them with insecticidal soap from Home Depot or unscented dish soap. In small areas you can scrub with a tooth brush but for larger areas it is best to use a long handled brush.  

During the winter months the most effective method of cochineal eradication is to spray with Volck Oil spray (dormant season insect killer) which can be purchased from Home Depot during winter months only. I prefer this method of eradication because no scrubbing is required in order to kill the cochineal insects. 

Below you will see examples of cochineal eradication on prickly pear cacti.

Click on the small image to see a larger photo.

 

For more detailed information on this topic contact: TheCactusDocotorAZ@gmail.com

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