rue and some improve

I noticed the other day my stevia in the basement window was looking peaky, and the little rue plants had leaves curled downward. I picked up a rue to look closer, and fine white fluffy bit were on the stems, leaf undersides, a few flew up. Mealy bug perhaps? something tiny and definitely unwanted. I took them upstairs and sprayed heavily with soap/oil water mixture, let sit for a while, rinsed off.

Today the rue looks better- I couldn't find any fluffy bits, and some of the leaves are straightening out. Younger foliage on the stevia also looks better, the older leaves that were damaged by pest probably will fall off.

In the upstairs window, my ice plant is still rather scrawny, and separated from the others. I picked it up to douse with soapy water also for good measure, and noticed it didn't drop leaves at being jostled, like before. Started spraying when I saw movement- a small black/grey freckled wolf spider. It was housekeeping in the center of the plant, and probably responsible for the ice plant's recovery- eating the pest! I tipped the spider into a cup, rinsed the ice plant off, returned the spider to its home. Glad.