Heres the now pic.

I feel your pain! I have been doing this for about four years now. Each winter I have fought with bugs. The first three spider mites and this year the mealies! Glad you are going to keep going with the hobby. I would still check the trade section, I think in the spring you could still get some things for just postage. last year was the first year I traded and found everyone on here I dealt with to be very generous. You might also keep an eye on local type sites like craigslist. Last year I stalked my area for plant racks and ended up with two full set ups, rack and lights for next to nothing. I see people putting plants on there often as well.

with all this talk of acquiring new, I will mention that acquiring these mealies has renewed my interest in quarantining new plants before throwing them into the general population.

I tried spraying and washing. Hurts plants more than the mealies did. So I got some advise here and used Bayor Systematic 3 in 1 spray. Use just a little for indoor plants, and spray that. Watch out for pets and any one who might get sick on the smell. Try a small batch and see what it does. Beats the alcohol and soap.
I know some will disagree with me on this, but that is what worked for me.
Stush

Wow, really sorry to see that. Mealies are the worst! I do use rubbing alcohol to control small outbreaks. The problem is, if you see a few mealies, there are lots more that you don't see, setting up colonies in other pots. I also get a build-up of mites and thrips every few months.

I agree with you, Stush. I use the Bayer every few months on everything succulent. I use the 2-way formula instead of the 3-in-1 because it has a higher percentage of imidacloprid. I make sure not to spray the bushes that the bees are attracted to. They seem to be mostly uninterested in my succulent flowers.

I really dont want to buy from ebay and nurseries when I can support the fellow hobbyists.

Most small succulent vendors ARE fellow hobbyists, often just at a very advanced level of experience and knowledge. Just about no one makes more than a modest living--if that--growing and selling succulent plants.

Succulents are happy with neglect here in Southern California. I don't fertilize them very often or water them often. I never saw any with mealy bugs. You are probably a wonderful gardener but I think you are trying to raise plants that are native somewhere else, and its hard to do. I cannot grow lilacs here or peonies, but orchids of all kinds bloom and rebloom here, without a lot of fuss, and so do succulents.
I can grow jade plant indoors but the rest of what you have are outdoor plants here year around.

Hi guy, thank you very much for the responses.

After seeing so many people grow succulents outside and then indoors under light during winter, I thought to take a crack at it. I got the mealy bugs during summer. When I brought them inside and got a closer look, the damage was done. Next time Ill be sure to keep a closer eye. Cali is just succ and plant heaven.

As mentioned, thats another reason why Ive been searching plants that are hardy to zone 5, I want to keep them outside where I have space and forget about them. Like my semps, I love them. I was just a little to caring and stupid to water them during winter.

About the whole ebay and nursery thing, from what Ive seen, their pricing is at or above retail price. Which is no good compared to trading or buying from hobbyist who are getting rid of their clippings. I searched around on ebay for a while but Im tired of seeing $5 + $5 shipping for a common succulent. I also visited a few local nurseries, their succulent selection is poor and just as pricey. I also checked out my local kijiji, nothing. Ill wait till spring before I go into action. I might check out peoples trading list and ask them around. Ive encountered some very generous people here.

Do these containers have holes in the bottom?

Yes they do. I made my own soil mixture as well.

My journal is here, the last post has the pics. I dont like this forum much interms of user friendliness, it seems like an outdated forum. I can post img links everywhere but here. I have a much more detailed journal on TPT. I will post links to both.

Journal on this forum:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cacti/msg0417491026634.html

Journal on TPT:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=260722

Empisis on drainage AKA 'holes on the bottom' as well as your container size in my opinion your container is slightly bigger than anything I would use.

Also realizing your lintro to the hobby of beginner indoor succulent growing. A suggestion would be to go to a crafting store or a locol big box store or garden center to grab a few 3 and 4 inch terra cotta pots. Be confident
smaller pots are going to be alot easier to manage plus terra cotta help plant roots to breath.

Not that you wont have any use for plastic pots in the future my main conceren is the plastic over sized storage/ tote box housing several plants This same tote is very capable and could very easily to hold to much moisture even with make shift punched holes at the bottom for drainage.

I refferance the tote set up as a modge podge. Over time plants that have different needs simply fail. As already said one pest can set you back for all even if they do have close to the same growing habits.

Glad to see you are looking into building up a succulent selection for indoor/outdoor enjoyment .Enjoy aim for quality plants not quantity, this idea later.

"I soap water sprayed the plants and poured isopropyl alcohol for weeks but it was too late." This may have altered the PH of the soil.

Your links:

Journal on this forum:

Journal on TPT:

"I can post img links everywhere but here." It looks like you did this already in the first post of this discussion. You can add as many pics in the same way in subsequent posts as you like, and/or 1 pic per post using the browse button.

Thanks everyone. I really needs to buy new pots atm because I need to plant my pineapple (in a bottle of water) and plant my new succ in a bigger pot. What ever is left of the tray, I should be planting them in individual pots. I just want to sterilize the soil and plants. I did alco and soap the soil and plants again last week. But I dont think its enough.

About the Bayer, is this the thing you guys buy?

http://www.bayeradvanced.com/tree-shrub-care/products/12-month-tree-shrub-protect-feed-ii

This is for mealy right? Ive never seen it at walmart or any other store.

Could be a wally world out of season item, Thinking they would stock it on shelves in spring when the annuals arrive.
If not then try other places mom and pop hardware or other local area garden centers HD, Lowes.

Not on hand here cant really comment should mention read the label even though the reading label suggestion gets under other peoples skin.