I wish you all the luck to get rid of those mealies.I have so far been very lucky I have not seen an mealies yet this summer but oh boy I had them last winter.

Cindy

How do you know when you have mealies? Are they outright visible? I dont think I have ever had mealies on my plants - so I am not sure what to look for...

Yep, they are pretty big (for Hoya pests anyway), and white, so they stick out. Usually from a distance it looks like a whisp of cotton ball got stuck to your plant or something.

Check out the picture of the Formica Fusca ants tending a herd of mealybugs halfway down the page (link below). That's exactly the sight you should be on the lookout for.

Once I had a very small infestation of root mealies on a new shipment of plants. I noticed it b/c the plants just didn't seem to be thriving and when I checked the roots, I saw a bug. They weren't crawling around on the rest of the plant that time.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wiki: Mealybug

Ewww. I hate mealies. My problem tho is those darn aphids. I used to sit at the kitchen sink and use hot water to wash those buggers off my H. Retusa. My Retusa is a tough little one, been thru hot water and soap baths. Then I finally used insect spray to eliminate the buggers. Now she's putting out a bud!

TPie

They are sticky too. If you see white sticky stuff in the nooks where the leaves meet the stems, then you have a mealy problem. I spray them with alcohol from a spray bottle. If you have a compacta with them, you can use that product called "scrubbing bubbles". It foams up & will get in all the little curley folds better. They seem to attact to plants where there is vary little air movement so it sometimes help to run fans near your plants. It also helps to have the plants outside in the summer as the air movement I think helps keep them away.
Oh, and if you spray with alcohol...keep the plant out of direct sun until it is dry again.

Well I washed Nikki today and here's how she looks. I had a heck of a time getting her out of the hanger and I couldn't get her back in so I'm gonna leave her as a trailing plant. She couldn't be happier though, take a look why :).

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Brad,

That's a good start. Now you need to watch them closely or repeat this process in about 6-7 days because the process doesn't necessarily kill the eggs or larvae. It's a huge hassle to control them on large, multi-stemmed plants like your carnosa and you have to be very diligent or they come right back. But you're doing a great job by staying away from the systemics for as long as possible. I'm going to try the product Joni talked about in another post. Although what little systemic I've used has been (for the most part) inside, I don't want to do anything to bring detriment to our pollinating friends...

On a postive note, I found a Ladybug in my GH today! Other than buying a "pint" of Ladybugs, I'd like to figure out how to get a small colony going in my GH. But because my GH is attached to the house, I'd have them in the house, too, which would be ok with me, but my hubby isn't a "bug" person and would probably have a cow. But there's nothing quite like the "circle of life" to keep the bugs in check!

Denise in Omaha

I once kept about 30-50 ladybugs alive over the winter in a large fishbowl topped with a sheer scarf. I fed them Cheerios (I really don't know why except that I had it on hand and they actually seemed to eat it) and gave them fresh water in a film canister lid regularly. They kept getting in the house in large numbers the one year, and it was getting below freezing out, so I guess I figured they didn't have anything to lose, either they'd freeze outside or get back in the house and die inside in vast numbers like they had been up to that point. I released them all outside in the spring once the weather warmed up and there was little danger of frost. It was a strange experiment but I kept the majority alive.

That's a lovely huge carnosa, Brad. Nikki's looking good!

Thank you everyone!

Denise, well the next time I wash it, it should be easier since now I wound it around a small trellis lol. She's a little more contained than what she used to be and I like the look of a hanging plant better, but c'est la vie. I'll keep an eye out for them as always.

Quinn, I forgot about ladybugs! I do remember that they prey on the mealies! I'm just so happy that it's finally gonna bloom!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Brad,
You dunked the pots in soapy water, for 10 whole minutes????
alba in Hawthorne

Yes I did! That was the advice given to me here by several members and they've had great results with it. I'm going to keep it up for the rest of the growing season. The water was warm, mind you, not boiling hot. I didn't want to shock my plants. Another good thing is that it gets the dust off of the leaves.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Brad,
Ok, I'm going to try it too. I have a mealy problem too and it just doesn't seem to end...mealies are such rascals..
alba in hawthorne