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Help! In 40 years I have never had mealybugs and now I seem to be supplying the whole west coast with them...I have been running around with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip to little avail...insecticidal soaps seem to be too hard on the foliage ...and I am afraid to use a systemic because of their reaction to the soaps. I have been cutting out and destroying affected plants as well as using the Q-tip method..but this is an indoor 'garden' of about 100 different succulents in a long (20') planter--kept dry and in the sun...What do you suggest that I do? Is there anyway of cleaning this mess up without starting over? The plants are not all covered and not all affected with the mealybugs...but with mealybugs they seem to spread so fast that I am afraid to leave this alone for more than 48 hours...And I have been keeping it under control daily for about 5 months now..but I never seem to win:(
DaBenDan, I share your fustration with mealybugs. Forget the cotton swab method unless you want to dedicate your life to this pursuit. Mealies are just too good at hiding in nooks and crannies for this to be effective. I tried using a neem spray on my collection of assorted succulents. It worked, but was hard on the foliage - removed the lovely gray bloom, or simply caused the leaves to drop off. I may have overdone the neem spray. I wanted to use up all the spray I mixed, so I really soaked the plants. I tried systemics. They work for a time too, but you have to keep re-applying. I worry about the residual effect of this much pesticide on me when I handle the plants and the soil, so I gave up on that method. I found insecticidal soap to be the best solution. It works, and there is no concern about poisoning myself along with the bugs. If you are having trouble with leaf damage the problem is probably phytotoxicity. Can you protect your plants from the sun while you treat them? I keep my plants under fluorescent lights and did not have problems with leaf damage. I can only assume that the lower intensity of the artificial light protected my plants from this problem. By the way I'd love to see a picture of your 20' long planter. It sounds spectacular. Good luck.
