I must confess I am battling mealybugs in my sun room. The little buggers are mostly attacking the clivia lilies, amaryllis, and aloe plants. I think they hitched a ride on some African violets that I got at either WalMart or Frank’s or maybe a jade plant that I bought on clearance. Those violets and the jade plant perished last year and I took measures to clean things up, but I see I’ve not quite finished the job.
Of particular concern to me right now is one of the clivia’s. I’ve noticed the mealy bugs hide down in the crevices around the ‘crown’ of the plant, where it is difficult to see them until the plant starts to show serious decline. I’ve sprayed with a pyrethrium (sp) spray a few times. I’m not sure it is helping, so my next step may be to totally cleanse the plant by repotting it, and while it is ‘bare rooted’, give it a thorough washing then repot it in a new pot with fresh potting soil. Not a task that will be easy, especially in the winter when I can’t just do it all outside. But, I think it must be done soon.
I’m just grateful that for whatever reason, the orchids and night-blooming cereus seem to not be infested. Gads, what a mess!
I feel your pain, Carol. As you may or may not know, I have had a problem with them on my new orchid, which leads me to believe they came in with that orchid. So far, I’ve not seen them on anything else, but I’m keeping a close watch. Good luck with yours!