IiSpankyii wrote:

Hi. Im having a small problem with Mealys, and not having much luck with
alcohol, or pyrethrins. I sprayed a mealy with Ortho Tomato and Vegy spray,
and it contains .02% pyrethrins. Checked back and hour later, and the little
sucker had wandered to a different part of the leaf. Still alive. So I tried
the alcohol on the end of a Qtip, and checked back an hour later, it was still
alive. Im doing this in my basement, so I dont want to use anything too toxic.
Does anyone have an idea what will kill these critters? I want something I
can spray, and not hurt me or the plants. I appreciate any ideas you all might
have. Thanks in advance



You put 70% isopropyl alcohol directly on a mealybug and it lived?
Superbug!! I don't think that is possible. If you tried some other
kind of alcohol (ethanol), then maybe. Make sure you are using rubbing
alcohol straight out of the bottle. You can spray that on the plant,
which you should do after you do the Q-tip routine. I promise there are
more that you can't see. They love to hide in the base of leaves, and
some hide in the potting mix too. Best to spray every four or 5 days
for a few weeks, just to make sure you get them all. Even if you don't
see any, spray anyway.

So, why so gentle, anyway? You can squish mealybugs... I wouldn't
bother putting anything on a q-tip to kill one, I'd just squish it. You
can probably even squish it with a q-tip, or a pencil eraser, or
something, if you don't want to get bug guts on your fingers.

Rob

--
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1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
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