i have mealy bugs!! help.

i have mealy bugs on many of my plants: ponytail palms, schiefflera, button fer, ficus elastica, aloe vera, draceana tricolor, pothos... what should i do? ive tried soapy water for weeks and it got worse so i went to an insecticidal soap from lowes and its still there! how often should i be spraying? am i doing something wrong? i want these bugs gone, all help is appreciated!

I usually take a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol and use that to wipe them off the plant. Check the label on your insecticidal soap--does it list mealybugs as something it's effective against? If it does then most of the ones you're seeing very well could be dead. The corpses won't go anywhere unless you clean them off the plant so I'd start by giving the plants a good cleaning, then keep an eye out to see if any come back.

Use the insectcide soap then 5 days after use an insecticide. Use then 5-7 days after the soap again and for safe insurance, use insecticide. Mealy bugs can be real nasty and you have to keep up the 5-7 days for at least 3-4 times inorder to get the bugs and their eggs. Alcohol does work if you are patient enough to keep doing it. Also look into a systemic that goes into the soil to help protect. (only will work better if you do after getting rid of mealy bugs.) Remember not to do any of this in the house as they are chemicals.

im pretty patient and seeing as i tried the insecticidal soap ( i realized i had bought an insecticide as well and was using that as well) close to what tapla said, ill try the alcohol. you guys said something about it going into the soil? im still learning all the plant lingo, so i apologize. thanks so much guys, i hope this kills them!

To clarify since I think you may have misunderstood...the alcohol does not get put into the soil (doing that would be bad for your plant). Alcohol will kill bugs that it comes in contact with, that's why the q-tip approach can be effective since you apply it right on the bugs. Tish was referring to a different type of insecticide called a systemic insecticide which can be applied to the soil and is absorbed through the roots and will continue to be effective for some period of time. Bayer makes one called Bayer 3-in-1 and there are probably other brands as well--imidacloprid is the active ingredient. There's a version of it to pour in the soil (this is intended for use on plants in the garden, although I think some people use it for containers as well), and there's also a spray form. If you decide to try it, I would strongly encourage you to take the plants outside to apply it--I don't think breathing too many of the fumes is good for you.

sweet thanks so much, ill be trying the alcohol in the coming days, i also found several scale on my plants. i cant win, haha. will alcohol kill them too? how often should i be doing this?

what exactly the kind of insecticidal soap are you using? Make sure you get the underneath of leaves, top and stem. But you need to keep doing this every 5 to 7 days til the cycle of bugs and eggs are gone. If it is that bad, just use plastic gloves and a few days after using the insecticidal soap, wipe leaves and use q tips with alcohol to wipe off the eggs. I would still get an insecticide (it is different than the soap) and rotate the use of the soap and the insecticide. I agree with ecrane3 , do all this outside in the fresh air.

Insecticidal soap is an insecticide...is there a particular other type that you recommend rotating with it?

Mealy bugs have a waxy hard shell that if you do not treat right, sometimes doesn't penetrate through the shell. Use the insecticidal soap (which does have a insecticide in it but not strong enough to kill the mealy bugs) to break through shell and then use a insect killer.

I use garden safe insecticidal soap first then garden safe insect killer next. It is VERY important to break through the waxy shell and keep it up to kill the babies every 5 -7 days. (for at least 3 or 4 times) Or use the alcohol with the insecticidal soap and insect killer. Even though it says garden safe use outside.

have you tried dish soap/soapy water and vinger? try that twice a day

Be careful with the vinegar--it can kill plants (some people use it as an organic weed killer). It works better as a weedkiller at higher concentrations so if you use it diluted it probably won't kill your plant but personally I'd stick with the dish soap or an insecticide of some sort.