Question
Hi Darlene & thank you very much for your prompt answer. I realise that Master Gardeners aren't horticulturists but no one gets to become a Master Gardener without going through a program & having many years of hands-on experience.

It's encouraging to hear that none of your plants have died from mealybug infestations. This all developed in the late fall so I haven't had a chance to get my plants outside yet as I do every summer. Outside, I can really treat them properly & give them a good blast from a hose.

Since you know houseplants well, you'll understand when I say some of mine are quite large. I have various ficus, a dracaena, & 2 Monstera deliciosa that are all taller than me; plus a number of vines & hanging plants that are very large too. I have difficulty getting them into the bath tub to spray, let alone fitting them under a kitchen tap! (-:

While I haven't found that mealybugs 'killed' any of my plants, I've found that they've weakened a few to the point where the leaves were badly misshapen & fell off, & fungal/viral diseases were able to affect them. I had to throw out a huge Crassula argentea (jade plant) & a large sized coffee tree. I threw out some smaller ones that aren't easy to treat but easier to replace too. It's just that I can't very well propagate new plants for sale if I have mealybugs. I'm thoroughly disgusted with the nursery that spread it. I told them of the problem but they've done nothing to remedy it.

One recipe I've read of that's supposed to be effective for any insect pests is to gather as many as one possibly can & whir them in a blender with water & spray the strained solution onto the plants. It's supposed to repel the type infesting the plants or trigger some sort of defense mechanism in plant or insect. Have you ever tried this? I'm not at all a squeamish person so it wouldn't bother me in the least to do if it works. I'd like to hear your opinion on this.

If I'm able to rid myself of these mealybugs for once & all, I'll let you know so you can use it for your plants too.

Judy

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Followup To
Question -
I have a problem with mealybugs & wish some specific advice. I have an extensive plant collection & would like to use some of them to propagate more plants to sell. With mealybugs now, it's out of the question. They're a devil to get rid of & many times, it's recommended to throw out any infested plants. The trouble is when I brought the plant in with them, they must've been just starting & it wasn't noticeable. I normally will isolate new plants but I thought this one had come from a reliable nursery. Now I know better for future purchases of any new plants. I can't exactly get rid of infested plants as ones I think are fine will later show mealybugs. I'd have to throw all my plants out & I'm not ready to do such drastic measures - yet. I have over 58 species & many more cultivars of some of these species. As I said, my collection is fairly large. Some are quite mature & large plants too.

I've tried the standard procedures - soap & alcohol spray with redoing in a week or so, cotton Q-tips with alcohol on individual bugs, hand squishing, & isolation of plants but no matter how diligent I try to be, a few must remain & return. Some of the plants are very large & not easy to move about either. Others are sensitive to alcohol & can't be treated with it. I try to treat the soil too, in case any fall & remain there or are low, just below soil surface on the trunks or stems. I'm not ignorant of plant science or mealybug life cycle & the diff kinds.

Just this once, I wish I could use a systemic poison to treat them but because I'm not a licensed grower, I can't get a hold of any. I want to point out that I live in Canada & laws are changing making it difficult to impossible for ordinary gardeners to buy insecticides & herbicides (which I agree with on the whole).
I have three questions I'd like to ask.
Would nicotine in tobacco tea be absorbed into a plant's system or would it only remain in the soil if I were to water with it too?
If I were to make a tisane (tea) of tobacco & spray my plants with it, would that kill the mealybugs better than what's commercially available to me?
Have you any other advice that I may not have heard of before (I have done extensive reading & searching on the internet for extra info)?

I'm asking a few others on AllExperts too, hoping that I can find an answer. I hope asking a few different people with professional experience might be better than asking one or two who considered themselves horticultural "experts" as some don't have the basic understanding of plant sciences.

with much appreciation for any help you can offer,
Judy Wilkins
Answer -
Judy,

I too have severe problems with mealy bugs. I swear they come from nowhere. They do seem to like some plants more than others. I have never tried tobacco tea on them but I feel it is worth a shot. Here is a recipe I found on the web for this purpose:
Recipe
-Takes 3 fingers of regular chewing tobacco and place it in the end of a nylon. Use this as a teabag and steep the tobacco in 1 cup of water for approximately 20 minutes.

-Take the 1 cup of tobacco tea and add it to 1 cup of antiseptic mouthwash. The antiseptic works just like alcohol does in store-bought insecticides.

-Add 1 cup of Murphy's Oil soap to the mixture. The soap literally suffocates the bugs by coating their body and preventing them from breathing. The soap also helps the mixture to stick to the leaves and prevents diluting from the rain.

-To use your homemade insecticide, use 2 tablespoons of mixture to 1 gallon of water. If you wish to use all of the mixture, dilute it with 20 gallons of water.

Word of caution
Please remember that this is a very powerful insecticide. Do not alter the recipe. It is also important that the insecticide not be used on food plants. Spray your garden discriminately with the insecticide, as you do not wish to kill beneficial bugs or harm the birds that may eat the bugs.

Judy, I hope that helps you. One note of consolation, I have fought mealy bugs for years now and never had them kill a plant, even with heavy infestations. I have found one of the best things is just to wash the plant with plain water in my kitchen sink with the sprayer. A sharp stream of water will wash all the insects off and it takes time for them to get bad again.  In the summer my plants go outdoors and mealy bugs are not such a problem. Their natural enemies seem to help. Also the plants are the healthiest there and mealy bugs seem to like the most stressed plants.

Most of my plants winter over on my enclosed back porch and a few winters ago I had a lot of Japanese Lady bugs get in on my porch for the winter. That winter I had the least problems with the mealy bugs that I have had in a long time so now, in the fall I try to find nests of lady bugs and take them into the back porch. If you use a greenhouse you need to get some for your greenhuse. They can be purchased, check online.

I am not a horticulturist but I have been a Master Gardener for Purdue University for 18 years. I raise a lot of houseplants and bonsai trees. My reccommendations are from my experience.

Good luck.
Darlene

Answer
Judy,

I've heard of using that for insect with larval worms but not with mealy bugs. I think it would be worth a shot if you can gather enough to be effective.

Maybe you should try that spray alternately with the tobacco tea spray.

I usually manage to keep the mealy bugs at bay with just a straight alcohol spray enough to get them to summer even on my large jade, then it goes outside and mother nature seems to take over and the mealy bugs disappear. When I bring them back in in the fall they are usually ok till around Christmas then I start seeing mealy bugs again and bring the alcohol spray bottles out again. I try to spray everything that has mealy bugs well at least twice a week.

I really beleive the trick is to be consistant about spraying at least twice a week and to get the spray to the tops and bottoms of all leaves. I've not found any plants sensitive to straight 70% rubbing alcohol spray, even jades.

The mealy bugs do tend to like the succulent plants and geraniums better than anything else so I really make sure I spray them well. I have resorted on a few plants to a granular systemic but haven't found that it helps much. Either my plants aren't taking it up like they are supposed to or the insects ignore it.

If you try tobacco tea or bug juice let me know how it seems to do. Good luck.

Darlene