Ok. So I have an Aphelandra Squarrosa in a 4in pot, not very tall, only a few inches and it looks wonderful. No flowers, but the leaves are bright and healthy. However, I seem to be having a reoccuring mealy bug problem. Perhaps I'm not doing the right things to get rid of them for good so this is what I have done.

I have sprayed with regular water, then whiped them off (obviously didn't get 'em all). The came back 2 days later so I used alcohol this time and whiped them off...didn't get them all again 'cause they were back two days later again so I tried water and alcohol one after the other and they're back again. Is there some sort of insect spray I should be using instead?

My mother had an Aphelandra, a big one and it got mealy bugs and I used alcohol on it and it worked...so I'm not sure why it's not working for mine...any help would be great. I really like this plant!

Thank you!