I have quite a few houseplants.. and some are very old. I have never had issues with pests before (luckily) until now. First it was scale on my scheff, tried many cures and finally took the drastic cure and hacked off all the branches and repotted it in clean soil. Now, I have two plants with mealy bugs. Never saw them before, but read about them enough on here, that as soon as I saw those fuzzy white spots, I knew. I hauled the infected plants outside and will probably just toss them, but here is my question...

I have done a few google searches on ways to prevent pests on houseplants and while I am sure none are 100% effective, which ones are the best? I have read about mixing peppermint and water, garlic and hot peppers with water, some herbal tea and various others. Can these be applied regularly.. like once a week with a spray bottle? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I also cross posted this question on the Houseplant forum.

Again... thank you to anyone who can offer advice.