I've always had good success with Neem Oil, an organic product. It's available as a concentrate and also in a ready to use spray bottle.

It's especially important to cover the bottoms of the leaves and to spray about every three days for a week or two to gain good control.

When using a hand held sprayer I have to manually lean the plant over and spray with the other hand to get coverage on the underside of the leaves. If using a hose end sprayer the strong blast to the sides of the plants will usually cause the solution to bounce around enough to cover the underside.

The Gillmour hose end sprayer is a very good brand. If after using you hold the nozzel open and spray into it with WD40 to keep the metal insides from rusting it will last for years and years.

I've used Rose Pharm peppermint oil insecticide with great success, but only on potted plants. I've not tried it on plants in the ground. I'm wondering if they're hiding in the mulch. Maybe try pulling the mulch back and/or soaking it as well? Spraying it, stirring it, spraying, stirring, until you get all surfaces covered. And spray nearby plants as well ~ they could be hiding on them.

Are you being meticulous in saturating all the hidey-holes where the little &$%#^%s hide? You've got to really soak all leaf nodes, both sides of the leaves, all along the stem and anywhere else they can slip down into. Even if it looks too small for them to hide in, spray it anyway ~ an immature one could be in there. When I don't take the time to really make sure the peppermint oil gets all down in those little crevices, the little jerks come back. Every. Time. Grrrrrr...

If you have an especially tall, full plant where it's almost impossible to make sure you get all the cracks and crevices, you may have to cut it back severely, then spray.

Jamie, this has been the worst year ever for me. I have even sat out with soap and hand squished them all on everything. They started on the Turk's Cap and then went everywhere, even on the weeds. I battle them every day, I have honestly never seen anything like this before.
I wish I could tell you something that has worked
jolana

I would have thanked y'all for the suggestions

Jolana and Knittlin, it looks like we were all posting at about the same time.

I appreciate the suggestion on using peppermint oil as I have not tried it.

Sounds like fun to spray with something that smells as good as peppermint!

Yeah, it was a pile-on to see who could answer first! LOL!

The peppermint oil is great stuff. I've not tried it, but I think the neem oil would likely work well, too ~ I know it zaps aphids nicely (peppermint oil does as well btw).

Try a product that contains Imidacloprid. I dilute my termite strength to less than 1%. Use a sticker with it. Imidia wacks them for a month or more is is also systemic so future sucking insect get poisoned also. I always use systemics if I have to spray. It is better to spot control right than kill everything but your target.

Imidia kills everything but mites.

Here is a link that might be useful: Imidacloprid

I think that's called nuking them! LOL! According to the link Imidacloprid is moderately toxic which is a bit too toxic for me to want to use it.

From the link provided above:

"Studies on rats indicate that the thyroid is the organ most affected by Imidacloprid. Thyroid lesions occurred in male rats at a Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level of 16.9 mg/kg/day.

"In France, its use has become controversial in terms of a possible link to derangement of behavior in domesticated honeybees. See Imidacloprid effects on bee population. In relation to this, Germany has banned seed treatment related to neonicotinoids, in May 2008, due to negative effects upon bee colonies."

Years ago I used a systemic for aphids on daylilies. I had forgotten about it until a couple of weeks later having read about using daylily buds in salads and stir frying I popped one in my mouth. It tasted really weird and then I remembered the systemic I'd used. I had already swallowed it ... yuk! I never used a systemic again.

I wonder what it does to the pollen and nector that bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects depend on? I posted that question once but nobody knew. Since then it has been strongly implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder and I think France has banned it now as well as Germany.

From the link posted above:

"Imidacloprid is receiving increased attention as a possible factor in Colony Collapse Disorder, a mysterious condition that causes sudden death of honey bee populations. Mass die-offs of bees threaten pollination of food crops in the USA and Europe."

Seven dust is another bad one and has been proven to kill whole colonies of bees when foraging honey bees bring it back to the hive after collecting nector and pollen from plants that it has been used on. And to think I used to use it as flea powder on my dogs!

Jeep, I hope my post above did not come across as an attack on you when you only wanted to be helpful. As stated above I used to use some pretty strong insecticides myself. After all they were widely advertised and found right up front by the cash registers at lots of plant nurseries and allowed by the government so I figured they must be okay.

But I can even remember thinking along the lines of "I don't care what this chemical does to the environment or me 40 years down the road, I just want to stop this black spot on my roses, or bugs on my beans, RIGHT NOW!"

It was only after becoming aware of the harm some chemicals can have on ALL the life that depends on the land, rivers, and seas, that I stopped using them and found plants in the garden actually did better.

When allowed to live the good bugs do a more effective job at controlling the bad bugs than I ever could. More careful section of rose varieties resistant to black spot helped solved that problem without the use of chemicals, etc..

Occasionally when something takes over like the mealy bugs we use the milder organic sprays, or perhaps row covers, or hand picking, or whatever is known to do less harm and work as well and often much better! Anyway thanks for your input. All are welcome here.

"I wonder what it does to the pollen and nector that bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects depend on? I posted that question once but nobody knew."

Imidacloprid, being a systemic, infiltrates all parts of the plant, including the pollen and nectar.

It's thought that imidacloprid and other neuro-toxic pesticides don't kill bees but affect their foraging ability and disorient them so they can't find their way back to the hive. This could explain why Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) shows up mainly as an absence of bees ~ no bodies in the hive, no signs of where they went, just no or few bees.

Many tests and studies have been done on whether imidacloprid et al really affect bees negatively ~ some have shown they don't affect them while others have shown they do. I surely could be wrong, but I think the discrepancy can be attributed to which bees were being tested/studied ~ healthy hives or stressed ones. Some bee colonies are more stressed than others so are more susceptible to any new stressor, such as small amounts of imidacloprid. Healthy colonies, ones that aren't dealing with an infestation (or chemical treatment) of varroa mites or who aren't trucked for miles to the next crop, can deal with a new problem fairly easily, while ones that are sick or moved regularly or already dealing with many other toxins probably can't. This would explain why it's mostly commercial bee hives that are affected while wild, backyard or organic hives aren't so much.

So I don't agree with those who think that imidacloprid and other pesticides are THE cause of CCD, but I do believe they are another straw on the back of an already worn out and overloaded camel.

Thank for the suggestions. I appreciate the conversation about Imidacloprid too. Although I feel about ready to pull out the nuclear option, I do have a cat who wanders in the yard and occasionally nibbles on things, so I guess I'll forego that option. I usually prefer organic methods, so I'll try the neem or peppermint oil and just try to be extra thorough. I hadn't really thought about spraying the ground too. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks they've just gone crazy this year.

Okay, I bought more Neem oil and used it and they are still around.
Knittlin, the two nurseries closest to me do not sell Peppermint Oil. They had other Pharm products but said they never order peppermint. This is why I go to other nurseries, lol

Does anyone know of a nursery in Round Rock or Pflugerville that sells it

Jamie, how did you use the neem? And have you actually seen them move? It may look like they're still there even though they're dead because they so seldom move in the first place. And sometimes it'll take a couple-three applications to get rid of all of them.

We sell Pharm peppermint oil at the Natural Gardener. And ask at the info desk what else would work ~ they may can recommend something they've used with success.

This is Jolana, but I will tell you about my mealys
There could just be way too many and it will take a while.
Or they are mutants and immune. I have been spraying soap for weeks
Thanks for the info

Sorry, Jolana! *blush* Yeah, it's probably going to take a while to get rid of all of them. At the nursery, when we have an infestation, we have to do repeated sprayings along with a bit of hand picking (a rag helps wipe them off). If we get a flat of annuals, we just trash the whole flat since it's such a pita to fight them.

Well I just sprayed with the neem oil, so we'll see how well it works. I tried to be very thorough, but I've got alot of Turk's Cap which the little buggers are infesting, so I imagine it'll take a few rounds.
BTW, Jolana--I'm in Pflugerville and I got the neem oil at Green 'n Growing, but they didn't have any peppermint oil. I don't know about other shops on this side of town. I haven't had luck with the insectidal soaps before with mealy bugs, but it does seem to knock out aphids.

Jamie, thank you, I was going to head to G&G today.
Did you see any sales while you were there? I could pretend I didn't read the peppermint part and still drive that far for cheap plants, lol

Jolana, I just went inside to get the neem oil since I was in a hurry and didn't check out the plants (very rare for me) and so I didn't notice if there were any sales. I think I'll have to go back for more neem oil--I used up almost all of it on one round, and the little pests are still not dying yet. Did I say how much I hate these buggers?

This is a bad year for them. I couldn't figure out what that white plant was, figured out it was the hibiscus covered with mealy bugs!
I'm off to search for peppermint oil next week.
I don't use any pesticides and never any systemics. They kill everything. And I spend too much time talking to people who drank it or their kid drank it or the dog ate the grass after they sprayed it..
Tally HO!