I have used a water/alcohol spray and have also used brayer 3-in-1 insect, disease and mite control.

There is a thread here Katrina started about mealies

Edited to add link

CLICK HERE FOR MEALIES

Barb, Wow, you did everything right. Are you sure it's mealies? Could use some sulfur in their watering to help against future rot problems from the sores done by the mealies. Also mouthwash does have some alcohol in it and a light spray will help. I buy from the Dollar store for $1. I would give them another spray with the Bayer 3 in 1 or Bonice systemic like imidacloprid. Please keep us informed.

Could there be a new breed that is immune to systemics?

Stush

I HATE mealies!! As I have mentioned on this forum before shortly after I got into Sans I had an outbreak of these. AWFUL!! They were down below the soil on the roots. I would use the Bayer3 in 1 systemic again also....besides spraying all leaves and crevices take leftover mix and water the soil with it.....drenching all the soil. I have never had a problem with the plants doing this and it gets those below the soil line too.......these were ugly gray mealies not the ones I would expect see on most plants. Yuck!! Keep a CLOSE eye on them all winter too and repeat the spraying periodically.

I think you've covered the bases already Barb, other than using the mouthwash as a spray. I'm a believer in it since it contains a good amount of alcohol and will drip down in the crevices of leaves where Q-tips won't normally get. But the granules should take care of it once the roots take it up.

Your Anth clarinervium is doing really well after a repot mid-summer into a more crunchy mix.

Russ

Thanks for the comments everyone. I guess i better spray again.

Russ, glad to hear that your anturium is happy. I knew it would love Florida.

Robinswfl, I won't use Bayer on most of my outdoor plants due to it also kills bees. We have almost no honeybees around anymore. This is why they were thinking of banding systemic like imidacloprid which is found in Bayer and Bonide. Also Barb used Bayer and I am surprised that it didn't do the job. It should last at least 3 months. I also use Bayer and stopped having any problems with insects. Great stuff.

I think I will make up a gallon of diluted Bayer 3 in 1 and drench those plants. But how much of the concentrate should I use? Thank you everyone for your help.

Myself, I use maybe a 1/2 cup to a gallon but that's only twice a year. If I had a real problem, maybe a cup to a gallon but I don't know? I don't drench, just enough water to wet the soil and maybe spray the foliage. Don't want to waste any and watch for runoff drainage.

Hi Stush, that's a high concentration, I assume you don't see any leaf damage or other side effects.

I like to spray the plant down with a fine but hard spray from the garden hose if I can do it without blowing soil out of the pot. I sometimes unpot and spray the entire plant down, leaves, stems and roots, then pot with fresh mix and water with Bayer. This will get all mealies except maybe those down deep where petioles join the stem.

Good luck with it Barb, let us know how it goes.

Russ

I did a little research on diluting the Bayer 3 in 1.

2.67 . oz. (51/4 tablespoons) of the liquid concentrate to one gallon of water. This is from the Home Depot website.

Aha, thanks for that info Barb. Converting 5 1/4 tablespoons, it is 1/3 of a cup, so I was way off with my one T. per gallon. I've been way under-treating my sans so I'm glad to know this.

I appreciate you letting us know.

Russ

Russ, never had any problems. Think I'll stick to 1/4 cup from now on unless I get into a problem.

Barb, Hope it works.

Stush, the 1/2 cup you said you used isn't that far off 1/3 cup. You were much closer to a good amount than I was with only a tablespoon. I doubt my dose would even make mealies a little sick, much less kill them. Your dose, however, did the trick.

Russ

Russ, much confusion on reading my label. Different doses for different plants and types of pest. So I guess on the amount and it worked for me. Only had on bad pest problem on plants returned to me after several years and were dying from mealy infestation. Made up a spray solution and it worked right off the start and never had to do it again. Used left over on rest of plants to make sure of not spreading. Gave plants back to owner this past fall. She was very happy with them.

Serves me right Stush, for not reading the label. I always read labels before using but I guess I missed this one. Where I got a tablespoon, I dunno.

Russ

I found mealy bugs on my S. silver blue and immediately got some Bayer 3-in-1, mixed it in the proportions that you all specified above, and have sprayed and watered the plant and surrounding sansevierias. (I also used alcohol on a Q tip to remove whatever bugs I could see on the plant leaves.) My question is, since I still have most of a gallon of the Bayer mix left, can I continue to use this diluted Bayer water to water my sansevieria plants until I've used it all up? Would that be alright or harmful to my sansevierias to use it to water my plants? (Of course I'm not watering my sansevierias that often this time of year.)

sanny2016 I don't have a good answer for you but most of the insecticides break down after being mixed/diluted. I would store the mix cool and maybe just use it one additional time if it were me. Do spray and drench the plants again (I would use a fresh mix) in a month or two to get any mealies that may have been missed (less time if it is warmer where you are).

Yeah, the insecticide and fungicide might not be as effective if you wait to use it, the fertilizer should be okay but most growers don't fertilize this time of year. It won't hurt to use it on other sans you haven't watered with it, and it might get mealies that have spread to those plants but aren't obvious yet.

Good idea from Chris to follow up again with Bayer's or another insecticide because they do tend to come back from eggs and survivors of the first dose.

I'm still a believer in a good spray of mouthwash for both mealies and fungi attacks. We use cotton swabs with alcohol but can't get really far down between leaves and in tiny nooks and crannies, the alcohol spray of mouthwash gets in there. I've thought about mixing alcohol with water at the same % in mouthwash to make a cheaper spray for mealies.

Russ

I use Bayer in regular waterings in spring and again before bring in the late summer/fall season. I use it before seeing any problems. Also using Captan for fungus as well. Still loose some during this time of year.

Looks like I need to mix up a batch of Bayer and use it again. I'm still finding mealies here and there.

Barb, Are you going to use the mouthwash spray? Can't understand how mealies can keep coming back? Are there any way they are re-infesting them? Even then, the Bayer should last 4 months at least. You have me worried that we may be facing a super bug. Good luck and keep us informed.

Stush, Is that Listerine? I don't have any, but I can certainly get some. The last time I treated for mealies, I used some systemic granules in the soil and alcohol on the adults. I was thinking that I would mix up a spray bottle of the Bayer and take the plants outside and spray them. Of course I am busy cooking and baking right now, so it will be next week.

Barb, As Russ pointed out, the cheap Dollar Store brand mouthwash has the same stuff as Listerine as far as for our plants. Don't know the dose but some use 50-50 with water but full strength might be ok as well. Maybe Russ will add more.

Thanks for the advice guys. I won't give up. Happy holidays! Don't eat too much pie!

There's no such thing as "too much pie"!

I've used full strength mouthwash, no apparent side effects and I sprayed fairly heavily, dripping.

A caution, the ingredient Thymol is supposed to be beneficial as well as the alcohol and I've found that some don't have it, even within the same brands. So best to check the ingredient list for Thymol before you buy. Cheapest I've found is $1 at a Dollar-type store, fairly expensive compared to concentrates but not if it saves the plants.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Russ